Cartoon Network - Wreeecks!

A continuation of the “Snaaacks!” series of spots we had previously done for Cartoon Network, Wreeecks! has a very simple concept: Take two toy cars and smash them into each other. Over and over again. Unsurprisingly, it’s the type of project we dream about.

With two weeks from being awarded the job to shooting in Los Angeles, our team raced to create storyboards and gameplan for the half-day shoot. Wreeecks is a good example of how a simple concept needs a complex set of techniques. Just as the Wreck Royale toys feature mix and match parts that explode off the toys, we had to mix and match live action, slow motion, and CGI to capture the car crash carnage.

The Wreck Royale team loves slow motion (who doesn’t?), so we shot the crashes at 2K, 240fps on the RED. The rest of the spot was shot in 5k at 24 fps, with the flying pieces captured practically in-camera. The product worked amazing well, so it looked very cinematic. The robot arms were all added in post, and the cars were actually lifted by green wire practically on set. The spins were done on a turntable, and then roto’d into the scene. Vehicle assembly was captured in stop motion.

One challenge was that we wanted to showcase as many iterations of the product as possible. Luckily, we had some fantastic brand/product specialists on set with us, so we relied heavily on their knowledge to make sure the spot fully illustrated the playful combinations.

After the Los Angeles shoot, our team in Atlanta handled the editorial, graphics, sound design/mixing, and finishing.