Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1575
April 2009 11 CirCus Budweiser Director: Joe Pytka Agency: DDB Chicago Production company: Pytka, Venice, CA CG company: Filmworkers Club, Chicago A Clydesdale nuzzles his ladylove Lucy, a horse in a circus, but when the circus leaves town, it seems that the romance is over. But our Clydesdale hero jumps fences and gallops across America to re- unite with Lucy, who bucks off a bareback rider and astonishes the clowns as she and her mate burst through the circus tent together. Filmworkers Club first heard about the con- cept for the spot back in November from the DDB Chicago creative team who were respon- sible for last year's successful Clydesdale "Team" commercial (see "Fan Favorites," April 2008). e exquisite views of America, as our horse hero gallops to find Lucy, are based on super- high-resolution (8k and 10k) stock footage from iStock. Filmworkers Club then manipulated those stock images to create the most spectacular shots possible. "Our idea was to create a heightened sense of beauty and reality," explains visual effects director Rob Churchill. "We wanted America to look beautiful, so the countryside scenes are more saturated, heightening the reality." Colorist Michael Mazur took the process half- way with a first color pass for compositing, and then he completed the color after the composite. "at way, the whites aren't blown out and the edges are crisp," says Churchill. e commercial was essentially created in com- positing, using a combination of live-action ele- uper Bowl XLIII, which pitted the Pittsburgh Steelers against the Arizo- na Cardinals, was a nail-biting game that ended in the Steelers beating the underdog Cardinals. e Steelers also secured a place in Super Bowl history, earning their sixth world championship win and sole possession of the record for the most Super Bowl wins. e game also took place in the midst of the US's most profound economic downturn since the Great Depression. But that only increased viewership in a nation looking for diversion: is year's Super Bowl became the most watched, with 98.7 million Americans tuning into the game on the NBC network. A total of 32 companies presented 84 commercials throughout the event, and NBC aired 45 minutes, 10 seconds of advertising (including NFL mes- sages and NBC promotional plugs) between the opening kickoff and the final whistle. e top four advertisers in terms of total ad time were PepsiCo, Anheuser-Busch InBev, General Electric, and Viacom. Several commercials—including CareerBuilder, Monster, and Cash- 4Gold—reflected the country's anxious mood. But the spots that really rocked had integrated what Super Bowl spots always do best: innovation, laughs, and a strong story. As always, upcoming theatrical releases were a top category, with promos for nine movies (one of them the 3D animated Monsters vs. Aliens). Car man- ufacturers had less of a presence due to their economic woes, although one of our favorite commercials came from tire manufacturer Bridgestone ("Hot Item"). Meanwhile, Coca-Cola and Pepsi battled on the airwaves, each of them with strong contenders. We're fond of PepsiCo's SoBe "Lizard Lake" and Coca-Cola's "Avatar," both of which combined a strong CG sensibility with clever stories and impeccable execution. And what's Super Bowl without the Budweiser Clydesdale horses? Super Bowl 2009 featured two spots with the iconic equines, and our favorite was "Circus," which featured a romance and the power of love between a Clydes- dale and his ladylove Lucy, a circus horse. General Electric, parent company of broadcaster NBC, also scored with "Scarecrow," a "wired" take on the Wizard of Oz that made a spot-on match between the character and the product in a breathtaking example of com- puter-generated imagery. We hope you enjoy the making-of as much as we enjoyed the commercials. Using bi-cubic warping within Smoke, Filmworkers Club made it appear as though this horse was jump- ing over a canyon rather than a fence. Broadcast•Stereo n n n n