A Seal, a Story, and a lot of Tassie Charm
Created in collaboration with The20 and Studio OI, this campaign for RACT Insurance tells a distinctly Tasmanian tale – one involving a curious juvenile elephant seal and a local just trying to get on with their day. Equal parts cheeky and heartwarming, the story captures the spirit of island life while underscoring the role of community, reliability, and a good insurance policy.
Bringing the Seal to Life
To bring the seal to life, we built a highly detailed creature rigged with over 300 bones, allowing for subtle, lifelike motion and expressive personality. Paired with 20 million individually groomed hairs, the result was a digital character that felt as real as the story it helped tell.
Seamlessly blending CGI with the real world. A 3D-printed on-set eyeline reference helped integrate Finn into the scene, while back in the studio, realistic textures, fur simulation, and careful compositing brought him to life.
CG Meets the Real World
For the live-action integration, we used photogrammetry and 360° HDR capture to faithfully recreate real Tasmanian locations in 3D. We even printed a full-size seal head to help with actor eyelines and camera framing. And since the seal interacts with a car on-screen, the vehicle was digitally recreated.
This was more than a technical exercise – it was a love letter to Tasmania. A playful, beautifully crafted campaign that blended animation and live action to remind us how even the most unexpected moments can speak to the strength of community, humour, and support.
