Press Release from AVSO

A Very Small Office (AVSO) Director Vincent Haycock and design and animation studio Offspring have once again teamed up with Team Detroit to produce a memorable Ford campaign. The trio of :30s, introducing the all-new 2011 Ford Super Duty line of trucks, is the next evolution of Ford's Rant campaign and the fourth set of spots AVSO and Offspring have collaborated on for the automotive giant in the past year and a half. The new series follows the spirit of the previous Rant campaign, but takes it even further for this bold line of trucks. This time dynamic live-action truck footage was shot on location in actual environments. In post-production the spots were given their signature black and white high-contrast look, then decked out with 3 dimensional typography that is integrated and tracks with each scene.

"This time around the goal was to apply the established visual language to the bigger and bolder line of trucks," noted Haycock. "It's a more industrial line made for the serious Ford user, so the visuals and attitude had to be adjusted appropriately. We came up with the idea to shoot large, Ansel Adams-style landscapes and worked with Offspring to produce an exact look. Our prior work history with Team Detroit and Offspring made for a smooth process throughout the execution of the campaign."

The new campaign started with the idea of amplifying the voice of Super Duty with a bold and interesting look, to showcase the workhorse of the Ford family of products. With that in mind, Haycock worked closely with Offspring to create a distinct look - defined by dramatic lighting, black-and-white landscapes and seamless camera-moves all contrasted against fully colored trucks. The goal is to highlight the power and authenticity of these trucks to the Super Duty customer: Benjamins shows a Ford Super Duty navigating through the cranes and crates of a sprawling dockyard; Friend stars the truck traveling through a high-powered wind farm and past soaring mountains; Kumbaya tracks the vehicle towing large equipment through a rock quarry. Leary rattles off the truck's various technical advantages - highest payload, towing power, horsepower, torque, and fuel economy - as the truck breezes past gas stations and effortlessly tows 12-ton payloads.

"AVSO and Offspring worked closely with Team Detroit to bring the Rant campaign to life, it really paid off that we were able to develop the graphic language early on in the process which turned out to be an incredible success for the brand," noted AVSO EP Saffron Case. "So we were thrilled to once again collaborate on the series with the same group to bring this latest installment to air."

"We shot all the trucks in live action rather than CG, which presented some special challenges given the vibrant onscreen environments," noted Matt Tragesser, Offspring Creative Lead. "The footage had to be rotoscoped and tracked to work with the 3D typography, which took a lot of coordination from all sides. The process was worth it, however, as having the trucks grounded in the environments really added to the spots' authenticity."
Credits:

Client: Ford Motor Company
Spots Title: Friend, Benjamins, Kumbaya
Air Date: April 2010

Agency: Team Detroit
Chief Creative Officer: Toby Barlow
Group Creative Director/Writer: Brad Hensen
Group Creative Director/Art Director: Paul Kirner
Art Director: Matt Swanson
Writer: Michael Nishanian
Producer: Craig Mungons

Prod Company: A Very Small Office (AVSO)
Director: Vince Haycock
EP: Saffron Case
Line Producer: Pete Vitale

Editorial/Design & Animation: Offspring
Editor: Nathan Caswell
Creative Lead: Matt Tragesser
Lead Designers: Wes Richardson & Danny Kamahji,
Animators/compositors: Craig Davis, Jack Bhong, Jack Myers, Gary Tam, Mark Thompson, Paul Villacis
Lead 3D animator: Marty Geren
3D animator: Gavin Guerra
EP Producer: Joanna Fillie
Producer: Suzanne Potashnick
Production Coordinator: Michelle Seidenfrau

Telecine: Nice Shoes
Colorist: Chris Ryan