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Saturday, 8 April 2006 | Levent OZLER
1st Avenue Machine Designs Modular World Cup Campaign for Adidas
and 180 Amsterdam
1st Avenue Machine Designs, Assembles "Modular" World Cup Football Players in Print, Motion Graphics and Animated Campaign for Adidas and 180 Amsterdam
In a new ad campaign for Adidas, hot European agency 180 Amsterdam joined forces with New York's 1st Ave Machine to conceive and create an ultramodern vision that is definitely more than the sum of its parts. Taking its cue from Adidas' new +F50 TUNIT soccer boot, which allows user-customization for a variety of playing surfaces, "Assemble Your Boot" uses a futuristic 3D look to realize modular versions of some of soccer's greatest stars. The innovative and compelling images are being used in aggressive print and motion graphics campaigns for both global and localized markets.
Just as any great soccer team joins together to become more than the sum of its parts, so it is with the many parts of a great player or great soccer boot. For the global campaign, avant-garde visions of soccer superstars Djbril Cisse (France) and Jermain Defoe (Netherlands), Kevin Kuryani (Germany) and Arjen Robben (Great Britain) are represented as seamless, modular conglomerations capable of astounding speed and breathtaking moves. As they prepare to launch their shots, however, the scene slows to reveal a series of spikes affixing themselves to the sole of each man's kicking boot. As each man's boot makes ultimate contact with the ball, the resulting force causes the player to break out into his many modules, only to quickly reassemble for the next play. The effect is simultaneously one of athletic elegance, artistic grace and ergonomic, mechanistic power.
"This was originally going to be a print campaign," explains Serge Patzak, Executive Producer at 1st Ave Machine. "We used an animation tool (3D Studio Max), then worked closely with 180 Amsterdam creatives Lee Hempstock and Chris Landy to create these wholly unique and definitive 3D modular players, each comprising some 400 different pieces. The TUNIT boot has a distinct, reflective quality that we tried to replicate in our modular players. Adidas thought we nailed the look, and the campaign has since been expanded to include a series of animated spots featuring each of the global players, as well as an extended print campaign that will feature modular versions of players more familiar to certain markets in Asia and Europe. In addition, the characters we've created will be used in upcoming online video games, and featured on the large screens at the upcoming World Cup. All of this is extremely exciting for a young company like 1st Ave Machine. We were essentially creating a highly athletic character from scratch, with only a soccer boot as reference."
Over a six-month period, the creative team at 1st Ave Machine watched the project evolve in a myriad of ways and directions. In their pursuit of a precise, hyperreal look, 1st Ave Machine and 180 Amsterdam took advantage of another Adidas commercial shoot to get complete headscans of each of the players. 1st Ave Machine Creative Director Arvind Palep explains the evolution from print to animation.
"From the print campaign to animation, we went through several different stages in the development of the character," he explains. "We had to figure out exactly how each would break apart, what the pieces would be composed of, how they would connect with the boot, and a whole mess of other considerations. We worked with 180 Amsterdam on this idea of modularity, the notion that these pieces were in some sense interchangeable, yet uniquely powerful in each modular construct. What was more, Adidas didn't want an overly mechanical look, no hinges or screws. They wanted a very fluid, human quality to the characters. Fortunately, we'd used complete player headscans and some of the most cutting-edge animation techniques for what was initially a print campaign, so we were ready."
View Quicktime: http://www.1stavemachine.com/adidas_animation
About 1st Avenue Machine
New York City based 1st Avenue Machine is a design company with strong capabilities in live action and 3D animation integration. The new company services clients in the broadcast, music video, feature film and advertising arenas. 1st Avenue Machine is represented by Patricia Claire Company. For a company reel, contact Patricia Claire or Xavier Egurbide at 212-255-2252.
1st Avenue Machine: http://www.dexigner.com/directory/detail/7440/
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