Water Designs Our Life

The spot is a beautiful collection of scenes that would typically be filled with water, such as classic American landscapes like the Grand Canyon and views from the Golden Gate Bridge, as well as vignettes of people celebrating simple pleasures like swimming at the beach or pool. And yet, while the world and its inhabitants function perfectly as normal, the key ingredient - water - is notably absent.

It was crucial to convey the idea that each of the featured landscapes, and indeed the objects and actions of people in the world around them, were all shaped and designed by water. There were numerous possible interpretations for a world of this nature, and Framestore had the fortune of being a part of the early discussions with both Havas and Rühmann.

Framestore began concepting these ideas immediately in order to explore every possible option, ranging from the sandy and benign to the epic and dramatic. ‘Quite quickly we all realised how fine the margins were between a slightly surreal environment and something post apocalyptic. It was important that the film did not come across as a public service announcement, and that the landscapes did not dominate our characters’, recalled Alex Thomas, Framestore Creative Director and Head of 2D.

Ultimately the conversation was driven by a desire to maintain a sense of realism. In preparation for the scenes set in the San Francisco Bay, the team researched underwater contour maps of the area as inspiration, before taking some creative license. Similarly, the team referenced landscapes that were millions of years old as starting points for the stunning, branch-like shapes that are carved into the detailed sand featured in the spot. But unlike in the natural world, the water that had carved these shapes into the earth was missing. It hadn’t run off, or washed away down an enormous drain; it was simply gone.

The shoot took place in and around Los Angeles, though Framestore carried out the work at its youngest base in Chicago, to be local to the agency. Knowing how much the look of the world could inform the edit, the team fed frames back to the office from set in order to continue the discussion during the editorial process. Once concepts were narrowing-in towards approval, Framestore began execution on digital matte painting. ‘As always, it paid huge dividends to spend the time in concept stage’, explained Thomas, ‘And whilst the matte paintings continued to evolve once applied to the moving geometry, it was typically about fine tuning.’

From the outset, Rühmann felt passionately about the grade, keen that the bold colours retained a sense of life, avoiding a barren, drought aesthetic. That emphasis resulted in the stunning final product.