It's become apparent that a certain electronics manufacturer once revered for its open and independent approach to technology has become the bland establishment it once rallied against. Motorola is making an effort to add some color to this white-washed world with the debut of their new XOOM tablet, a powerful little machine that is cleverly introduced via Smuggler Director Randy Krallman and Anomaly in a :60 which aired during Sunday's Super Bowl XLV.
Press Release from Absolute
It's become apparent that a certain electronics manufacturer once revered for its open and independent approach to technology has become the bland establishment it once rallied against. Motorola is making an effort to add some color to this white-washed world with the debut of their new XOOM tablet, a powerful little machine that is cleverly introduced via Smuggler Director Randy Krallman and Anomaly in a :60 which aired during Sunday's Super Bowl XLV.
Empower the People opens on an austere, double-decker subway platform, where armies of identically white-caped (and, um, coincidentally, white headphone-wearing) drones move in dead-eyed unison onto the arriving train amid an engaging symphony (Amber Composer Biggi Hillmarsson). One XOOM-rocking, stylish rebel stands out, tellingly paging through the chapters of Orwell's 1984 on his tablet as he bobs around the crowd.
Upon exiting the train, he looks up a florist on a dynamically moving city map, ostensibly for a fair-faced drone that we later see working in an adjacent office cubicle. He then captures a photo of the flowers with his XOOM and incorporates that image into an animated stick-figure bouquet exchange between two grinning characters (animated by Absolute's design arm Blind Pig), which he places in front of the girl. Life flows through her; the vapid trance flees her eyes and she slowly, deliberately removes the headphones from them as she stands. The wordless spot ends with the man grinning joyously.
"Motorola's Super Bowl spot makes clever reference to 1984 depicting one individual with the courage and independence of thought to battle the masses - we had to ensure this was depicted throughout the entire spot," noted Absolute Lead VFX Artist Dirk Greene. "There was barely a frame that didn't require some kind of post and our deadline was tight, but we have the best crew around and we pulled this one out with time to spare."
Absolute ripped through the post work - which included crowd duplication, clean-up to remove signs from the subway station, creating and modeling a CG tablet, populating the XOOM's screen with key story elements, and, finally, making the girl's face blush when the tablet gift awakens her - in approximately one week's time.
"This was an awesome opportunity to work with two of the top names in commercial production today," stated Absolute EP Sally Heath. "Anomaly is a truly innovative agency, and Randy (Krallman) has an exceptional understanding of how to shoot with postproduction needs in mind, considerably streamlining the entire process."
Credits:Client: MotorolaSpot Title: Empower the PeopleAir Date: Super Bowl 2011
Agency: AnomalyECD/Partner: Mike ByrneCD/Partner: Richard MulderAD: Grant MasonCopy: Jessica Ghersi-HechtEP/Head of Production: Andrew LoevenguthBrand Director: Laura AldingtonAccount Director: Keith Barry
Prod Co: SmugglerDirector: Randy KrallmanEP(s): Patrick Milling Smith, Brian Carmody, Lisa Rich, Allison Kunzman, Laura ThoelProducer: Cory BergProduction Manager: Rogers Marquess
Editorial Co: Beast NYEditor: Lucas Eskin
Post/Effects Co: Absolute PostLead VFX/Inferno Artist: Dirk GreeneVFX Supervisor: David SmithVFX Artist(s): Betty Cameron, Aniello Zampella, Asuka Otake, Krissy NordellaLead CG Artist: Ivan GuerreroEP: Sally HeathProducer: John Skeffington
Telecine Co: Company 3Colorist: Tom PooleProducer: Marie de Leon
Music Co: AmberTrack: "Biggi's Waltz"Composer: Biggi HillmarssonEP: Michelle Curran
Audio Post Co: audioEngineMixer: Tommy GoldblattEP: Sharon DiTullio-Tepper
Shoot Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
About Absolute:Founded in 2004 by David Smith, one of the world's leading Flame artists, Absolute is a high-end VFX studio working within the commercial, emerging media, music video, and film communities. With offices in New York and London, Absolute over the years has collected numerous industry accolades including two BTAA awards, a D&AD pencil, a Cannes Lion, an APA Collection Diamond, three Andy wins and an MTV video statue. The New York office opened in 2007, helmed by CD Dirk Greene, to further facilitate Absolute's international client roster with a growing Flame and CG service.
Rick DeMott
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