"Superfan".(Budweiser, DDB Worldwide, advertising contract)

BUDWEISER

Agency: DDB Chicago Director: John O'Hagen Production company: Digital Domain Visual effects: Digital Domain

Budweiser's Clydesdales are a familiar touchstone during the Super Bowl broadcast, and this year's offering was particularly good. "Superfan" was one of this year's most memorable spots, with a whimsical twist as the iconic horses played ball on opposing sides of a pasture gridiron.

The spot opens on a wide shot of a golden field with snowy mountains in the distance. The two teams of Budweiser Clydesdales approach the line of scrimmage in slow motion, as the fans on the sidelines--goats, antelope, buffalo, foxes, wolves, and sheep--wait in anticipation of the play. As the tension builds for the play to begin, a freshly shorn sheep sprints out onto the field. It's a streaker, notes one of two cowboys watching the game. As the fans cheer, the sheep runs between the horses and then stands on its hind legs, as a shot of a fox strategically covers the animal's exposed body parts for a G rating.

Visual effects supervisor Jonny Hicks notes that the director asked the VFX team to be involved in the planning stage of the commercial, since the spot would require so many new, challenging actions. "We saw the boards of the sheep standing on its hind legs, waving its front hooves in the air, and shaking its booty," recalls Hicks. "We had four weeks from concept to the finished piece."

Of that production time, one week was spent shooting on location at Lone Pine, a small town nestled in a valley between two mountain ranges, where several animal wranglers looked after the real bears, wolves, sheep, and other animals, which were filmed individually against greenscreen. The main shoot involved the Clydesdales and the hero sheep, while the B shoot--accomplished using three cameras to get shots from different angles--captured all the animals that would make up the crowd scene. The greenscreen was L-shaped, so the crew could get front-on and side shots of the animals at the same time. To keep the lighting correct, the ...