as I see it

Some fell in love with them, the others find it irritating, whatever be the case, you just haven't ignored them. Yes, am talking about the new face(s) of Vodafone - The ZooZoos. A huge series of commercials, this campaign aims to make the consumer aware of the Value-Added Services that Vodafone offers. There are reportedly around 25 or even more number of ads in this campaign with the aim of showcasing one new ad everyday during the second season of IPL. The ad is being telecasted just at the right place at the right time - at the time of IPL. ZooZoos were even shown talking to Gaurav during one of the matches in IPL.

Rumors had it, that what at first appeared to be animated clips were not actually animations but real humans and that too females who were made to wear body suits to make them ZooZoos.

“It took me three weeks of pre-production to understand how it will work. There were two fabrics that were considered for the body suits, and one was rejected for it had too many wrinkles and was shiny. The wrinkles would have shown when the characters moved, thereby shattering the illusion of animation. So we chose the more practical, thicker fabric,” says Prakash Varma, ad filmmaker at Nirvana Films and the man behind the Zoozoo commercials in India.

He continues, "The practical aspects of how they will move, talk, gesticulate and emote were very important. Essentially, costume design and artwork were crucial elements.The production team divided the outfit into two parts: the body and the head. The body part of the outfit was stuffed with foam in some places, while the head was attached separately. To make it look bigger than a human head, a harder material called Perspex was used, which in turn was stuffed with foam (with scope for ventilation).

"We kept the hands and legs thin, which is why we cast women and occasionally children wearing the costumes" says Varma.

Here are some snaps I got hold off showing how these ads were made.