Dene Films

Different asked Dene Films to produce a 50" cinema commercial based on original photography by Alex Telfer, to highlight the dangers of hepatitis, caused by shared needles amongst drug users.

The challenge for this campaign was a technical one - to show a woman disappearing under a pool of blood, which flows out from behind her head in less than 50 seconds, without it looking like a scene from “The Shining”.

Dene Films brought in Emergency house special effects, a company who were experienced in making blood flow from clear pipes. Gallons of the stage blood were heated and the woman was placed in a bath.

To give the blood a more viscous look the film was shot at 50 frames, which meant that the tank took approximately 5 minutes to fill in real terms. Various takes of the films were motion tracked and masked by post-production in after effects, thanks to Dene's Mark Lediard. Over 60 layers of blood were used to make the final 50 second shot, which was a masterful work of compositing.

The result was a commercial that was dramatic and thought provoking when projected on the big screen, with an effective sound track built from layers of tonal music.