In a flurry of recent work, artist-owned-and-operated effects company Brickyard VFX has designed end graphics and eleventh-hour visual effects enhancements for TOBOGGAN, a holiday-themed commercial promoting the Hummer 2. The company was initially tapped by Boston advertising agency Modernista! to design the ads animated end-tag graphics exclusively, but also stepped up to the plate with frame-by-frame color correction and other effect tweaks when last-minute creative changes needed to be done in a pinch. Katherine Bigelow of Independent Media directed the spot, which began airing during Thanksgiving.
TOBOGGAN (:60) follows a dad and his boys on a sled ride from impossible heights. Images of a precarious Mt. Crumpet jump to mind as music from Dr. Seuss HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS accompanies the gleefully yelling trio down the steep snowy slope. As they speed toward the bottom, a shot back up the peak of their Hummer 2 reveals the transport that got them to this awesome jump-off point.
Brickyard VFX designed the tag graphic Have a Safe Holiday. Please! which appears as text at the close of the spot and tumbles off as it is integrated into a long, pull-out-from-Earth visual effect. Other tweaks contributed by Brickyard VFX artists Geoff McAuliffe, Dave Waller and Patrick Poulatian include changing the color of the gray car filmed on set to an eye-popping red, and adding in tire tracks to complete the idea of the Hummers high-altitude trip.
This was one of those pull-a-rabbit-outs-the-hat jobs, said Kirsten Andersen, vfx producer at Brickyard VFX. We were brought in to do a six-hour session for the end tag graphics only, and ended up with seven days of effects tweaks including heavy-duty color correction on the car. Its great to have a team that is capable, flexible and able to spring into action to meet changing client requests and needs.
Located in Boston and Santa Monica, Brickyard VFX (www.brickyardvfx.com) is an independent visual effects boutique specializing in digital finishing, effects and compositing.
Graphic Design/Additional VFX: Brickyard VFX Boston, Massachussets/Santa Monica, California* VFX Artists: Geoff McAuliffe, Patrick Poulatian, Dave Waller* VFX Producer: Kirsten Andersen
VFX: The Mill New York, NY* Producer: Verity Grantham, Melanie Wickham * Telecine Artist: Fergus McCall* VFX Supervisor/Lead Flame: Angus Kneale * Flame Assist: Richard Betts, Jeanette Williford, Gavin Wellsman * 3D Artists: Ben Smith, Arlene Persaud, Aron Hjartason
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
