TF1, France’s most popular domestic network, has a history of producing whimsical bumpers. But its most recent batch is awe-inspiring even by its own standards.

Teaming with Paris-based graphics and motion design company Naked, TF1 underwent a rebrand last September, of which the crowning achievement only surfaced online in its entirety this April: 45 fantastical and unforgettable bumpers, each one a tiny world packed into eight seconds.

The bumpers are a refreshing reminder that the best creative, the kind that surprises and delights with each new viewing, often stems from the simplest of concepts. To lead in and out of commercial blocks, Naked envisioned a carousel-type apparatus, a rotating platform with TF1’s “PUB” logo on one side, and a richly detailed explosion of movement and activity on the other. The logo swivels into the particular scene at hand – be it the inner workings of a volcano, the backside of a jukebox, or something else marvelous – to usher us into commercials, then swivels back to the logo to bring us back into TF1’s orbit.

Symbolically, the swiveling device hints at the diverse, lush and marvelous array of content that lies behind the TF1 brand. Practically, it is an incredibly efficient way to “convey surprise to the viewers,” said Patrick Delobelle, creative director and founder of Naked, “as the hidden part is only revealed once the platform has rotated. The movement of the platform and the sudden change of scenery bring dynamism to the whole.”

Once the mechanism for the bumpers was in place, Naked sought out an animation studio capable of converting it into nearly four-dozen variations (including 10 Christmas specials) in a matter of months. They chose ROOF, a New York-based company whose dreamy, vibrant visual style was a good match for TF1’s colorful sensibility. There was no doubt ROOF could instill the bumpers with the proper aesthetic appeal; the challenge was doing so on a massive scale.

The rotation pattern for each spot “demanded a double-sided design,” said Costa, “as one side flipped into the world of the other. From that respect, it’s almost like 90 bumpers were designed.”

Charged with 3D animation, modeling, texturing, lighting and rendering for all of them, ROOF developed a new system of workflow for the company: a pipeline in the cloud that “allowed us to work with talent all over the world but keep assets centralized on our server,” said Costa.

Additionally, its team built an internal pipeline that allowed the company to efficiently exchange files between the software it was using, a CG cocktail of Maya, Modo, Arnold, Nuke and After Effects. Moving lithely between smaller pieces allowed for an incredible amount of artistic detail across the collective whole while “maintaining a high level of quality and [not letting] the quantity affect this quality,” said Costa.

The results are warm and alive-feeling, like old-fashioned cel animation taken to previously unimaginable heights by newfangled technology. “All the bumpers have their own story,” said Delobelle, “[creating] connections between things that do not seem to be linked in the first place, such as a volcano and a cup of coffee… The very precise graphics makes them all the more exciting to watch, as new details can be noticed by the viewers each time.”

CREDITS:

Client: TF1
Directors/Creative Directors: NAKED Compagnie/ROOF Studio
Producer: NAKED Compagnie

Naked Production

Director: Patrick Delobelle
Executive Producer: Philippe Fournerie
Senior Art Director/Designer: Benoît Bayart
Senior 3D Artist: Corentin Seguin de Broin, Jonathan Roméo
Junior Art Director: Seydou Koné
Compositing: Laura Saintecatherine, Pedro Carvalho Gomes
Music: StartRec

ROOF Studio Production

Executive Producer: Crystal Campbell
Creative Directors: Vinicius Costa & Guto Terni
Design: Vinicius Costa, Guto Terni, Fred Palacio, Plenty
Modeling: Rayza Alvarez, Lincoln Horita, Ramon Lima, Alex Liki, Daniel Sian, Vinicius Costa, Plenty
Rigging: Viviane Adade, Diego Marcel, Plenty
Animation: Felipe Machado, Jason Tadeu, Henrique Edmx, Gabriel Prezoto, Fernando Donizetti, Plenty
Render & Texture: Pedro Kobuti, Tiago Dias, Shane O’Hara, Vinicius Costa, Guto Terni, Vinicius Valente
Composite: Pedro Kobuti, Tiago Dias, Shane O’Hara, Vinicius Costa, Guto Terni

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