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CGnews
July 2nd, 2007, 05:16 PM
10871Artist owned-and-operated effects boutique Brickyard VFX announced completion of two TV spots, including end tags, as part of a new national campaign for Sprint, "Sprint Ahead," via ad agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. Shot and directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, the commercials, which begin airing on July 2, feature the use of light to denote creativity and speed.

The two :60 and two :30 cut-down "anthem" advertisements, one for business customers and another for consumers, are featured as part of the new national "Sprint Ahead" campaign. The spots, entitled "Dreams" and "Charts," demonstrate how consumers and businesses are using and benefiting from Sprint's technology today and how they will do so in the future, all at the speed of light.

http://media.vfxtalk.com/images/articles04/Chart60_FINAL2.jpg (http://www.cgnews.com/movies/BY_Sprint_Chart30_FINAL.mov)
Watch the Video Here (http://www.cgnews.com/movies/BY_Sprint_Chart30_FINAL.mov)

"Charts," targeting Sprint's business customers, features people in a variety of work situations drawing oversized pie charts, bar graphs and Venn diagrams in the air with light, as if by magic.

Set against a lush, orchestral soundtrack, men and women move in slow motion, drawing the brightly colored charts with elaborate gestures. A voice-over dedicates the ad to "all the achievers out there," and both spots close with the end tag created by Brickyard for the campaign. All of the animated light effects were created in CG by the team headed by Robert Sethi and Yafei Wu, and Brickyard also performed tracking to ensure that the animations matched up perfectly with the movements of the actors, as well as beauty work and final color correction.

http://media.vfxtalk.com/images/articles04/Chart60_FINAL3.jpg

"There was a lot of CG in 'Charts,' and it was fun to help bring the agency's really solid concept to life," noted Geoff McAulliffe, Brickyard's lead VFX artist for the spots. "By being involved in the project early on, we could really concentrate on making the spot look cool, making it as beautiful as we could. It was a real privilege to work on this campaign, and it was great working with Valerie and Jonathan again-we've worked with them for over 10 years, and we really believe in what they do-they bring an enormous level of artistry to every project they're involved in."

"Dreams" targets Sprint's consumer market, featuring a community park at dusk populated by people drawing the things they dream about with light.

http://media.vfxtalk.com/images/articles04/Dreams60_4.jpg (http://www.cgnews.com/movies/BY_Sprint_Dreams30_FINAL.mov)
Watch the Video Here (http://www.cgnews.com/movies/BY_Sprint_Dreams30_FINAL.mov)

Flowers pop up, fish jump out of the water, stars appear, rocket ships take off, all with practical light effects. The voice-over ties all of the elements together, telling a story about dreams and the tools that help realize those dreams. The spot, shot entirely in-camera, was created from a series of still images linked together to achieve a live action effect.

Brickyard performed extensive beauty work for the ad, some compositing to bring the various layers of imagery together, and final color correction to ensure consistency throughout.

http://media.vfxtalk.com/images/articles04/Dreams60_5.jpg

"These spots for Sprint's new campaign are just gorgeous, and we're thrilled to have had our part in bringing them to life," commented Cara Farnsworth, Brickyard's producer for the commercials. "Simulating the live action effect in 'Dreams' took some experimentation, but we're delighted with what we achieved."

Past Brickyard VFX collaborations with the Dayton/Faris team include ad campaigns for such national brands as Chevrolet, The Gap, Old Navy, Priceline, Volkswagen and others.

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. Completely 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 problem-solving expertise on set and in the studio has been applied to model, animate, light, texture, track, color correct and render seamless digital effects for XM Radio, Citibank, Volkswagen, Honda, Tyson Foods 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 .

Credits

Client: Sprint
"Dreams"
"Charts"
Agency: Goodby, Silverstein and Partners Brian Coate, Producer Michael Damiani, Producer Ronny Northrop, Creative Director/CW Franklin Tipton, Creative Director/CW Pete Conolly, ACD/Art Director Randy Stowell, Creative Director/AD Rich Silverstein, Partner/Creative Director Lindsay Baker, Executive Assistant Barbro Eddy, Executive Producer Jake Grand, Broadcast Coordinator Rob Smith, Account Director Zoe Kretzschmar, Account Manager Danielle Krosowski, Asst. Account Manager Production Co: Bob Industries TK Knowles, Executive Producer Dayton/Faris, Director Bart Lipton, Line Producer
Telecine: Company 3
Dave Hussy, Colorist

Editorial: Spotwelders
Haines Hall, Editor
David Glean, Executive Producer

Visual FX: Brickyard VFX
Geoff McAuliffe, VFX Supervisor & Lead VFX Artist Narbeh Mardirossian, Compositor Mandy Sorenson, Compositor Yafei Wu, Co-Lead CG Artist Robert Sethi, Co-Lead CG Artist Aaron Vest, CG Artist Carl Harders, Junior CG Artist Johnny Diaz, Junior CG Artist TV Tran, Junior CG Artist Kirsten Andersen, Executive Producer Cara Farnsworth, Producer Ananda Reavis, Production Coordinator

Visual FX
Eric Swenson, VFX Supervisor

Sound: Lime

ShakeandBake
July 3rd, 2007, 01:02 PM
Excellent spot. I am curious to know which office of Brickyard worked on these, the one in Boston or the one in Santa Monica.

mauimacman
July 10th, 2007, 07:59 PM
What is really interesting in this spot is that THEY CHEATED! I do this same look in-camera. I do it with only a film or digital camera an no motion control, no post processing or digital effects! If you'd like to see my stuff, just reply with your request!

congarat
July 13th, 2007, 02:42 PM
What is really interesting in this spot is that THEY CHEATED! I do this same look in-camera. I do it with only a film or digital camera an no motion control, no post processing or digital effects! If you'd like to see my stuff, just reply with your request!

Hi, Mauimacman-

There was no claim to VFX animation on "Dreams", only in "Charts" which is live action. If you have any examples of light animation on live action on your site, let us know.

:)

GeMcA1
July 13th, 2007, 02:49 PM
Hi, We didn't cheat on the 'Dreams' spot. The effects were all shot in camera. Some clean up was done in flame but the effect is real, shot with a Canon D5 still camera. On the 'Charts' spot, we cheated a lot because it's not possible to shoot this effect in camera ( slo-mo footage with light trails ) No motion control was used on either spot.

GeMcA1
July 13th, 2007, 02:55 PM
Excellent spot. I am curious to know which office of Brickyard worked on these, the one in Boston or the one in Santa Monica.

Hi, I was the project leader on these spots. I am Boston based in our Newbury Street office. I often travel to Santa Monica and work out of the office there, and that is where I completed the Sprint job. It was easier for the agency, as they are San Francisco based.
The CG work was done in the Santa Monica office using Maya.

Regards,
G.McAuliffe

some1shero
July 17th, 2007, 12:22 PM
GeMcA1:

Nice work!

my friend showed me this spot towards the end of june. he's the guy in the green jacket playing jump rope 1 second into the spot on the right side.

i believe he animated some of the lights in the commercial.

it's crazy because i was told it was shot from 7pm to 4am. hahaha. that's dedication!

some1shero