A bold idea to “scan the entire Northern Alps”. Exploring the current state of advertising expression from its production process | CINRA

The interactive content “ENDLESS DAWN, and then the morning comes.”

The video is narrated by a gorgeous cast of Shizukawa Ishibashi, Shotaro Mamiya, Shingo Katori, and Tasuku Emoto. What kind of ideas and technologies were used to realize this rich content that allows you to feel the knowledge of “mountain glaciers” that are inhabited and the circulation of water around them?

The keywords are “fact” and “seamless.” We interviewed the creators involved in this project, and explored the current state of advertising communication based on their intentions, the magnificent production process of “scanning the Northern Alps”, and actual data.

This project started over a year and a half ago. At the end of June last year, Suntory was newly established in Omachi City, Nagano Prefecture as the fourth water source for Suntory natural water, following the Southern Alps in Yamanashi Prefecture, Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture, and Okudaisen in Tottori Prefecture. It was triggered by the start of shipment of “Suntory Tennensui (Northern Alps)” from Tennensui Shinanomori Factory. How can we convey the appeal of this new “water source” to people? Kaoru Sugano, the creative director of this project, says:

Sugano: Suntory has been making products with a thorough focus on water sources. We have been conducting joint research with researchers in a variety of fields, mainly at our in-house Water Science Research Institute. The Northern Alps” is adopted as the fourth water source.

We are planning and making a contract to create forests looking 100 years into the future. Water is produced and nurtured over a long period of time by the unique topography and climate of each water source, unique ecosystems and human activity. We cherish them and commercialize them in the most delicious and safe form and deliver them all over Japan.

For Suntory Tennensui, the water source is a “special place.” It may seem like a matter of course, but that fact is very important because “water” is involved in our daily lives. With the addition of the “Northern Alps” to the new sources of Suntory’s natural water, I decided to once again face the important fact in the middle.

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Nonetheless, there are various ways of expressing the Northern Alps even if you say that you face the Northern Alps. There may be times when celebrities are used like TV commercials to express the richness of nature. Alternatively, by quantifying the “water quality” of the water you can drink there, it will be possible to publicize its safety. However, what Sugano’s team was particular about was to confront the “facts” and sublimate them into entertainment with never-before-seen images and surprising expressions.

Sugano: Originally, we received a request that we would like to expand mainly through digital media, but the target group for natural water is really wide. Since it is a product that is relevant to people of all ages, men and women, it is possible to create elaborate expressions that have never been seen before, and that anyone can enjoy using their smartphones and personal computers. I thought I’d try something like that.

The evolution of browsers these days is truly astonishing. So, I thought about how to simply express the message in the middle as rich as possible.

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However, the leading role is not digital technology but the Northern Alps, and the “water” produced there. Sugano’s team came up with the bold idea of ​​scanning the entire Northern Alps.

Using a technique called “photogrammetry,” the entire Northern Alps will be three-dimensionalized as a 3D model. Photogrammetry is a technique that has been used for a long time in fields such as surveying. It is a technique of synthesizing multiple photographs to draw a single large map, but in recent years, along with the evolution of technology, the accuracy has improved. If you have a lot of photos, you can even build a 3D model from them. It is certainly theoretically possible to convert an entire vast area into 3D using photogrammetry, but…

In order to scan an unprecedentedly large area in high definition, Sugano’s team flew a helicopter over the Northern Alps and took more than 10,000 photographs from various angles.

I mean, what do you mean? The dynamic images displayed on this website are “a 3D model of the Northern Alps built in a virtual space using photogrammetry, and then re-shot in a virtual environment.” Noda.

What benefits will that bring? According to Sugano, “In large, high-altitude areas, aerial photography with helicopters and drones is often not possible due to weather and other conditions, but by using this method, it is possible to capture angles that would normally be impossible to approach. It will be possible to shoot and camera work from. Using technology to experience the Northern Alps from a perspective no one has ever seen before. That is the concept of this project.

It is said that behind the realization of such a bold idea was the existence of “Dentsu Craft Tokyo (DCT),” where Kanno is also affiliated. It was launched as a “creative house” where creators and producers gathered beyond the framework of the company in order to challenge new methods of expression that have not existed in advertising communication so far.

This time, “ENDLESS DAWN, and then the morning will come again.” is a content created in a way that is unique to “DCT,” in which producers, engineers, and creators work closely together.

It was difficult to share the image of the final form in advance because it was an unprecedented project for advertising communication to “scan the entire Northern Alps”. However, Yasuhiko Nishimura, who served as the technical director of this project, talks about the actual work as follows.

Nishimura: I don’t think anyone had an idea of ​​what the final product would look like when scanning the entire Northern Alps (laughs).

Technically, there are many things that you can’t know until you actually try it, so you have no choice but to try it at random. However, I think that the members were able to share what was important at that time from the beginning. It means “based on facts”.

Using technology to dynamically express what actually exists in the Northern Alps and what is happening in the mountains. I think that there was no blur from the beginning.

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Just “based on facts”. In fact, in order to collect the facts, Nishimura himself boarded a helicopter and took pictures of the Northern Alps from the sky.

Ko Kitamoto, who acted as the producer of this project, and Sota Suzuki, who acted as the project manager, shared the same obsession with “facts”.

Kitamoto: At first, it was possible to shoot a video at the site, so we actually climbed the mountains of the Northern Alps, toured Suntory’s Shinanomori factory, and even visited the Mountain Museum in Omachi City. I would go and find out what kind of mountain the mountain that is the source of the water is… Anyway, I did a lot of preliminary research.

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Suzuki: We checked with Mr. Hajime Iida (Chief Curator, Fuji Prefectural Tateyama Caldera Sabo Museum), who cooperated in supervision, to ensure that there were no discrepancies in the footage we created. For example, in the video there is a scene in which birds fly. How does the bird actually fly and how far does it fly?

I tried to reconcile these points one by one, and listened to everything that an amateur would not understand, such as the shape of the mountain, the amount of snow that fell and the weather at that time.

In addition, I had a conversation with Professor Satoshi Harayama of Shinshu University’s Mountain Science Research Area about the shape of rocks. If new ideas were born from these interviews with experts, I would convey them to the creator team and have them reflected in the production.

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Find a stuffed ptarmigan that lives in the Northern Alps, scan it, and create a 3D model—or actually obtain granite, scan it, and create a 3D model. Anyway, the commitment to “fact” of this project is tremendous.

A dynamic virtual rendezvous created with the support of such a huge amount of “facts”. Where are the technical highlights?

Hirotoshi Murata and Yuki Tanabe, engineers of the video and website, who were in charge of the technical production of this project, talk about the highlights as follows.

Murata: What I would like you to pay attention to as a video engineer is, although it is a somewhat technical topic, the part of the Northern Alps that has been converted to 3D using photogrammetry technology and the other method. This is where the video representations of water and clouds visualized in , are seamlessly connected. I was particular about the camera work, and I think it became a video that you can watch comfortably from the beginning to the end. Also, in fact, the beginning and end of the video are seamlessly connected and looped.

It expresses the “circulation of water”, and along with the narration work “And then morning comes again”, it also leads to the theme of “ENDLESS DAWN”. In that sense, the theme and method match. In terms of work, things that were made separately have become something that has a solid sense of unity.

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Tanabe: The word “seamless” has just come up, and that’s a point that the website also places great importance on. This site is not just a looping video, but also has a column page that accompanies the chapters of the video, all of which are also scanned and constructed to create the same virtual Northern Alps space. It’s inside.

So, even if you press the page transition button while watching the video, it is designed to smoothly transition from the space of the video to the space of the column part.

In the case of a normal web page, when the link transitions, the screen switches and the image is cut off, but on this site, the image is seamlessly connected without breaking the trajectory of the camera. As an engineer, the hardest part was realizing natural interaction.

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I wonder what kind of reactions were gathered for the website that was released this summer.

Nishimura: From what I’ve seen on social media, it seems that there were many people saying that the world view itself was amazing, rather than the fact that the mountains were scanned. It’s a good thing for us that it’s being conveyed in that way. The purpose of this project is not to show the production technology is amazing, but to connect to the message that the brand “Suntory Tennensui” wants to convey.

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It reminds me of the “boundary between digital and analog,” which is being talked about not only in advertising but in various fields these days.

Expressing authentic themes using the latest technology. Or, something that looks extremely analog but actually uses the latest technology. Engineers these days seem to be working hard to blur the line between digital and analog. I asked the DCT members for their opinions on this matter, as they relate to this project.

Nishimura: It’s true that there are a lot of things these days where technology is so amazing that you don’t even know what’s so amazing about it. It’s amazing from an engineer’s point of view, but the general public probably doesn’t understand how amazing it is.

I think it’s healthy in a way that it’s being evaluated simply for the quality of the contents. For example, recently there is a story like “The picture drawn by AI is amazing”.

Is it amazing because AI drew it? Wouldn’t the picture be amazing if AI wasn’t drawing it? I feel that the finished product is evaluated regardless of who uses what technique to express it. I think that is very true.

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Tanabe: When it comes to websites, I think the days of “wonderful if you use this technology” are over. What is important now is what kind of “experience” we can design using that technology. I think that’s where things get tougher and more interesting.

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Nishimura: I think it’s very difficult to imagine the future of a bottle of water you bought at a convenience store. Even if you put up a poster of the Northern Alps in a shop, there is a limit to the experience you can get there.

We have technology to overcome that. We will use digital technology to overcome barriers that cannot be overcome with analog. I think that is the approach that is needed now.

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Furthermore, there is more to this story. Due to the popularity of the website, it was decided to produce a Cinead that will be screened in movie theaters. Creative director Sugano says.

Sugano: Originally, it was a project that started with the goal of maximizing the richness of expression under the condition that it could be easily viewed on a computer or smartphone browser, but when the website was actually announced, In addition to the emotional message, the mysterious resolution that seems to focus on any point in the Northern Alps, and the reactions to the never-before-seen camerawork images are better than ever. In that case, we talked about wanting to see it on a big screen as a video work, not just a small browser at hand. 10,000 high-definition photographs beautifully capture the details of the Northern Alps.

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The long-term withdrawal experience experienced by the corona disaster and the rapid spread of technology such as remote meetings. Or, as a result, the feeling of craving for nature that was born in people. This advertising communication seems to reflect such a recent situation. In a sense, it may be said that it reflects one of the “eras”.