A52 Conjures Road Hazards for Goodby, Silverstein & Partners' Goodyear Broadcast Campaign
Page 1 of 1
WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA (Jun. 20, 2003) -- Clio-winning visual effects and design company A52 today proudly detailed their visual effects work for Biscuit Filmworks and director Noam Murro for Goodby, Silverstein & Partners/ San Francisco's Goodyear broadcast campaign. The campaign's first :30 spots - one entitled "Balls" and a second entitled "Screw" - continue airing nationwide, and a third spot will debut soon.
This campaign features dramatic scenarios wherein harmless, mundane objects become threatening... thereby revealing the advanced safety features of Goodyear's products.[an error occurred while processing this directive]In "Screw," the latest spot, a two-inch steel screw takes on a life of its own to plummet from the top of a city skyscraper, work its way into a busy street and then align itself with the front tire of a speeding BMW and stand upright. Fortunately for the driver and everyone else on that street, this is no ordinary tire; the vehicle continues racing along, as announcer Marcus McCollum says, "Sharp steel is no match for smart rubber. Tires with run-flat technology... On the Wings of Goodyear."
 |
| Click image to view QuickTime |
What Effects? In the words of the campaign's art director Paul Foulkes, A52 was approached for this project, "...specifically because we wanted special effects that you don't really see." For "Screw," A52's CGI team used Side Effects Software's Houdini to create the steel menace in every single shot.
A52's creative director Simon Brewster served as visual effects supervisor and Inferno artist on the campaign, and he was particularly pleased with his colleagues' efforts on "Screw." "The spot has an understated and fun story," he said. "We set out to make the animated screw fit in seamlessly with the live-action plates for a photoreal look. The CGI team created the animated screw and the shots were integrated in Inferno." Renderman was used to render the animated elements.
Paul Foulkes continued discussing A52's contributions in more detail. "We all met long before shooting anything to work out the details. The concept was there," he explained, "but they played a key role in helping guide us as to what this thing could do realistically."
Finally, Foulkes offered this take on A52's contributions. "The screw is created in every single shot - and it's totally seamless and looks perfectly natural. Most people might think that was a real screw. The idea was to get special effects that don't seem like special effects, and I think A52's team did a great job."
In addition to Paul Foulkes, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners' team included creative director Harry Cocciolo, copywriter Tyler Hampton and producer Diane Hill. Todd Grantham handles the Goodyear account for GS&P.
A52's managing director is Rick Hassen, their executive producer is Darcy Leslie Parsons and the producer for this project was Ron Cosentino. Along with Simon Brewster, their project team also included 3D animators Denis Gauthier, Westley Sarokin, Jeff Willette and David Burton. Sarokin and Cosentino also served as on-set visual effects supervisors.
Production was overseen by Biscuit Filmworks' executive producer Shawn Lacy-Tessaro and producer Jay Veal; Stefan Czapsky served as director of photography and John Reinhart as production designer. The editorial team from New York's Bikini Edit was led by editor Avi Oron and executive producer Gina Pagano. The sound design and final mix were handled by Reinhard Denke at Stimmüng, where Ceinwyn Clark is executive producer; Jason Johnson composed the original music tag for Stimmüng.
Recently honored with a Silver Clio Award for Television & Cinema Visual Effects for their work on the Adidas "Slugs", A52's team also contributed CG work and effects to the Silver Clio-winning Playstation2 "Signs" spot and handled effects for the VW Beetle "Bubble Boy" spot which has earned a Bronze Clio, an International Andy Award, a One Show Gold Pencil and an International Automotive Advertising Silver Award - and has been honored by inclusion in multiple categories of the 2003 AICP Show, including Visual Style. A52 also handled visual effects for Nike "Move," another 2003 AICP Visual Style honoree.
About A52
Established in 1997 as a home for the very latest high-end visual effects technologies and the industry's most talented graphic design artists, West Hollywood visual effects and design company A52 creates award-winning imagery for the world's most visually ambitious commercial and music video projects. The company's work has been honored as being among the very best throughout its marketplace, having received top honors from Adweek, Advertising Age, Creative Review, Creativity, Shoot and Shots... and also having received AICP Show recognition for four consecutive years along with recent "Outstanding Commercial" Emmy, Andy, Automotive Advertising, BDA, Clio, British Design and Art Direction, London International Advertising, One Show, PROMAX and International Monitor Awards. For more information, please call executive producer Darcy Leslie Parsons at 310.385.0851.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
