The design studio came up with the concept of developing a character that embodied creativity; showcasing the AICP sponsors as various dancing avatars and using procedural art, which would playfully reference the types of visual effects used in commercial production throughout the industry. They’d change the ‘skin’ of each avatar to represent the different sponsors.

The design group brought the production & VFX team on board and scheduled a motion capture session where two professional dancers improvised using a wide range of styles, for 2-3 minute sessions. A team of artists developed 50 procedural texture effects to represent each sponsor and custom algorithms to execute them. A CG environment with lighting and camera setups was prepared and customized, and textures applied to each character. There were different technical challenges for each character and the timeline was tight. Well-prepared source geometry helped the team avoid complications and developing custom tools helped keep simulations moving smoothly between frames and ‘skinning’ mapping correctly.

Following AICP Show the film was chosen to screen at Saatchi’s New Directors’ Showcase. Then, it took on a second life. To share it with the creative community the film was re-cut to Major Lazer’s “Light it Up” and posted. It blew up, getting 2 million views in the first week. Major Lazer posted the film for their fans. Overnight, downloads of “Light it Up" spiked on Soundcloud and Spotify; rising to 700 million, making it Major Lazer’s third most-downloaded song ever. Views are over 100 million – 3X the average for Major Lazer music videos. Creative sites worldwide featured the piece and it made Vimeo and YouTube end-of-year lists. A year later, it was selected to screen at the TED Conference. Personifying creativity in an explosion of color, texture, and movement, the film’s appeal reached far beyond its intended audience, driving consumer actions and business and inspiring people worldwide.