Christmas Dream: yuletide goes 3D

The excitement of turning a wonderful dream into reality

Client: Carmelo Giammello

3d marketing and corporate communication

challenge

Video to promote an initiative connected with a Christmas-themed event.

solution

Short mood film produced entirely using computer graphics, from the 3D concept art phases through to the final rendering.

In this case, saying that 3D makes your dreams come true is not rhetorical at all… it’s the truth. Carmelo Giammello created his Christmas Village thanks to the opportunities offered by digital visualisation in computer graphics. The concept becomes the creative basis of a video which excites and convinces both potential investors and end-users, supporting all the related marketing operations.

CHRISTMAS DREAM

Christmas Dream is an ambitious idea: that of creating a Christmas Village in Turin. Far removed from the evocative Nordic images of Father Christmas and his reindeers that children and adults normally associate with this time of year.

But Christmas Dream is not just a dream in terms of artistic vision and evocative atmospheres. It is much more. It is the dream of rising to a titanic challenge. Erecting a large fairground (approx. 17,000 m² in size including the outdoor area, ed.) that lasts for over a month, considering all the traditional difficulties that Italian bureaucracy normally brings to bear.

One of the first concepts developed around the idea of the Christmas Village (credits Carmelo Giammello)

Original idea for one of the interiors of the Christmas Village (credits Carmelo Giammello)

PRODUCTION OF THE VIDEO: FROM CONCEPT TO RENDERING

Protocube Reply’s mission is that of conveying a vision using 3D computer graphics tools.

On the basis of the concepts of the creatives, the goal is to produce a film that excites and convinces both potential investors and the public. In more practical terms, a film that supports all of the marketing operations connected with the initiative.

A 2-minute short film for a project like Christmas Dream involves, on a smaller scale, all of the phases of a film production. Nothing was left to chance. From receiving the artists’ sketches to the creation of the storyboard and through to the careful planning of all production steps, without forgetting to estimate the rendering and post-production times required to complete the project.

The settings and scenes seen in the short film were all created and animated entirely in 3D.

A storyboard is developed on the basis of the concepts and the script and coincides with the description of the various scenes that make up the short film. It is a very important procedure, particularly in 3D animation films (credits Protocube Reply)

The detailed modelling and texturing of the entire Village was carried out using Blender (credits Protocube Reply)

A frame from the final version of the video. The project renderings were carried out with Cycles and the entire compositing and post-production process took place using Blender (credits Protocube Reply)

FROM DREAM TO REALITY

After about a year’s work, Christmas Dream was translated into a unique event that immediately grabbed the attention of thousands of people who descended on the Village.

The renderings and the 3D short film made by Protocube Reply were also used during the promotion phase that preceded the opening of the event, in addition to the graphic materials and images produced during the communication campaign.

The erection of the Christmas Village took place using approaches and procedures typical of temporary installations. A pre-assembly phase was carried out at the complex worksite before the final set-up in Piazza d’Armi, Turin.

The project maquette represents a preview that can be used to constructively assess the results of the architectural project (credits Il Sogno del Natale)

An image of the Christmas Village following the conclusion of the works, just before the opening of the event (credits Il Sogno del Natale)

Inside there are lots of surprises that visitors can interact with including an intriguing “fantasy” telescope (credits Il Sogno del Natale)

Held during the Christmas period, the event was hugely popular with the public (credits Il Sogno del Natale)

CHRISTMAS DREAM IN THE WORLD OF 3D ANIMATION

The Christmas Dream experience went well beyond the actual event. Its computer graphics were the subject of important talks and workshops held by Valerio Fissolo at major 3D events across the world. The most high-profile of these was the Blender Conference, the leading annual event dedicated to projects developed with the 3D software of the same name.

Below we present the making of the Christmas Dream, in which the art director of Protocube Reply illustrated to a select audience of 3D technical experts and artists the main developmental stages and the critical issues that the team had to overcome during a production process that lasted just four weeks.

Achieving this result was possible thanks to the consolidated know how in the area of Rendering and 3D Animation that enabled Valerio’s team to optimise every detail without ever compromising on the final quality of the product.