Goodoil Films and Fuel VFX worked with DDB Mudra to tell the story of Flyboy, the boy who could fly but gave it all up to drive his VW Jetta.

It was important to Goodoil Director Hamish Rothwell that the audience empathise with Flyboy as he journeys awkwardly through life before discovering his VW Jetta. "It was my intention from the outset to keep focused on the story of Flyboy. I loved the script, and wanted to tell his story in an empathetic way. We're introduced to the Jetta via this humble, gawky boy with an unusual gift. The message is subtle, and I wanted everything to reflect that - music, lighting and visual effects."

"We chose to partner with Fuel VFX on this commercial because they do fantastic photo real character animation," said Goodoil Producer Sam Long. "The wings are a prominent part of Flyboy and are an extension of his personality so it was essential that the wings be as convincing as the actor who wears them. We knew Fuel could deliver this with the realism required."

Early concept development and 3D previsualisation of the eagle-inspired wing design proved crucial before the shoot took place in Bangalore, India. Exploring what the wings looked like folded and extended helped plan shot composition and to build tracking rigs that were worn by the actors on set.

Fuel VFX Supervisor Brian Kranz: "Once we had our wing design locked down, we built our adult wing rig followed by several scaled down versions to fit the younger actors who represent Flyboy as he grows through life. We worked very closely with Hamish and the model maker in India to create the most effective on-set tracking rig. This was important because the actors needed to know the wing span so they could perform realistically alongside them."

Back at Fuel, the CG wings were feathered, groomed and animated to reflect the feelings and emotions of Flyboy - when he's happy they're raised, when he's hurt and embarrassed, they droop and when he sees the VW Jetta for the first time, you can almost feel them lose a breath with him.

VW 'Flyboy' aired in India on September 7th.