Have you seen the latest showboating TV and cinema ad featuring Johnny Depp, Wayne Rooney and … er … a Brazilian Tree Frog? Don’t panic, it’s not a new all-star re-imagining of ‘The Wind In The Willows’ (although Rooney would make a fine Moley we’re sure) but the latest attempt to show us ‘stuck in the 90’s’ plebs what sumptuous HD looks like. And it bloody works.
It must be a hard task trying to describe the visual advantages of high definition viewing when your medium is standard definition, but when approached by Sky to do just that, London based agency brothers and sisters utilised a snazzo technique they’d become well versed in – fragment animation.
Granted access to an archive of still photographs from premium Sky content, including blockbuster movies, classic sporting events and ground-breaking documentaries, the creative team of Ros Parr and Tim Clark sifted through hundreds of images to select the few that would both sell the service and maximise the ‘fragment’ effect.
It must be a hard task trying to describe the visual advantages of high definition viewing when your medium is standard definition, but when approached by Sky to do just that, London based agency brothers and sisters utilised a snazzo technique they’d become well versed in – fragment animation.
Granted access to an archive of still photographs from premium Sky content, including blockbuster movies, classic sporting events and ground-breaking documentaries, the creative team of Ros Parr and Tim Clark sifted through hundreds of images to select the few that would both sell the service and maximise the ‘fragment’ effect.
Once chosen, the team took the stills to UNIT post production facility for the time consuming process of animating. Separating out each individual element (blade of grass, fleck of mud, bead of rain) from its surroundings, the image was then divided into a series of layers, each of which being individually controlled to achieve the desired effect in the animation. Placed on a false z-axis, the resulting footage features depth, motion and clarity belying its ‘publicity still’ origins.
Speaking of the campaign, Andy Fowler, ECD of brothers and sisters, comments, “We wanted to convey the power of HD to the screen and chose fragment animation to demonstrate the visual power of high-definition television. With so much rich content to choose from on Sky, it is great to be involved and celebrate even a small proportion of this incredible service.”Robert Tansey, Director of Brand Marketing, BSkyB, adds: “This campaign reflects the emotion, intensity and richness of life in high definition, focusing on the extra feel you get through a viewing experience which is up to four times clearer. With millions of HD ready TVs yet to offer an HD experience to their owners, this campaign will outline the quality of experience Sky+HD customers are enjoying right now.”
Achieving the enviable ability to improve with each viewing - betcha didn’t notice the splashing raindrop or Capt Jack’s swinging belt-buckle on your first watch – The Reel reckons this campaign does wonders for expressing the pin-sharp benefits of HD to non-early-adopters (HD boxes in the post, cheers Sky). The technique even manages to work outside of the gogglebox, with the campaign spreading over TV, cinema, outdoor, direct mail, press and digital – including both online and digital outdoor, such as electronic poster sites on the Underground.The HD revolution is upon us, so it looks like there’ll be no escaping pixel-perfect renditions of the frog, the Sparrow or the Rooney.
Agency: brothers and sisters
Creatives: Ros Parr & Tim Clark
Agency Producer: Pat Stimpson
Agency Planner: Matt Boffey
Directors: Ros Parr & Tim Clark
Producer: Pat Stimpson
Editor & Editing Co.: Visual Effects Artist - Charlie Cassidy @ UNIT
Post Production Co.: UNIT
Audio Post Production: 750mph
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