The VFX team at Time Based Arts in London pull out all the stops in this dream-like two-and-a-half-minute roller coaster from ProdCo director Ian Pons Jewell for British multinational fintech company Revolut.

Head of 2D Stephen Grasso and head of 3D Mike Battcock at Time Based Arts: “The brief called for this surreal, abstract world that needed to feel tangible and immersive. We drew inspiration from diverse cinematography references, studying how light interacts with cave formations and how atmosphere builds in those environments.

“We built vast landscapes with cities and mountains using a fabric generator we created in Houdini that allowed us to feed in any geometry and it would convert it into fabric. This replicated every twist, strand, and microfiber of the real wool cardigan the actor was wearing.
 

“We built vast landscapes with cities and mountains using a fabric generator we created in Houdini that allowed us to feed in any geometry and it would convert it into fabric.”

 
“We also simulated tiny microfibers floating in the air, and in total we were rendering hundreds of millions of points. So there were obvious technical challenges, but we were also tasked with delivering specific messages like sending money overseas or diversifying your assets. These creative challenges were often harder to solve than the technical ones.

“Since it’s set inside a jacket, we could have easily slipped into something claustrophobic or cave-like. Instead, we focused on creating this sense of expansiveness through careful use of lighting and atmospheric effects to really sell that spatial transition.

“We made the conscious choice to preserve the dynamic camera movements rather than restricting everything, which is often the safer VFX approach. While this created some technical hurdles, those organic camera movements and imperfections really helped ground our character in the environment, making everything feel more authentic.”
 
 

 
Client: Revolut
Head of Brand Activation: Tobi Fink
Brand Marketing Manager: Emily Lewis
Head of Global Brand Design: Gareth Morgan

Agency: Anomaly
EP (Film): Rebecca Hunter
Senior Integrated Producer (Film): Gareth Williams
Senior Producer (DOOH/OOH): Claudia Casotti
Head of Design: Behrad Taherparvar
CD: Jack Denyer, Niall Kerry
Senior Creatives: Will Towle, Tom Anderson
Project Director: Madeleine Macrae

Production: ProdCo
Director: Ian Pons Jewell
Founding Partners/EPs: Ian Pons Jewell, Zico Judge
MD/EP: Jon Adams

VFX: Time Based Arts
VFX Supervisors: Stephen Grasso, Mike Battcock
VFX Lead: Miguel Wratten, Mike Battcock
VFX Head Of 2D: Stephen Grasso
VFX Head Of 3D: Mike Battcock
Concept Design: Friendly Robot, Hans Park, Marco Iozzi
3D: Bethan Williams, Chris Wood, Federico Vanone, Hendrik Kramer, Ian Baird, Ihor Obukhovskyi, Jamie Lancaster, Joe Ibbett, Maxime Ponsart, Nick Smalley, Nigel Timms, Oliver Lémery, Sam Osborne, Teodora Retegan, Tushar Kewlani
2D: Danny Peoples, Frankie Foster, Liam Doyle, Lucy Lawrence, Manolo Perez, Matt Shires, Miguel Carballal, Mike Outlaw, Olivia O’Neil, Ralph Briscoe, Ria Shroff, Ross Ferguson, Sarah Breakwell, Simon Melin, Viola Bascombe
DMP: Billy Stockwell
Grade: Ruth Wardell
Producer: Chris Aliano

Editorial: Trim Editing
Editor: Joseph Taylor
Assistant Editor: Nanako Kawasaki
Producer: Noreen Khan

Service Production: Blur
Managing Director: Inés Segura
HOP: Pablo Herraiz, Francesca Gaidolfi
Producer: Isidor Arjona