Creative design and digital production studio The Syndicate reteamed with ESPN to create a rollicking, high energy open to kick off the new season of Monday Night Football (MNF).
Legendary singer Hank Williams Jr. performs ALL MY ROWDY FRIENDS ARE COMING OVER MONDAY NIGHT and welcomes a colorful montage of amped-up partygoers to his weekly HOUSE PARTY, where they crank up the volume to dangerously high levels, launching the iconic NFL double helmets into space and into America's football stadiums.
ALL MY ROWDY FRIENDS has been the Monday Night Football anthem for the past 20 seasons and has earned Williams four Emmy Awards. The new MNF open debuted at ESPN's season-opening doubleheader on September 8.
ESPN's Chris Mantzaris directed the HOUSE PARTY open with The Syndicate's Ben Grossmann serving as visual effects creative director and second unit director. In addition, David Hwang, creative director of DesignWorks at The Syndicate, and his team created much of the graphic package and elements for the season-long project. The Syndicate was also responsible for editorial, dailies, and telecine.
Each week the HOUSE PARTY open will feature team-specific lyrics and visuals based on the 17 regular-season ESPN match-ups. Hank's party guests -- celebrities, fans, team mascots and cheerleaders -- will be customized for every game along with song lyrics; animated team logo helmets and live footage of football stadiums will also be inserted into each re-edited open.
The CG helmets that explode through the roof at the party trace a trajectory over the nightscape of the city and against the curvature of the earth, flying through space before descending onto the stadium field. They crash together in a force field of glowing energy to reveal the NFL logo, an iconic signature of past league promos and one that also incorporates design elements of the effects-intensive open and broadcast package that The Syndicate created for ESPN and MNF in 2006.
The crashing helmets will be composited, literally on the fly, over live aerial footage of the stadium where that week's game will be played. An aerial camera crew will fly over the stadium prior to kickoff, capturing that footage and holding on a shot of the 50-yard line for ESPN's production crew and compositors. The Syndicate's Grossmann worked closely with the aerial team to identify flight paths and coordinate logistics in order to obtain the best establishing shots for each venue. Test shots and footage were sent by the camera operators to Grossmann's mobile phone for approvals on placement and angle.
Grossmann said, "We had great fun working with ESPN on HOUSE PARTY. The custom elements and live action skycam footage will bring heightened anticipation and excitement for MNF fans each week. We think they're going to love discovering these personalized 'Easter eggs.'"
Kenny Solomon, managing director at The Syndicate and exec producer said, "ESPN leads the way in innovative sports programming and coverage. Their unique visual style has ushered in new ways to experience sports for viewers and the MNF open is no exception. We're very proud that ESPN has chosen us to be their creative partner as they continue to define the world of sports broadcasting."
To view the new ESPN MNF open, go to:http://www.syndicate.tv/syndicate/news/2008/espn_mnfopen_pr.html.
