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 while running and jumping along these rails.
IMPOSSIBLE FIELD is the new :60 spot for Adidas, which started airing in the U.K. on July 1. Directed by Daniel Kleinman and produced by Johnny Frankel for Kleinman Prods., the spot was created by the international agency 180, which is based in Amsterdam, with vfx by Londons Framestore CFC.
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 players 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 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 maneuvering bluescreens around all the different setups. 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," explained 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 meters 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. Added 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 two 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 spot," he said, "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, HIDDEN DRAGON and KILL BILL, and these are certainly present in the final spot. Dean Maryon, 180s creative director and art director for the project, was delighted with the results. "It's a very unforgiving idea," he noted, "Up to the last few days we werent sure if we could pull it off. But Framestore CFC did an amazing job. You totally believe the environment and the physics of what youre seeing, which is the key to the whole experience."
Framestore CFC credits include:* 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
London-based Framestore CFC (www.framestore-cfc.com) is one of the leading visual effects company working on effects for feature films and commercials.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
