Leading New Zealand poduction company uses Autodesk Flame visual effects software to move to longform content advertising.

“We have always used Flame and it is the industry standard. There are cheaper options but if you want to offer the best product to your clients, then you need to be using the best piece of equipment. That’s what Flame is and that’s why we chose it.”
—Luke Haigh, Post-Production Manager, Curious Film

The changing face of advertising has led the innovative production company Curious Film to move to longform content projects and invest in Autodesk® Flame® visual effects and compositing software.

Started by producer Matt Noonan and director Darryl Ward, the company has headquarters in Auckland, New Zealand, with offices in Queenstown and Sydney. The company is celebrating 10 years in business—the last two as winner and finalist in Australian Creative magazine’s Hotshop and Production Company of the Year awards.

Peter Grasse, managing director for Sydney operations, is behind Curious Film’s push into content advertising.

“We saw the writing on the wall,” said Grasse. “Agencies want more for less and the spend is spread so thin these days we realised that if we didn't own the means of production, by owning our own Flame, we couldn't compete to get that work.

“Markets have changed in that clients and their brands want more time with their consumers and they want to entertain them. We are past the day when a 30 or 60 second ad fulfills a brand’s needs. Of course consumers have changed as well, so you don’t get the loyalty out of a 30-second ad that you used to,” explained Grasse.

Curious Film’s answer is to produce long format pieces with more depth and retention that aim to pull in customers and create a relationship with them.

The first of the company’s content projects to be completed with the new Flame system is also its most successful to date: a 45 minute documentary for the relaunch of boutique cheese maker Kapiti. The film captured local artists creating art inspired by the cheese under the new brand platform "Every Piece a New Zealand Original."

“It’s a weird idea but the film was compelling,” said Grasse. “Director Summer Agnew lived with artists and documented the creation of their artwork. It was played online and seeded to art and cheese blogs, then shown free-to-air on TVNZ. It is a very clever way of advertising because it really is entertainment and people will watch it as a documentary. It doesn’t really advertise anything per se, but the message is definitely in there.”

In Australia, Curious Film worked with the Carlton Breweries Team Dry campaign competition where people submitted video of their unique but silly skills to win a paid place for a year on the team instead of having to do their regular day job. A DVD was produced showcasing the performances and inserted into 100,000 beer cartons.

Auckland-based post-production manager Luke Haigh said Autodesk Flame was the best fit for the company’s evolving direction.

“We have always used Flame at other post facilities, and it is the industry standard. There are cheaper options, but if you want to offer the best product to your clients then you need to be using the best piece of equipment. That’s what Flame is, and that’s why we chose it.

“A commercial can take a day or two to cut, but longform can take weeks to do. If you are going to be in Flame for a month or weeks, it is far more cost effective to be retaining that in-house,” said Haigh.

“If we had a different system in here, it would have taken 2 to 3 times as long to complete the Kapiti documentary. But because we had a good Flame artist who knew how to get the best out of it, we were able to turn it around very quickly.”

Curious is also taking full advantage of Flame software’s multiple-resolution abilities to work in high definition.

“The first TVC we put through Flame was a 60 second, effects heavy, Tui beer project that required a week in our suite with shifts running day and night. We scanned the shots in at 2K and finished it in HD. When we did the online approvals with the client and showed our work at HD, it was quite amazing,” said Haigh.

Autodesk Flame is also able to work with imagery from the RED camera which is used on some Curious Film projects.

“We are shooting some projects using the RED camera at 4K and bringing 2K DPX files into Flame when we have finished offline, “ said Haigh. “I believe everything is moving towards the RED because you can use prime lenses to achieve a filmic depth of field look, and that’s what everyone is trying to achieve now.

“We have also moved to a completely tapeless workflow because the whole process of using Digibeta decks is being phased out. By not having to buy those decks we were able to save that money and invest it in our Flame. All the scans we receive from post houses are delivered on hard drives, so the whole tapeless scenario has been working very well for us,” said Haigh.

“We don't want to become a post house, but there is definitely something to be said about production companies having their own Flame if this is the way market is going to move,” said Haigh.