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Brickyard VFX Touch Down on Super Bowl Spots

Artist owned-and-operated bi-coastal effects boutique Brickyard VFX contributed visual effects, including CG and compositing work, for three ads that aired during Sunday's Super Bowl XLIII Game. Brickyard's talented Santa Monica-based effects team worked on SPHERE OF SUMMER for Bud Light Lime directed by Smuggler's Stylewar via DDB Chicago, ONE UP for Cash4Gold directed by Hungry Man's Bryan Buckley via Euro RSCG Edge and Arnold Worldwide and THUGS for Denny's directed by Biscuit Filmworks' Perlorian Brothers via Goodby, Silverstein & Partners.

In the :30 SPHERE OF SUMMER for Bud Light Lime, a young guy toting a six-pack exits his apartment onto a blustery, snowy street. Everything in frame is cold and snowed over until he walks past, surrounded by a sphere of warm sunny summer hues. He approaches a man scraping snow off his car, which seamlessly turns into an opening convertible top. As he moves along, colorful flowers bloom from seemingly dormant planter boxes, a snow blower turns into a lawnmower and a snowman becomes a woman cooking at a BBQ. Finally, the fellow steps into a backyard party surrounded by the sunny sphere. He looks across the party at a girl bundled head to toe in winter garb, hands her a Bud Light Lime and she miraculously changes into a summery outfit as the voice over reveals, "Bud Light Lime, it's a summer state of mind."

Brickyard completed complex multi-layer composites to transition the winter and summer plates, and inserted swirling CG snow into almost every shot.

"Our creative team worked around the clock to change the seasons around the calendar from winter to summer and back again," explained Steve Michaels, Partner, Brickyard VFX.

Cash4Gold's Super Bowl spot, ONE UP, features Ed McMahon and MC Hammer hawking Cash4Gold's service of converting precious metals to cash. The spot opens on the Cash4Gold logo and a "Heeeere's money!" from McMahon, who demonstrates how easy Cash4Gold's "satisfaction-guaranteed" service is by placing a pair of unwanted gold cufflinks into the Cash4Gold bag. McMahon and Hammer each show increasingly ludicrous items that can be traded in for cash, such as a gold medallion of Hammer wearing a gold medallion, McMahon's gold golf clubs, gold microphone and gold hip replacement, and Hammer's gold sledge hammer and gold parachute pants. The spot closes with a shot of McMahon saying "Goodbye, old friend," to a gold toilet and the Cash4Gold.com URL. Brickyard VFX performed color correction and online editing for the spot, along with adding bling on the gold elements throughout.

Denny's first-ever Super Bowl ad, THUGS, features voiceover narration from Burt Reynolds. The ad pokes fun at competitors' frilly breakfasts while promoting the Denny's Grand Slam. The :30 spot opens on a booth filled with three gangsters having a serious conversation about "taking care" of a man named Benny who may or may not be a snitch. The conversation is interrupted as a waitress using a noisy can of whipped cream draws a happy face on one thug's silly dessert disguised as a pancake breakfast. The commercial closes on the Denny's logo and the tagline "Isn't it time for a serious breakfast?" as Denny's offers a free Grand Slam breakfast to the entire country.

Brickyard VFX completed finishing, beauty work and color correction for the spot.

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