Adidas releases futuristic celebrity-studded China short for the OZWEEGO

Adidas has launched a campaign to promote the new adidas originals OZWEEGO sneaker for the Chinese market. The commercial features a star-studded cast, including C-pop idol Jackson Yee, Japanese influencer Lala Takahashi, and rapper-producer Dough-Boy. The 30-second campaign film, directed by Crystal Choi, creative director at Hypebeast, is centred around the theme of reworking the past to create a new future. A series of montages show the evolution of the signature OZWEEGO sneaker from its 1998 classic incarnation to the new futuristic design.Hypebeast partnered with boutique design and VFX studio, Fin Design + Effects to craft the futuristic visual effects for the film. Fin’s VFX Supervisor Justin Bromley was on the shoot with the director in Shanghai to advise on the technicality of the VFX in relation to the shots, after which the post-production was handled by Fin’s Sydney studio.Robert Grbevski, VFX supervisor at Fin explained the effort that went into the ad’s production:“Technically-speaking, the film required us to cover a whole range of CG disciplines. It made for an interesting palette of design, ranging from more abstract sequences such as the cuboid figures, which were achieved in Houdini, to the more traditional photoreal effects such as the mannequins, which we achieved in Maya.”“We executed most of the work in Houdini – for example where the old OZWEEGOs evolve into the new model – as it was well-suited to the design-centric nature of the project. Compositing was all finalised in Flame,” he added.Alastair Stephen, head of visual effects at Fin Design + Effects, said, “It’s a very design-centric spot, so our main challenge was constantly being mindful of achieving visuals that were true to Crystal’s design sensibility. It was a pleasure to build on our body of work with adidas and Crystal was very collaborative and clear. I think the sleekness of the spot is a testament to that.”From Marketing‘s point of view? Simply put, the ad is certainly dripping in an oh-so-cool, street-level style we have to admit works really well. It’s punchy, short, has some nifty visuals and gets your attention. Nice work.CreditsClient adidasAgency HypebeastProduction company GTONEDirector & creative director Crystal ChoiPost-production company Fin Design + EffectsVFX supervisors Justin Bromley & Robert GrbevskiProducer Isabelle HowarthHead of visual effects Alastair Stephen