XBOX - INSIDE THE GAMERS MIND

Agency: TAG
Production Company: Radical LA
Post production: The Mill NY & LA

The campaign consisted of 4 separate commercials that show an actors face reacting in extreme slow motion to what they were feeling while experiencing XBOX. As they react, the camera moves around their head, revealing a miniature world as if on a stage, that the audience can see through the back of the subject’s mind. Each commercial depicts a different game or feature available on the XBOX; Guitar Hero, Movie, Fantasy and Rock band.

>To establish the initial look and pace of the four commercials, a detailed pre-visualisation was compiled which allowed the director and his clients to finalize how they wanted the shots to look. Data from these pre-visualised moves were then used to plot the camera path of our Milo motion control system on set. We shot three different scaled moves for each commercial in order to give the correct perspective plates and relative elements for post production.

The close-up’face plates’ were filmed on the Milo with a Phantom, Hi-speed HD camera at 700 Fps with the actor sitting on our hi- speed turntable as it rotated. Each different internal ‘head set’ was also shot using the turntable and Milo with many different effects passes for lighting, exposure and atmospheric smoke. The largest scale set was the ‘mock up’ room where the actors appear inside their own head. This set consisted of a 7m wide stage fitted to the turntable. Each plate was shot against either a black or green screen and the exported the camera path was used to generate 3D backgrounds to complete the scene.

Click on any of the images below in order to see a QuickTime movie of this Commercial

007 -TITLE SEQUENCE

Production Company: The Ebeling Group

Directors: MK12

The Title sequence was shot at Pinewood Studios with our Super Cyclops motion Control Rig. We open on James Bond in the desert. The terrain is barren, the environment hostile and sand dunes surround him at every turn. The sand dunes are actually naked women and as they move and roll over they dislodge Bond from his path and cause him to fall from one scene to another.

During the sequence there are multiple girls in frame, each shot individually, in order to allow the camera to get as close as possible. The set involved two huge sand pits, which would become the desert terrain for the naked girls to be positioned in. The girls were covered in sand to disguise their shape and also to create a falling element of sand within the shot.

In advance of the shoot the Motion Control moves were pre-visualised and imported into our Rig Chase software. This checks that all aspect of the move can be achieved in the real world thus saving time on the shoot.

A revolution lens, in snorkel mode, was used to allow close proximity to the floor of the sand pit. As the camera passed over the girls they were given cues, by way of a bloop light, so they would be able to react at the correct time and on cue.

The Daniel Craig elements had also been pre-visualised in the same way as the shots with the girls and his positions were designed to be interactive with the girl footage. The motion control camera moves were worked out and stored in advance using a stand in. This reduced the amount of time that Daniel was required on set and also made it easy to position him as required.

TAKE-OVERS IN SWEDEN

Agency: McCann Oslo
Production Company: Social Club
Post production: The Chimney Pot

The commercial was shot in 2 locations in Stockholm, Sweden, using one of our portable Milo motion control systems. The whole sequence was designed in 3D, and a pre-visualisation was provided in order to give the client an accurate guide as to how the final commercial would look and feel.

The shot starts from the inside of a freezer warehouse and follows an actor carrying a case of fish that is being
loaded into a waiting delivery truck.
The camera follows the ‘goods’ as they are placed on the floor inside the truck and seamlessly continues its motion around the fish and through the truck load area to where the cab end of the truck would be. However, as the move continues, and the shot widens again to reveal the scene, we find that our truck has moved location and is now parked outside a restaurant where the ‘goods’ are waiting to be unloaded.

The shot starts from the inside of a freezer warehouse and follows an actor carrying a case of fish that is being loaded into a waiting delivery truck. The camera follows the goods as they are placed on the floor inside the truck and seamlessly continues its motion around the fish and through the truckload area to where the cab end of the truck would be. However, as the move continues, and the shot widens again to reveal the scene, we find that our truck has moved location and is now parked outside a restaurant where the goods are waiting to be unloaded.

To be able to match the pace and timings for each part of the move exactly, 3D data from the pre-visualisation was used to generate the Milo camera paths via our in house Rig Chase software package. Adjustments could then be quickly made on set to compensate for any discrepancies in the real world such as the road camber affecting the trucks horizontal position between the 2 locations. This commercial was shot in one day and night. The end result is one continuous seamless transition from one location to the other as if the truck had been magically transported from the warehouse to the restaurant.

Click HERE in order to see a Quick Time movie of this commercial.