Artist owned-and-operated effects boutique Brickyard VFX announced completion of two TV spots, including end tags, as part of a new national campaign for Sprint, "Sprint Ahead," via ad agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. Shot and directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, the commercials, which begin airing on July 2, feature the use of light to denote creativity and speed.
The two :60 and two :30 cut-down "anthem" advertisements, one for business customers and another for consumers, are featured as part of the new national "Sprint Ahead" campaign. The spots, entitled "Dreams" and "Charts," demonstrate how consumers and businesses are using and benefiting from Sprint's technology today and how they will do so in the future, all at the speed of light.
"Charts," targeting Sprint's business customers, features people in a variety of work situations drawing oversized pie charts, bar graphs and Venn diagrams in the air with light, as if by magic. Set against a lush, orchestral soundtrack, men and women move in slow motion, drawing the brightly colored charts with elaborate gestures. A voice-over dedicates the ad to "all the achievers out there," and both spots close with the end tag created by Brickyard for the campaign. All of the animated light effects were created in CG by the team headed by Robert Sethi and Yafei Wu, and Brickyard also performed tracking to ensure that the animations matched up perfectly with the movements of the actors, as well as beauty work and final color correction.
"There was a lot of CG in 'Charts,' and it was fun to help bring the agency's really solid concept to life," noted Geoff McAulliffe, Brickyard's lead VFX artist for the spots. "By being involved in the project early on, we could really concentrate on making the spot look cool, making it as beautiful as we could. It was a real privilege to work on this campaign, and it was great working with Valerie and Jonathan again-we've worked with them for over 10 years, and we really believe in what they do-they bring an enormous level of artistry to every project they're involved in. "
"Dreams" targets Sprint's consumer market, featuring a community park at dusk populated by people drawing the things they dream about with light. Flowers pop up, fish jump out of the water, stars appear, rocket ships take off, all with practical light effects. The voice-over ties all of the elements together, telling a story about dreams and the tools that help realize those dreams. The spot, shot entirely in-camera, was created from a series of still images linked together to achieve a live action effect. Brickyard performed extensive beauty work for the ad, some compositing to bring the various layers of imagery together, and final color correction to ensure consistency throughout.
"These spots for Sprint's new campaign are just gorgeous, and we're thrilled to have had our part in bringing them to life," commented Cara Farnsworth, Brickyard's producer for the commercials. "Simulating the live action effect in 'Dreams' took some experimentation, but we're delighted with what we achieved."
Past Brickyard VFX collaborations with the Dayton/Faris team include ad campaigns for such national brands as Chevrolet, The Gap, Old Navy, Priceline, Volkswagen and others.
