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In
two new spots for online stock trading service E*Trade, Framestore
NY brings the world of stocks to a whole new generation. Seamlessly
fusing the remarkable talents of a small baby, a five-year-old
boy, and a decidedly laid-back sounding director, Framestore
NY Senior Flame Artists Raul Ortego and Mindy Dubin have created
two of the most talked about spots of this year's Super Bowl
XLII.
"These were not easy jobs," admits Laney Gradus,
Senior Producer at Framestore NY. "We worked long and
hard on them, but you never want to pass up the challenge
or opportunity of a Super Bowl spot, and these two were just
too funny. We had about two weeks to complete the first job,
and about eight days for the second, so we worked day and
night, but the results were worth it."
Indeed they are. Deceptively titled Trading and Banking,
the two spots consist of a webcam-like shot of a remarkably
mature little baby describing the ease-of-use of E*Trade's
services.
You don't know how old I am
Trading opens with our very cute baby boy
explaining the advantages of buying stock online. After blithely
dismissing those who would suggest he is too young to buy
stock, our young man proceeds to click his way to a purchase,
even as he encourages us to do the same. He then spits up
a milky substance, but not to worry: no babies were harmed
in the filming of these commercials.
"First, the baby was filmed on his own," explains
Ortego (Ortego recently joined Framestore as their newest
Sr. Flame artist). "They then had a five year old boy
read the script at a variety of cadences and rhythms, and
from every conceivable angle. It was then up to us to seamlessly
track the five year old's mouth on to the baby's face. The
very funny voiceover was done by the director of the spot,
Randy Krallman. I was particularly happy with the vomit, which
was a combination of our CG work and actual yogurt spit out
by the five year old. We did a greenscreen shoot of a milky
substance being pushed through a hole. The way it comes out
and sticks to his lips is very realistic."
What to do with all that extra coin
Equally funny, though without the vomit, is Banking
in which the same baby shares the screen with a balloon-blowing
clown. Explaining that his E*Trade savings account has a return
of many times what banks offer, our baby goes on to say that
"with all that extra coin" he has rented a clown.
Still more realistically, he admits to having initially "underestimated
the creepiness" of his new companion.
"Mindy turned this spot around in record time,"
says Gradus. "The script was changed to include the clown,
who had to be shot on green screen and composited in. And
that was on top of the tricky task of synching the baby's
mouth movements to the voiceover. We were helped, however,
by the fact that all the baby's expressions and movements
are his own. None of those were added in post, and they add
an incredible authenticity, and therefore heightened humor,
to the spot."
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