Sprint NFL Commercial Shoot

Here’s one of my favorite stories that go back to the idea of producers being problem solvers.

In October 2006, Marble and Clay was approached by ad-agency TBWA to produce an SPRINT / NFL commercial that was scheduled to air nationally on stadium jumbotrons.

TBWA wanted us to use authentic NFL footage to capture a running football player from directly overhead as if he was running up a digital field that would pull out to reveal the runner had been charging up the battery of the phone with his explosive dash.  Even the revolutionary spider-cam used for overhead angles in today’s game does not maintain a direct overhead angle nor can it maintain that angle on a single player. So I decided in order to complete the project, I would have to use either computer animation or a live action shoot. (cont…)

Considering we were given a limited budget and no more than a week to complete the project, Marble and Clay solved the dilemma by preparing a live action shoot that would be composited within a digital world. In order to obtain naturalistic running movement yet place the runner in this animated realm we had to either find a treadmill or a studio with enough space to paint the floor and plan to track a runner as he sprinted down a chroma green field. Due to availability, time and budget we went with a studio large enough to paint the floor.

We knew we were turning the model of chroma production on it’s side, literally. To get the overhead shot we mounted a jib arm on the dolly so we could shoot at 90 degrees to the floor. The dolly was on skate wheels and a track so that the grips could keep up with a speeding running back.

Another principal I began to understand on this project is that no matter how much experience, no matter how much planning, production by it’s very nature does not go off with out presenting unforeseen challenges. Since every shoot is a unique plan and every variable is pulled together for only this one time, there is always something new to deal with. That is what makes it so fun!

There were a couple memorable obstacles my team and I overcame the day of the shoot.  The actor we originally cast was scheduled to arrive in the studio by 9:30 am.  After spending nearly an hour trying to find him, we finally got a hold of him.  He explained that he simply wasn’t in the mood to commute into the city from his girlfriend’s home in New Jersey!  Hearing this excuse was quite unbelievable and I still can’t get over his lack of professionalism.

My team acted quickly and started calling agencies, casting directors, and fitness centers, seeing if an actor who fit what we were looking for was available.  By 10:30, we found our new actor and we were ready to start shooting.  Or at least we thought.

When TBWA producers arrived at the shoot, they weren’t pleased with some aspects of the uniform. Understandably a series of approvals through email and photos do little justice to the actual uniform under the actual lights, on the actual person. One such issue was the color of the NFL helmet we had rented from a prop shop.  The original color of the helmet was navy blue and the client needed it to be a shade of red.  Finding an original NFL helmet was no easy task.  For a city that supposedly has everything, you think there would be more than one available for rent! Ordering a brand new official helmet from NFL would take days.

Because we signed an agreement stating that the rental property would be just as it was when we received it, we were stuck. A prop that is only a few hundred dollars to buy new, would have cost us thousands by breaking the contract. After an unsuccessful phone call offering the prop shop to purchase the helmet, I relied on my college art school background to rectify the problem.  We took red acrylic paint that would be easy to remove and non-damaging and proceeded to paint the helmet a bright shade of red.

The clients were pleased and we were able to continue our shoot for the day achieving spectacular takes of just the shot the boards called for. Since the unique shot was the main challenge on this project we were able to gracefully edit the footage, create and animate the digital world including a 3D model of the Motorola RAZR phone. We composited, and added the voice over tweaking where necessary.The project successfully debuted in time for Sprint’s CEO to see it displayed at the following Chief’s game in Kansas City.