If
you had to find a new way to represent the raw energy,
the elemental skills, and the essence of the combat
that takes place on a football field, how would
you go about it? How about removing the ground altogether,
leaving only the lines that define the playing area?
Then recreate these lines as metallic rails suspended
in a dark but spot lit space. Then have a set of
top players demonstrating their extreme talents
whilst running and jumping along these rails. If
all this sounds a bit…well…impossible,
then you'll also need a first class visual effects
team to get it on screen. Cue Framestore CFC…
'Impossible Field' is the new 60 second spot for
Adidas, which starts airing in the UK on 1st July
2005. Directed by Daniel Kleinman and produced by
Johnny Frankel for Kleinman Productions, the spot
was created by the international agency 180, which
is based in Amsterdam.
With the camera moving above and below it, the steel
grid is revealed under the spotlights. Nets unfurl,
and the players jog on to the impossible field.
Six international stars – Beckham among them
- line up against a horde of red clad opponents.
This does not appear to be a fair fight. Kick-off
sees the silver football launched across the spaces
between the lines, and the players charge along
the perilously narrow rails. Our heroes duck, weave
and leap past their opponents, leaving a wake of
opponents plunging into the darkness behind them.
Sparks fly from their studs, as our stars perform
a series of stunts that often look more like they
belong in a kung-fu film than on a football field.
With a final mid-air flourish, the ball is belted
with such force that it drives the goalkeeper back
into the net, which is sent flying back down into
the darkness. The tag, 'Impossible is Nothing',
appears, followed by the Adidas logo.
VFX Supervisor William Bartlett oversaw the project
for Framestore CFC. "We started work around Christmas
2004," he recalls, "This was one job where getting
the previs right was absolutely crucial. With several
different sets to shoot on, limited time available
from the stars, and a series of very precise shots
to capture, the shoot had to be set up as perfectly
as possible." Senior Inferno Artists Avtar Bains
and Stephane Allender created the previs –
essentially a series of stickmen figures performing
the planned moves – that gave Bartlett and
Kleinman the information they needed to plan their
shoot.
The shoot itself took place over seven days in a
large studio in Madrid. The entire space was painted
blue, to save manoeuvring blue screens around all
the different set ups. There were several sets,
each designed for different types of shot. "The
beams on which the players were running were wooden
– we replaced them all in post," explains
Bartlett, "We had floor sets, with a beam running
along with the floor on one side and a drop on the
other, with crash mats. Then we had a beam that
was two metres up in the air with a drop on both
sides; and then we had another beam that was 4m
up in the air – this was the circular one
that had bits we could move in and out. We also
had a high beam that was 7m up in the air."
Each of the stars was allocated six shots, and each
was planned down to the last move. Says Bartlett,
"These guys have schedules that you wouldn't believe,
so when they turned up we had to be ready to go.
We had already set the camera's positions on the
set, marked up on the floor, and we knew exactly
what camera shot we wanted. With Beckham, for example,
we finished with him in 2 hours, which was actually
early. Appearances notwithstanding, none of the
star players was in the studio at the same time
as any of the others."
Bartlett's post work in Inferno took some nine weeks.
"It was longer then you might expect for a 60 second
spot," he says, "But then 'Impossible Field' contains
nearly 100 shots – perhaps double what you'd
normally see in this sort of commercial. It's great,
actually, because it means that it really repays
multiple viewings – you keep noticing new
things each time."
Although essentially a 2D job, Bartlett turned to
the Framestore CFC 3D team for a few crucial components.
"The ball in some shots, the beams – which
we crafted quite carefully to look like slightly
scuffed steel, the net in the final shots, and the
studs on many of the players feet; these were all
3D elements."
The agency mood boards had referenced 'Crouching
Tiger' and 'Kill Bill', and these are certainly
present in the final spot. But the set, the design,
the shots, the edit and – casting modesty
aside for a moment – the visual effects in
many ways deserve equal billing with the action
in 'Impossible Field', which is surely the most
thrilling and beautiful spot to appear this year.
Dean Maryon, 180’s Creative Director and Art
Director for the project, was delighted with the
results. "It's a very unforgiving idea,"
he notes, "Up to the last few days we weren’t
sure if we could pull it off. But Framestore CFC
did an amazing job. You totally believe the environment
and the physics of what you’re seeing –
which is the key to the whole experience."
Adidas 'Impossible
Field'
Agency 180 Amsterdam
Creative Director Dean Maryon
Executive Creative Director Andy
Fackrell
Agency Producer Tony Stearns
Copywriter Benjamin Abramowitz
Production Company Kleinman Productions
Production Company Producer Johnnie
Frankel
Director Daniel Kleinman
Production Manager James Hatcher
Production Designer John Ebden
Editor Steve Gandolfi
For Framestore CFC
VFX Supervisor William Bartlett
Inferno Assistant Chris Redding
CG Lead Simon Stoney
CG Dean Robinson, Laura Dias
Matte Artists Nicha Kumkeaw, Daria
Ashley
Spirit Operator Matthew Turner
Post Producer Scott Griffin
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