Campaign for Goodby Silverstein Marries CG and Archival Live Action Footage
to Create Stunning Portrayals of Historical Basketball Moments
Santa Monica, CA (May 21, 2009)--Artist owned-and-operated bi-coastal
effects boutique Brickyard VFX completed work on the ad campaign for the
2009 NBA Final Championship Series beginning May 19 via agency Goodby
Silverstein & Partners. Entitled "Elevated Moments," the four-spot campaign
was directed by longtime Brickyard collaborators Jonathan Dayton and
Valerie Faris of Bob Industries, and features NBA superstars Larry Bird,
Kobe Bryant, Dr. J, Magic Johnson and Shaquille O'Neal. The campaign first
broke on May 10, and will continue to air throughout the 2009 championship
season.
to Create Stunning Portrayals of Historical Basketball Moments
Santa Monica, CA (May 21, 2009)--Artist owned-and-operated bi-coastal
effects boutique Brickyard VFX completed work on the ad campaign for the
2009 NBA Final Championship Series beginning May 19 via agency Goodby
Silverstein & Partners. Entitled "Elevated Moments," the four-spot campaign
was directed by longtime Brickyard collaborators Jonathan Dayton and
Valerie Faris of Bob Industries, and features NBA superstars Larry Bird,
Kobe Bryant, Dr. J, Magic Johnson and Shaquille O'Neal. The campaign first
broke on May 10, and will continue to air throughout the 2009 championship
season.
The :30 spots promote the upcoming NBA Finals with iconic moments in
basketball history. The ads, which open in empty stadiums that gradually
fill with cheering crowds, are powerful and balletic, slowing down the
action and fading the players in and out of each shot. "Kobe to Shaq Alley
Oop" features Bryant throwing his famous alley oop to O'Neal in game seven
of the 2000 Western Conference Championships. "Bird Steals the Ball"
showcases the Boston Celtics' classic "Now there's a steal by Bird!" moment
in game five of the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals against the Detroit
Pistons. Each spot builds excitement for the final championship games with
the question "Where will amazing happen this year?" and ends with the
"Where amazing happens" tag and NBA logo.
Working from archival photos provided by the NBA, Brickyard VFX assembled
photo-real CG stadium backgrounds for the ads, painstakingly recreating the
historical location from each iconic moment to seamlessly match with the
camera angles in the original game footage. "Recreating the Boston Garden
for the Larry Bird and Magic Johnson spots was particularly challenging
since it's no longer standing," commented Brickyard VFX Executive Producer
Kirsten Andersen.
Brickyard also provided previz to establish timing and camera tracking
angles for the ads, along with extensive rotoscoping of players, referees,
equipment and crowd elements, along with final compositing. "We created a
matte painting of the floor so we could remove shadows and reflections from
the crowds, and then inserted CG reflections from the empty arena,"
Andersen detailed. "The trick was to find a way to integrate the background
plate into the look of the original footage. Each spot demanded a different
technique."
Previous Brickyard work for the Dayton/Faris directorial team includes last
year's celebrated "There Can Be Only One" campaign for the NBA playoff
season, and campaigns for such brands as Burger King, Sprint, Visa, The
Gap, Old Navy, Chevrolet and Volkswagen.
About Brickyard VFX
Located in Boston and Santa Monica, Brickyard VFX is an independent visual
effects boutique specializing in top quality visual effects from 3D
characters through to compositing. Artist owned and operated, the company
was founded in 1999 to bring clients a level of customer service,
craftsmanship and focus difficult to find at facilities today. Brickyard's
creative expertise on set and in the studio has been applied to model,
animate, light, texture, track, color correct and render seamless digital
effects for Pontiac, Bud Light, T-Mobile, NBA, Visa, Sprint and many other
accounts. For more information, please call Brickyard VFX Pacific at (310)
453-5722, Brickyard VFX Atlantic at (617) 262-3220, or visit
www.brickyardvfx.com.
basketball history. The ads, which open in empty stadiums that gradually
fill with cheering crowds, are powerful and balletic, slowing down the
action and fading the players in and out of each shot. "Kobe to Shaq Alley
Oop" features Bryant throwing his famous alley oop to O'Neal in game seven
of the 2000 Western Conference Championships. "Bird Steals the Ball"
showcases the Boston Celtics' classic "Now there's a steal by Bird!" moment
in game five of the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals against the Detroit
Pistons. Each spot builds excitement for the final championship games with
the question "Where will amazing happen this year?" and ends with the
"Where amazing happens" tag and NBA logo.
Working from archival photos provided by the NBA, Brickyard VFX assembled
photo-real CG stadium backgrounds for the ads, painstakingly recreating the
historical location from each iconic moment to seamlessly match with the
camera angles in the original game footage. "Recreating the Boston Garden
for the Larry Bird and Magic Johnson spots was particularly challenging
since it's no longer standing," commented Brickyard VFX Executive Producer
Kirsten Andersen.
Brickyard also provided previz to establish timing and camera tracking
angles for the ads, along with extensive rotoscoping of players, referees,
equipment and crowd elements, along with final compositing. "We created a
matte painting of the floor so we could remove shadows and reflections from
the crowds, and then inserted CG reflections from the empty arena,"
Andersen detailed. "The trick was to find a way to integrate the background
plate into the look of the original footage. Each spot demanded a different
technique."
Previous Brickyard work for the Dayton/Faris directorial team includes last
year's celebrated "There Can Be Only One" campaign for the NBA playoff
season, and campaigns for such brands as Burger King, Sprint, Visa, The
Gap, Old Navy, Chevrolet and Volkswagen.
About Brickyard VFX
Located in Boston and Santa Monica, Brickyard VFX is an independent visual
effects boutique specializing in top quality visual effects from 3D
characters through to compositing. Artist owned and operated, the company
was founded in 1999 to bring clients a level of customer service,
craftsmanship and focus difficult to find at facilities today. Brickyard's
creative expertise on set and in the studio has been applied to model,
animate, light, texture, track, color correct and render seamless digital
effects for Pontiac, Bud Light, T-Mobile, NBA, Visa, Sprint and many other
accounts. For more information, please call Brickyard VFX Pacific at (310)
453-5722, Brickyard VFX Atlantic at (617) 262-3220, or visit
www.brickyardvfx.com.
