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4 Post • February 2010 www.postmagazine.com Bits & Pieces V ENICE, CA — Motion Theor y (www.mo- tiontheor y.com) star ted off 2010 with the completion of a new spot for SOYJOY, the maker of a soybean-based health bar. Circles was co- directed by Mark Kudsi and Chris Riehl, and uses the simple shape to illustrate how soybeans reach their ultimate potential. The circle shape represents the Ear th, a tractor wheel, a cereal bowl and the bean itself. Visual effects and transitions keep the mixed-media spot moving, with the round shape always remaining the focus. DDB West conceived the spot, which appears in :30, :25 and :15 versions thanks to the editorial work of Colin Woods and Jeff Aquino at String. "The key to success of this spot for us was creat- ing a ver y detailed previs of the spot before we moved into production," explains Motion Theory CG supervisor Danny Zobrist. "This really helped out on the planning out of what would be done in-camera, and what could/should be done in post. It also helped us with the pacing and timing of the individual camera moves, as well as the overall spot." Compositing lead Evan Parsons says the shoot took place in one day on a stage, with the goal of get- ting as much coverage as possible. "We shot such small details as individual strawberries and beans to large scale items like the full-size tractor. We also uti- lized a side stage to shoot stop-motion elements for the end tag. We were able to get a lot in-camera, which gave us a good starting base." Motion Theory used Maya 2009, Zbrush, After Ef- fects, Photoshop, Cinema 4D, Flint and Silhouette to complete the project. Claudio Miranda served as DP. Critical Mass composed the original track and Lime Studios handled the final mix. A very detailed previs helped keep the production of Circle for DDB West running smoothly. Right Now What Post readers are experiencing MUSIC/BOOKS: "I can't get Mike Doughty's track 'Doubly' out of my head. Been re- reading Walter Murch's 'In the Blink of an Eye.'" Woody Woodhall Allied Post Audio Motion Theory works on Circles N ORWOOD, MA — Boston Productions (www.bostonproductions.com) created video content that's being used at The International Spy Mu- seum in Washington, DC. Operation Spy is an immersive, live-action spy adventure in which the visitor becomes a secret agent, in search of a nuclear trigger device.The company created faux news reports for video monitors at the installation.An actor was shot in front of a green- screen, and was then composited into different Middle Eastern locations, as well as into a television studio environment. According to senior editor Mike Sullivan, the locations were shot by a photogra- pher in Pakistan and then matched in the studio for the greenscreen shoot with light- ing techniques and a tiny fan. The job included creating a 16-camera hotel security system for tracking the suspect. Raw footage was shot at the Hotel Commonwealth in Boston using four cameras, and Sullivan used editing techniques to make it look like the subject was moving from one camera's area of view to another. Sullivan used Avid DS for edit- ing and compositing, as well as for graphics and animations. Museum kicks off Operation Spy NDMG creates Amex videos N EW ORLEANS — New Digital Media Group (www.newdigitalmediagroup. com), here, recently worked with Australia's Lonely Planet to create a video of New Or- leans for use in the American Express Travel Planning Guide. NDMG's Tim Ryan shot 1080 60i DVCPRO HD footage using a Panasonic HPX170 and natural light. In addition to many of the city's popular restaurants, Ryan shot footage of Jackson Square, City Park, the French Quarter and other venues that locals enjoy throughout the year. "I shot some of the footage using the HPX inter val time feature to get a time- lapse effect," he notes. "Other shots were over/undercranked using the HPX's vari- able frame rates." The footage was captured onto P2 cards, which were then offloaded to a hard drive and sent to Lonely Planet TV's studios, where post was performed. Apple's Final Cut Pro was used to edit the project.