Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/22819
Agencies and Post LEO BURNETT/CHICAGO Post vendors are often determined on a per-project basis at Leo Burnett/Chicago (www.leoburnett.com), but sometimes the choice depends on who can bundle myriad deliverables across broadcast and digital. “More and more we’re looking for those opportunities to integrate production,” says Vincent Geraghty, senior VP and content ar- chitect.“Based on the amount of dollars you have to spend and the number of people you put up against projects it makes sense to bundle things, especially with a shorter turnaround time and tighter budget. Some- times one production team and one cre- ative team can deliver TV, print and digital for a given product.” The bundling concept can also have an- other meaning. It can extend to assembling all the experts necessary to create a com- plex, breakthrough production and forming one team that works seamlessly from con- cept to completion. For Wonder-full, which introduced the ple and not winging it.” Editor Jim Haygood was present at the shoot, looking at video playback in 3D.“He had a good eye for what would work and what wouldn’t be jarring or unpleasant for viewers,” says Geraghty.“Digital Domain served as VFX coordinators and had all the equipment for the 3D finish.Their VFX supervisor Jay Barton really helped bring it together.” The Samsung experience “showed us the importance of preplanning for 3D,” he notes. “Other clients have asked about the production, and we know it’s the model to use for 3D going forward: Make sure people are involved early upstream.” BORDERS PERRIN NORRANDER Borders Perrin Norrander/Portland, Ore- gon (BPN) works with area edit houses about half the time and with cutters in LA, San Francisco and New York for the balance. Geography doesn’t pose a barrier for post vendors — BPN (www.bpninc.com) has home and experiential platforms. “It’s rare that we just do a TV commercial any more,” Heinsma agrees.“Clients are looking to en- gage with the consumer with every vehicle there is today. So it’s a matter of finding the right partner to put all those pieces together.” Kansas City-based motion-graphics com- pany MK12 was brought in early to craft ele- ments for a multi-platform Oregon Lottery “It Does Good Things” campaign that in- cluded broadcast, radio, outdoors, transit, Web banners and print.The transit portion, showing how the lottery funds the future of public transportation by growing Oregon businesses, consisted of creating a giant vinyl X-ray of a bus powered by a made-in-Ore- gon Apex electric motor. BPN wrapped an actual city bus with the X-ray graphics. “Using one creative resource to deliver content for multiple platforms is a lot simpler than using many vendors, and the content re- mains consistent across the campaign for greater impact,” Heinsma points out. A broadcast spot on community building for the same Oregon Lottery campaign found the Seattle office of Digital Kitchen fielding an on-camera crew to literally construct, in stop- motion style, floor-cloth lottery tickets, repre- sentative set pieces and even entire land- scapes reflecting the lottery’s good works. “They did the shoot, the edit; they even roughed in some music that I managed to li- cense from the band,” says Fox.“For a very in- volved spot like this sometimes it’s best to use one vendor from start to finish. Digital Kitchen’s execution made the spot.” Leo Burnett’s Wonder-full promotes Samsung’s 3D LED TV. Digital Domain was called on for post and VFX. world’s first 3D LED TV from Samsung, Bur- nett produced a 3D cinema spot,2D broad- cast commercial and point of sale content via a unique team that bundled its VFX ex- pertise with knowledge of the nascent — for spots — stereo 3D world. “We sought out those who knew the most about the 3D world. [New York City’s] Rabbit and Twin [the directing team com- prised of twins Josh and Jonathan Baker] had their heads around it at an early stage,” Ger- aghty reports.“They built a team to pull it off without any hitches: Avatar cinematogra- pher Mauro Fiore, Union Editorial’s Jim Hay- good, who was cutting Tron: Legacy, and Dig- ital Domain for post and VFX.” The Samsung 3D project was Geraghty’s first and the first at Burnett; it also marked one of the first 3D live-action spots.“It was a very collaborative effort from the get-go,” he recalls. “Twin saw this approach as the way to go to make it right; I liked their treat- ment as directors and their approach of gathering a team of industry-leading 3D ex- perts.They were talking to all the right peo- 34 Post • January 2011 used talent in Barcelona and animation stu- dios in Kansas City and Seattle.“We like to be there for the offline, but sometimes bud- gets don’t allow us to travel to the edit house, so we go back and forth with online postings,” says head of broadcast Scott Fox. “For the most part, it’s better to get out of the way when you’re working with talented people,” notes John Heinsma, a writer and partner in BPN.“But one thing we like to do is get post involved earlier than in the past. We build teams sooner, have more conversa- tions, more back and forth; there’s less hand- ing over” of tasks and responsibilities. According to Heinsma, the agency tries “to come up with powerful creative content which gives us leverage to use post people we may not be able to afford but who like the creative and want to be involved. Shiny ideas get people excited and give them a reason to work long hours.” Fox points out that the process has changed somewhat now that there are “more avenues” for delivering the message — from Flash banners on Websites to out of www.postmagazine.com DEUTSCH/LA “When it comes to executing our work, our relationship with post vendors is very close,” reports Vic Palumbo, director of inte- grated production at Deutsch/Los Angeles (www.deutschinc.com). “So much can be added in post production, whether it’s car clean-up in running footage and studio shots for Volkswagen; the look of the can and the beverage pours for Dr. Pepper; or composit- ing game footage into consoles for Playstation. We rely on their expertise in making our fin- ished product look great.” These post relationships have grown with the proliferation of digital effects.“Ten years ago we were figuring out in-camera solu- tions,” Palumbo recalls. “Only a few break- through VFX companies who worked on features were also working on commercials. But in the last few years every VFX studio has caught up to where those specialty companies were.We’ve built relationships with them and have confidence in what they bring to the process, and you can see that