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December 2005

MR. WONDERFUL CREATES A WHOLE NEW GAME WITH HIGH-DEF NHL SPORTS PACKAGE FOR OLN

How do you re-launch one of the nation's most visible sports? Mr. Wonderful, a new design and effects company, was charged with the task of developing a fresh sports package for OLN's coverage of the National Hockey League, which was designed and delivered in 1080i HD, as well as 4:3 NTSC. The project reinforced the trust that was given to Mr. Wonderful by the clients in re-branding and re-launching a national league sport as iconic as the NHL.

"With only one month to create an entire sports package, we needed someone who had solid sports production experience. We knew Mr. Wonderful could give us the best possible product and deliver within our time constraints," explains Michael Magnotta, OLN VP & Creative Director. "Beirne [Lowry] and his team worked with us to create an extremely exciting sports package that is uniquely OLN. It's exactly what we wanted and we're very proud of the finished product."

OLN, a leader in action and adventure sports, will televise at least 58 regular-season games, which will air consistently on Monday and Tuesday nights and be exclusive to the network. The NHL package is the first HD package for a major franchise on OLN and marks NHL's return after a yearlong hiatus. The :22 open was designed by Mr. Wonderful to represent the last heart-pounding :22 of a hockey game. Using stop motion capture of actual professional hockey players, the studio was able to re-create their actions in minute detail with close-ups on various body parts or equipment - not usually feasible in a real game. Action figure models of hockey players were painted white and then shot by Lowry with a digital camera for reference. The concept was to create a photorealistic but stylized look similar to "Sin City" but much brighter.

"The OLN package for the NHL was an entirely different process, look and design," concludes Beirne Lowry, Mr. Wonderful Creative Director. "Our objective was to create a HD open that had never been seen in sports before."

Visit the Mr Wonderful website

FROM JIM JARMUSCH'S "BROKEN FLOWERS" TO THE WHITE STRIPES TOUR TO RECORDING WITH LORETTA LYNNE: THE GREENHORNES DEBUT THEIR NEW VIDEO DIRECTED BY DESIGN COLLECTIVE LIGHTBORNE

Fresh from performing the soundtrack for Jim Jarmusch's most recent film "Broken Flowers," '60s garage-pop band The Greenhornes debut their first music video, "Pattern Skies," in collaboration with directing collective Lightborne. The band, which is signed with V2 records and currently on tour with The White Stripes, asked Lightborne to create a humorous depiction of their current single.

For this video, the band members are deployed as soldiers on a mysterious mission decked out in slapstick military d-uniforms designed by Hamblen. We witness the Greenhornes as they travel through thick jungle then maneuver through a Beirut-looking cityscape, finally ending up at the doorsteps of various distraught girls depicted with negative thought bubbles. As The Greenhornes hit their targets, the hopes and dreams of the girls are transformed from grim to optimistic with the help of stylized animation. The team worked with Lightborne designer Tuesday McGowan to create an overall hybrid visual style in homage to '60s psychedelic illustration and '70s TV show grids that conjured up textures from their childhood like crocheted afghans, wood-grain coffee tables, shag carpets, as well as a signature color palette of browns, oranges and greens. Lightborne editor Jeremiah Shuff carefully choreographed band performance moments into the retro picture and picture grid device while weaving in the farcical storyline throughout.

"We are really happy with the look of the video," says Patrick Keeler, drummer for The Greenhornes. "The way they depicted us was spot-on and perfect for the song."

Lightborne director Scott Fredette concludes, "The Greenhornes have such a great sound and the guys had seen our work and completely trusted our vision from the beginning. In the end, it was good to just follow our instincts, which meant it was pretty much 'open your mind, and let the butterflies go.' I knew we were onto something when I heard that Jim Jarmusch had commented on the psychedelic visual style saying it was a great complement to The Greenhornes music."

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SPY POST'S DESIGN & VFX ILLUMINATE NEW SCION XA IN NEW "PHANTOM" SPOT FROM ATTIK

Leading postproduction company Spy Post was recently contracted by global creative agency ATTIK to contribute their design and VFX talents to a new spot for the 2006 Scion xA. Directed by ATTIK's co-founder and Scion account creative director Simon Needham, the spot entitled "Phantom" provides a visually compelling look at the xA, integrating a highly stylized fusion of live-action and visual effects. Spy Post coordinated visual effects from Gun Shop - which created some of the 3D animation effects - and their lead visual effects supervisor, Alaina Goetz. The spot debuted nationwide on October 31st.

Cut by Mad River Post's Bob Jenkins to a custom track created by Tony Shimkin at Face The Music, the spot incorporates an impressive array of lighting and particle line effects to accentuate the contours and features of the xA. The opening xA logo animation transitions into one of the car's spinning wheels. Flashing strobe lights and jump cuts then highlight the car's exterior styling from various angles filmed in-studio, followed by a driving sequence of the xA cruising through a tunnel. A close-up of the Scion badge on the front grille spins and morphs into the steering wheel, segueing into interior shots of the dash - including the stereo with changing lights and the iPOD plug-in feature - as well as its unique, customizable shift knob and race-inspired sport pedals. The final part of the spot employs rapid transition effects, which highlight exterior design features of the xA along with driving footage. As it comes to rest in the studio with flares and lights that flash in sync with the music, the spot ends with the animated Scion logo and the tagline, "what moves you."

"The challenge with this project was to create a unique look that hadn't been done before," explained Goetz. "We needed to make the car animate and behave in a different way, which is why we used the pops and flashes. We used a variety of techniques to execute the lighting and flares so it was important for the graphic elements to be integrated into the live-action footage."

The compositing work was done in tandem with telecine at Spy Post with colorist Chris Martin, which enabled the director and the client to easily transfer individual shots in different ways throughout the course of the project. It also gave the client the ability to grab different color and lighting passes instantaneously for compositing.

Visit the Spy Post website