Spy Post (San Francisco, CA) created a three-spot campaign for the Saturn ION sedan, Relay family utility vehicle and VUE SUV, with all compositing and telecine done in-house as a time- and cost-saver. The three spots from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners feature vignettes of the vehicles in one continuous take. Lead artist Darren Orr worked closely with Smuggler director Adam Berg to map out the shoot. "We had to make sure we had all of the necessary elements to create seamless transitions during the post process with a natural look and speed flow," says Orr.
Orr and CG Artist Joe Henke supervised the shoot on set and utilized still photos for measurements of the car and environment, which Henke could later track accurately in 3D. Spy Post was also responsible for numerous fixes, including the addition of seat belts and windows, as well as a window-to-desert shot in "Relay"; replacement of people in the rearview mirrors for both "Relay" and "VUE"; background, sky and hubcap replacements, and removal of reflections and a dog trainer in "Relay" using Discreet Flame, Alias Maya and boujou for 3D tracking.
Colorist Chris Martin was able to transfer the fim to HD so the compositors and CG artists could work in an HD space and then downres it to standard definition. "There aren’t many places where the client can go from the film transfer to the finishing room and see their changes almost immediately. "
"It was exciting to fully utilize our new telecine-to-post pipeline and have the ability to transfer, color and bring the new material into our FX pipeline as needed," says Orr. "This capacity proved to be very effective in terms of saving costs and time."
