Revolver director Rune Milton re-teams with Copenhagen VFX/post house Chemistry Film for an epic and operatic ode to the wonders of Earth’s history starring a CG chimpanzee voiced by Samoan-born tenor Pene Pati.

Created for the the Royal Ontario Museum thru Toronto agency Broken Heart Love Affair, the film means to “reimagine the connection between humans and nature, encouraging viewers to reconsider humanity’s place within Earth’s vast timeline.”

Craig McIntosh, CCO at Broken Heart Love Affair: “Our goal was to forge an emotional connection between viewers, the ROM, and the expansive realm of natural history – encouraging audiences to engage with the museum’s permanent collection with a renewed sense of wonder.
 

“Luna’s look was both primal and emotive. Every muscle movement, wrinkle, and nostril hair was carefully handcrafted to ensure she felt real without being overly humanized.”

 
From the team at Chemistry Film: “Creating Luna the chimpanzee was a challenge in photo-realism and storytelling: How do you make a singing chimp feel real and emotional without it looking weird or unnatural?

“Sculpted in ZBrush, textured in Mari using skin details from TexturingXYZ, and rigged by Snappertech, Luna’s look was both primal and emotive. Every muscle movement, wrinkle, and nostril hair was carefully handcrafted to ensure she felt real without being overly humanized.

“The challenge was to get a sense of wisdom and timelessness into the character. We decided to add the emotions in animation instead of overdoing it in the lookdev process. Creativity wasn’t a straight line, including imperfections added depth, and hours of research into chimp behavior kept every movement authentic.

“Grooming was executed in XGen, with Houdini used for skin and fur simulations. We challenged ourselves by integrating her in snowstorms, thunderstorms and sand. Rendered on Chaos Cloud, the project showcased how a small studio like ours can get multiple shots rendered on time.”

Watch the breakdown reel:
 

 
Client: Royal Ontario Museum
CMO: Sally Tindal
VP, Brand Marketing: Kathryn Brownlie
Manager, Marketing: Katlyn Olo, Emily Wright

Agency: Broken Heart Love Affair
CCO: Jaimes Zentil, Craig McIntosh
Art Director: Jaimes Zentil
Copywriter: Craig McIntosh
SVP, EP: Erica Metcalfe

Production: Revolver Films
Director: Rune Milton
EP: Richard Cureton, Luc Frappier
Cinematographer: Paul Meyers, ASC
Line Producer: Andrew Peterson
Choreographer: Jennifer Rose
Performer: Jennifer Rose

CG/VFX: Chemistry Film
EP: Camilla Nilsson
CD: Mikael Balle
CG Supervisor: Kim Fersling
VFX Supervisor: Mario Maruska
Character TD: Dennis Bahnson
Pipeline TD: Esben Bjerring
Character Artist: Dmytro Teslenko
Rigging: Snapper Tech
Lead Animator: Gabriela Popov
Animator: José Luis de Lucas, Devika Nagarkar
CG Generalist: Dennis Bahnson
CG Artist: Daniel Karlsson
FX Artist: Esben Bjerring, Grigoriy Voyakin
Lead Lighting Artist: Aleksei Dorokhin
Compositor: Bruno Edelman, Victor Beckmann
Post Coordinator: Rose Aspöck, Jakob Witt

Editorial: Chemistry Film
EP: Camilla Nilsson
Editor: Adam Nielsen

Color: Chemistry Film
Colorist: Nurali Kushkov

Audio House: Chemistry Sound & Music
Sound Design/Mix: Kevin Koch

Music: Warner Classics / Erato
Business Affairs: Makoto Nakata
Opera: L’elisir d’amore
Song: Una Furtiva Lagrima by Donizetti
Artist: Pene Pati and the Opera National de Bordeaux
Composer: Jonas Horstad Larsen
Producer: Olivier Rosset