Baraka Post Production was appointed by Miami-based advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky and Outsider director James Rouse to provide pre-production expertise, on-site location advice, post production and 3D animation effects for a series of five commercials for Slim Jim. The concept was to merge real-life clips of teenagers videoing themselves trying out dangerous stunts like bike jumps and skateboard tricks, usually with disastrous consequences and to shoot a new beginning and a new end shot, ensuring that the setting, lighting and quality of the inherited original clip matched perfectly and seamlessly as one long clip.
Added into the scenario is the Fairy Snap Mother, a tough male guardian angel or fairy godfather that appears when the accident-prone teen shows hesitance and signs of thinking twice about his actions. The Fairy Snap Mother encourages the misguided youth with a sharp snap of the product and this magically provides the daredevil teen with the courage to attempt the stunt and Slim Jim empowers him.
Barakas David Cox was involved in the project right from the start. As for the Fairy Snap Mother, David Cox explains, I felt that shooting him later against green screen would provide more possibilities in terms of his motion, position and timing in the shots. It also meant that different pairings of the Snap Mothers dialogue and the teens dialogue could be decided on later.
Rouse states, It was an ambitious project. We had five short clips, already shot, that we artificially extend to create five long spots with no cuts, featuring a flying man- fairy. Done wrong it would have been a disaster, done right they could really work. Thankfully, David and I got the chance to work together a great deal both before and during the shoot planning what needed to be done, and then David worked his usual magic once we got back to the edit. The joins are truly seamless to the normal viewer, and even a geek like me has a challenge spotting the joins going through them frame by frame. So it appears it was possible to match arid L.A. with rainy Oregon after all.
Cox advised and attended both the pre-production meetings and the shoot in L.A., as it was imperative that what was shot could be made to link seamlessly with the Internet video. He expands, We try to get involved as early as possible with our clients projects as we see ourselves as partners in the whole process of film-making, rather than just a supplier at the end of a campaign. For Slim Jim, this worked really well because I was able to push the line as far as possible between correct production techniques and what works for post. The problem is that if you just concentrate on what is easy for post, you can end up with a very sterile production. Being on set and in pre-production let me make calls that allowed the most freedom possible for the director and director of photography, whilst knowing that my company had the capability to deliver perfect shots on time without too many shooting restrictions.
Using SGOs Mistika Post Production System, Cox began to creatively tie the two shots together. Firstly, the look of the new material was re-graded and distressed to match the look of the following shot. This entailed not just color changes, but also the addition of video noise, clarity and lens sharpness.
Cox adds, Mistika is unique in the way it combines Digital Intermediate quality colour grading with infinite layer compositing and a time line. For the Slim Jim transitions this was essential, as the invisibility of the joins relied entirely on how the elements were composited together, how the footage was regarded and re-textured as well as the precise timing of the transition that needed to have its duration and timing slipped back and forth to find the best combination. Mistika uniquely combines these functions into one system, rather than having a separate compositing tool, a separate time line based tool and a separate grading system. That route would have made the project impractically slow.
Once the transitions were completed, the comical Fairy Snap Mother was added. He was also bejeweled with life-like fairy-wings, which were designed and animated at Barakas 3D facility in Maya by Aleksandar Stiglic. He worked closely with the agency art director James Dawson-Hollis as the wings needed to match those also being used for a print-based campaign. The trick with the 3D effects was to get the wing movement spot on, and as there are no flying fairies to use as a reference, Stiglic simulated the flight of the humming bird using Mayas DT3D Skin Shader to give the wings a translucent appearance.
Additionally it caused concern that the two crash videos featuring bikers not wearing crash helmets could be seen to promote unsafe activity by the target audience. Barakas 3D animators Sarah Vincent and George Humphris provided the perfect solution by animating crash helmets in Maya and tracking them onto the supplied footage. These had to precisely match the crash helmets that were used on the newly shot footage.
Agency producer Rupert Samuel comments ,Slim Jim was a particularly complicated project based on the seamless nature of what we were trying to achieve in tying together live action footage we shot with existing clips we found online. David and the team from Baraka did an outstanding job right from the outset, in working closely with our director James Rouse, helping board and block shots and providing crucial input throughout. When it came to executing the spots in editorial and finishing David was a magician and pulled off the challenge with flying colours. We had a blast working with David and Baraka and with James Rouse and the Outsider team, and it was a unique and talented combo which we would certainly seek out again in the future.
The commercials are airing in the U.S.
Credits:Post production company: Baraka Post ProductionOnline & Offline Editor: David Cox3D Special Effects: Aleksandar Stiglic, George Humphris and Sarah Vincent
Production Company: OutsiderDirector: James RouseProducer: Rupert Samuel
Advertising Agency: Crispin Porter + BoguskyAgency Producer: Rupert SamuelAgency Art Director: James Dawson-Hollis
Baraka Post Prod. Ltd. is one of Soho's leading visual post-production boutique-style facilities specializing in visual effects for high end and prestigious commercials, broadcast, idents, feature film, programs, promotions and music video projects. For more information, visit www.baraka.co.uk.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
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