We love a good challenge...

Huntington Bank came to us with a wild challenge: bring their founder, P.W. Huntington, to life. The catch? He died in 1918.

We began by creating a 3D model of P.W. based on archival photographs, then designed a vintage portrait that gradually comes to life over the course of the spot. From there, we built a fully CG bank lobby to Huntington’s exact specifications, then cast, shot, and composited real actors into the scene to complete the illusion.

The production included everything from voice-actor casting to motion-capture sessions to synchronize facial animation with the performance. The end result became an iconic campaign for Huntington, successfully introducing the brand to the Carolinas. We are now localizing additional versions for new markets, so P.W. continues to live on!

Huntington Bank

Client

Christa Cox

Head of Production/Executive Producer

Mike Beaumont

Creative Director

Brent Jackson

Live Action Director

Brian Finney

Director of Animation

Andy Murphy-Young, Rimma Dreyband

Producers

ADDY Awards Excellence

Awards

Huntington National Bank

From concept to final execution, Spacejunk has been a valued creative partner.

Josh Smith Vice President, Associate Creative Director

Storyboard and Treatment

Project Details

An AI Solution?

In the early stages, we experimented with bringing P.W. Huntington to life using AI and his original archival photographs. Some of these tests even made it into our first animatics.

While the technology was impressive, we found ourselves constrained by a lack of control over performance and emotional nuance. In the end, we chose to cast an actor and use motion capture to drive a fully realized 3D model of P.W. Huntington, giving us complete control over expression, timing, and authenticity.

Archival Portraits

Animatics

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