Animation with teeth

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Although entirely modelled in CGI, this shark could strike as much fear as the one in Jaws.

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Although entirely modelled in CGI, this shark could strike as much fear as the one in Jaws.

One production house in Kuwait bucks the trend with its cutting-edge animation and cinematic-style commercials.

Kuwait has rarely ever got a mention in TV production circles but one small company in the Gulf country hopes to change that this year with the stunning visual effects and CGI it has brought to the local commercial scene. Led by Kuwaiti national, Abdullah Boushahri, Beyond Dreams recently produced two unconventional commercials for Bayan Dental, a Kuwaiti company that offers specialised dental services including the much sought-after Hollywood smile.

Instead of producing the commercial with well-known stars as is the custom with most such advertisements, the production house decided to look to the animal world for inspiration. The result was a shark and a crocodile, both modelled entirely by Beyond Dreams and its Miami-based animation partner, Studio Sync.

The shark commercial tries to tell a small story in the classic tradition of a thriller and is reminiscent of Steven Spielberg's Jaws. It's a short and frightening encounter that a beachgoer has with a Great White shark and ends with a scientific fact about the shark's teeth. Boushahri admits his inspiration comes from Spielberg's movie.

"If you're using an unconventional character in a commercial, there's not enough time to tell a new story. It's easier to start on a concept that everybody is familiar with and then, take it further. I grew up watching Jaws and it was the movie that inspired me to become a filmmaker. This commercial was sort of a celebration of the classic while also being rooted in a scientific fact," he explains.

"The crocodile is much more unconventional because you have it seated in a dentist's office and waiting its turn to be treated. But there again, you could argue that the beast sitting beside a hot chick in the dentist's office is reminiscent of the Beauty and the Beast approach. We wanted to add an element of humour to the whole thing."

What is important, however, is the fact that this kind of animation is new to the Kuwaiti production scene. Both the shark and the crocodile were modelled from scratch on Maya based on still and moving pictures of the animals in their natural environments.

"After being presented with the project idea, we sketched out the character and gathered as much reference material as we could on it," explains Boushahri.

"Let's take the case of the shark. One of the most important aspects was the shark's body mechanics. Though we know the shark swims, there is subtle detail in every action it undertakes that gives it its uniqueness. Knowing how a shark acts in a relaxed state is just as important to know as how it acts when locked onto a prey. This information would be essential, not only for modelling but rigging, texturing and animation."

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