"Sports heaven".(Arnold Worldwide, Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, advertising contract)

MOBILE ESPN

Agency: Arnold Worldwide Director: Jake Scott Production company: RSA Visual effects: Brickyard VFX

Mobile ESPN makes the entire world "sports heaven," the theme of this successful spot. A young executive walks through the city, so focused on his new Mobile ESPN phone that he doesn't notice the superstar athletes everywhere around him: a group of motocross racers speed out of a parking garage; a Chicago Cub steals a base across an intersection; a pro bowler sends the ball rolling down a driveway for a strike.

Brickyard VFX handled all the effects, and touched every shot with CG imagery and/or compositing. According to executive producer Jay Lichtman, who is based in the effects house's Santa Monica, California, office, Brickyard VFX started the job with concept boards. "There were no shooting boards," he says. "Director Jay Scott was brilliant. He and his production company went on location and created a live-action animatic that was very closely timed, and we followed that. He framed everything the way he wanted. It did change, but it was a good starting point."

During filming, Brickyard VFX Geoff McAuliffe and Robert Sethi supervised, collecting camera and lighting data, reflection images, and reference stills. The elements changed organically throughout production--up to three days before delivery. "There was an intersection shot with a one-down marker, which covered up a lot of the foreground," Lichtman recounts. "It covered up too much action so the crew removed it, and we replaced it with two CG Formula One cars, one CG NASCAR car, and 18 to 20 CG motorbikes."

The CG elements were created in Brickyard VFX's Santa Monica facility, while most of the tracking, rotoscoping, and compositing were done in Boston, where Kirsten Andersen served as that location's executive producer on the project. For the replacement shot described above, says Lichtman, the group ...