The entrant refused to provide the synopsis as per the agency policy.

The production of ‘Troll’ employed an extensive list of visual effects techniques. Aside from the computer generated creature himself, the artists were tasked with matte painted backdrops, fluid and cloth simulations, set extensions, atmospheric FX elements such as dust and mist, CG animals and of course composting everything together.

The biggest challenge involved creating and animating the giant Troll. To begin with, a highly detailed 3D model was sculpted based on signed off concept art. Particular attention was paid to rigging complex facial muscles which ensured that the Troll’s emotions were conveyed by his expressions - a requirement essential to the storytelling. While his face was animated by hand, the rest of his body was animated using finely tuned motion capture data.

Firstly his walk cycle was established through mocap data acquired using a live actor wearing a weighted body suit. After filming the backgrounds on location at Golden Oaks Disney Ranch, the footage was used as reference material during a full day motion capture session. This involved the actor performing moves for the director based on the filmed plates and the pre-viz animations. All of this data was then utilized by the animators who finely crafted the final movements of the Troll.

Another substantial challenge to the VFX crew was depicting the magical countryside environments. Surprisingly, all the outdoor footage was captured during the day which meant the team had to work on converting the sunlit conditions to a stylized nighttime look. Layers of CG mist, a moon and even 3D ducks and a cow enhance the scenes.

One shot of particular interest is the opener which is in fact entirely computer generated. Lighting of the water, the Troll and his reflections throughout the spot was of the upmost importance and helped give the commercial its fairytale feel.

Overall, a team of 50+ CG artists, compositors, and matte painters utilized a complex tool set from programs such as Maya, zBrush, Mari, and Houdini to execute this large scale VFX project.