adidas

Speed meets speed in the 2010 adidas campaign for the football World Cup. The 90 second spot was shot over five days in a green screen studio in Spain, with co-directors Johnny Green and Gary Shore from Knucklehead.

Two cameras were used, the Phantom and Red, resulting in 9.5 hours of Phantom data.

There were over 110 visual effect shots to complete in six weeks for this huge campaign. The 3D team at Finish created the stadium based on Jim Clays design with additional input from the directors and agency.

Crowds were created using an inhouse particle system which worked perfectly on these shots. Finally, CGI flags and camera flashes were added to the final comp.

For some of the street shots Gary Shore supplied matte paintings that were then projected onto 3D geometry to create parallax and depth.

For the shots where our camera travels through the street environments, the tunnel or for the top shot of the car moving, 3D designed and created full CGI environments.

The look of the smoke took time to develop as trying to stay true the Anima style of the commercial whilst retaining some natural properties of texture and movement.
Lens flares, camera shake, dust on the lens and forcing the perspective on many shots helped to realise the agency and directors Anima vision.

Johnny Green is quoted as saying after the project had finished:

“I am loathe to express how fantastic the entire team at Finish are – working tirelessly solving problems and creating magic for Gary and I every step of the journey as I want to keep them to myself.

I will find it very hard from now on to work with anyone else, Jason, Fi, Justine, Steve and the 3D boys who did all the work really a huge thank you”

A completely full on crazy schedule for all, but an incredibly successful and enjoyable process.