Plum Production's Eric Saarinen helps Waste Management Think Green

Director Eric Saarinen of Plum Productions has helped ad agency Fogarty Klein Monroe create a new campaign for Waste Management.

"We had to visually convey the growing impact of Waste Management's efforts to recycle and renew environmental resources," explains Saarinen. "So we wanted sweeping aerial views of untouched forests, an allusion to the 41 million trees saved; breathtaking bird's-eye views to represent the company's respect for and connection to nature; and warm, heroic shots of a Waste Management truck driver who is an actual employee."

More from the press release:

The Cascades in Washington provided the picturesque and pristine landscapes that Saarinen and the creative team were looking for. The director and his production team used a diverse range of techniques and technology to execute the spot including a helicopter with a gyro-stabilized Spacecam for the impressive aerial shots in the opening scenes and the Ultimate Arm (robo-arm) for shooting the flying bird, the moving truck driver and the bird's point of view. A 55-foot techno-crane was used to film the scenes of the bird flying away in the ending scene. Real-time animatics were also used to help plan and organize all of the shots, and try not to overshoot shots that end up "on the cutting room floor."

For the flying bird scenes, Saarinen chose to use the actual moving background versus a bluescreen. Using the Ultimate Arm, Saarinen and the camera team drove alongside the flying bird to create the illusion that it was flying at 40 mph.

Some compositing was done for the closing scene when the bird flies into a heavenly treescape with soft rays of light shining through the trees. Atmospheric effects were added to accentuate the shafts of light.

The other two spots for the "Think Green" campaign will highlight messages of energy conservation and the use of its landfills as wildlife habitats.