Amazon's Prime Video is celebrating the launch of fantasy series The Wheel of Time with a live-action 3D illusion featuring the show's star, Rosamund Pike.
The out-of-home spot depicts a battle between the "Light", Pike's character Moiraine Damodred of the all-female organisation the Aes Sedai, verus the "Dark", the commander of the dark army, with the pair appearing to break out from the billboard screen.
Prime Video is debuting the illusion today (15 November) in London's Piccadilly Circus at Ocean Outdoor's Piccadilly Lights site. It will also appear across key markets, including New York's Big Kahuna in Times Square and Tokyo's Cross Shinjuku Vision.
The OOH anamorphic content is site-specific and required Pike to deliver separate performances to be used at each location. No two locations are positioned at exactly the same height from the audience, so each has its own "sweet spot" for optimal anamorphic impact.
Captured on green screen, the live-action performance was composited into each scene. Pike's hands were also shot to create the effect of Moiraine channelling her powers, which were then rebuilt in CGI.
Each OOH location was heavily scouted for positioning, light pollution and sight lines, so the ad could be shot accordingly.
Amplify worked with the show's VFX teams at MPC and Amazon Studios, to deliver the project. The spot was created by Thomas Valente and Tom Phipps.
Alex Wilson, executive creative director at Amplify, said: "We filmed Rosamund Pike on set in Prague in collaboration with Amazon Studios, capturing multiple bespoke takes. Working with Pike and her movement co-ordinator, we developed choreography that would allow her character to feel like she was genuinely reaching out of the screen towards the audience, no matter what city they were in.
"The Wheel of Time is a world full of diverse, exciting characters, storytelling and environments. A world which we wanted to build on, place the audience in the heart of, and then have break out into our reality.
"For the first time, we captured a live-action shoot with star Rosamund Pike, combining it with show quality VFX and bespoke 3D animation. In doing so, we have again broken the format of OOH 3D anamorphic illusions and brought The Wheel of Time to life for audiences like no show before."
Prime Video's brief for the OOH activity was to do something never seen before and introduce the series to a broad audience in a way that was accessible, relatable and inspiring, letting viewers know that The Wheel of Time is an "epic, can't-miss series". The wider marketing campaign includes high-impact placements across TV, VOD, OOH and social, targeting a global mass-market audience.
The series will be out on Prime Video on 19 November.