The US Navy took a bold new creative approach in their recruitment film, ‘Sea to Stars’ in order to showcase their new brand identity. The film, which feels more like an action-packed movie trailer rather than a more conventional recruitment video, is a true depiction of what it takes to join the US Navy. Viewers are no longer watching people speak about what it means to be a member of the Navy, they are witnessing the reality of the job in action first-hand.

From emerging from a submarine deep down in the ocean, to deploying F18 jets from an aircraft carrier in the middle of the sea and flying high up into space, each facet of the job is depicted in an explosive and dramatic fashion to show the fast-paced, intense and extremely varied nature of the role, and to show that the US Navy is not for the fainthearted.

VFX was critical as most scenes could not be captured in camera. Because it was logistically unfeasible to gather the whole fleet of ships (given they are currently in use), MPC made them digitally. This ranged from water simulations to a miarmy crowd sim for the deck crew. Filming a real submarine 5-miles underwater was impractical, so they shot a practical hatch in a tank, capturing the talent’s interaction in the environment. Everything else including the submarine, bubbles and FX simulations for detritus was CG.

The second half of the film was 95% CG – the F18 flying past the camera, the UAV and satellite – were all built into environments that were accurate in relation to the heights those vehicles fly, combining CG and DMP and blending them seamlessly together.

U.S. Navy - Sea to Stars

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