Back to main site.How to Make a Baby Fly (without a Sky’s the Limit Budget)
Posted by Jasper | Filed under behind-the-scenes, new work
PRE-VIZ
I have always found that when you are working with a complicated effect it is important to balance the technical needs of the effect without letting them get in the way of the personality of the spot. We wanted both the camera and the baby to feel as free as possible, but in order to do that we had to meticulously plan out every shot. Working in conjunction with motion-graphics wiz Adam Singer and O’Brien art director Dwane Cohen, the three of us ‘shot’ the spot in 3-d graphics using a combination of Cinema 4D and After Effects. This allowed us to play with the edit and shot selection until we found the right pace and feel before we had to nail down specific takes with a baby in the limited time frame of a shoot day.
Screen shots from the pre-viz
SHOOT DAY
Taking nothing for granted, we cast four similar looking babies for our hero talent and set out our shot list against a complicated schedule of nap times and feedings. On the shoot day we were able to shoot all of the scenes with one of the babies, Bryson, who really emerged as the star of the day.
Acme Prop Work’s John Perry designed and built a scale model paper airplane, which matched the one in our pre-viz. The model was made from stainless steel and skinned with paper and was able to move up, down and side-to-side – all controlled on-set by John. Not only did our (very young) stars enjoy the rocking sensation, it also got the babies to interact with the motion of the plane, enhancing the effect.
John Perry and his doll working on the prototype plane
To really capture the feel of flying – and to recreate the swooping motions from the pre-viz – I shot the entire spot with the camera on a crane arm. While traditionally the floating motion of a crane has been a nightmare for compositing, using the new tracking software SynthEyes and a bunch of well placed tennis balls as markers we were able to track the crane’s motion and seamlessly bring the shots into the computer generated 3D world.
First AD Tom Farnsworth and one of our stars talk over the next scene
Futuristic Films Director/DP Jasper Gray capturing the action
POST
The best reactions were selected and the spot was created in high definition with the real baby in the practical plane and using the pre-viz as a guide. We shot cloud plates from the roof of our office and used them in the backgrounds adding computer-generated clouds only when necessary in the foregrounds for the plane to move through.
Tags: behind-the-scenes, new work
My First Friday The 13th
Posted by Monique | Filed under behind-the-scenes, humor, traveling
This is a long story. Grab your coffee.
Futuristic finished a commercial for an agency on the east coast, and I was asked to send a copy of the spot to the client’s headquarters in Mexico. They were going to need it for a meeting by the end of that week and I found out UPS could make it there in one day. Easy enough.
The next day, I tracked the package and there was an issue. Something about an invoice, which made no sense, but we dealt with that and the package was on its way again! The producer from the agency was already tracking and asking me why it hadn’t been shipped. I explained that the problem was fixed, as guaranteed by UPS.
When I arrived at work the following day, I tracked the thing and it says it is sitting at a UPS location due to “adverse weather conditions” in Guadalajara, Mexico. I call UPS and the woman says the roads are icy!!!!!! In Guadalajara? I try to explain that it makes no sense and she laughs out loud. At this point, she is the only one having a good time.
We wait until the next day for the weather to “clear”. No luck. What unusual weather they’re having in Mexico… Could UPS possibly be mistaken? Impossible, according to them. Plan B… Trust another courier and run the same risk? No. Someone needs to hand deliver it to Mexico. Sounds crazy enough… I’m in!
Just a reminder: UPS still has the original package. They might deliver it anytime and I’d be going for nothing, but I bought the ticket to fly out the next day at 6am. Hmmm, that means set the alarm for 3am! Sweet. I bring only a purse to make it as simple as possible, with basic extra items in case I need to stay longer.
I arrive in Mexico. Ai, ai, ai, immigration line is huge. Right away I realize I won’t make my return flight. My regular phone doesn’t work. Luckily, I have a two-way Nextel to talk to my family in Brazil and I keep bugging my sister at work in Rio to have her to track the other package. Still no luck. I go find a taxi.
Experienced in Latin American traveling, I look for a taxi with credentials. The driver had a name-tag from the airport, all looked good. After walking for what seemed forever to his taxi parked outside of the airport with no taximeter. I insist that he quotes the fare and he insists not to answer. I stop another cab that was conspicuously unlicensed but who cares at this point? Not me!
The driver was a decent man but his driving was a joke. No AC, I was COOKING in the back seat and traffic was a mess. People were standing in the middle of the lanes selling drinks! The building number was 647. We reach the 645 and the next one is 111!!! To sum up, after some wrong turns and one-way streets, we find it.
It was a huge store, but no corporate building in sight. Weird, but I guessed their office could be upstairs, behind or wherever. The taxi driver stops by the main door and we try to set up a meeting spot, since supposedly I wasn’t going to take long and needed to get back to the airport immediately. He says: “Well, we meet next to the dog”. What?!?! He points at it with his head, lifting his eyebrows and lowering his lips. When I look, there is this gigantic stuffed dog dancing, for a marketing promotion right next to me! Hahaha crazy.
I go in and ask where their corporate office is. They show me a building far away, on the far side of the huge parking lot, a building which we had passed by but didn’t stop because there was no sign with a company name or street number. I run trying to find the taxi driver but he was gone trying to park, but obviously the dog was still there. I needed to use my own fuel, even though I was exhausted and sweating. I FINALLY make it to the building.
Proud and with “mission accomplished” written on my forehead, I get in the reception line. I give the lady the name of the person I’m supposed to deliver the package to. She then tells me there are SEVERAL people there by that name. Aarrgh! But I have her phone number… Easy, huh? No, because that number is not on file. So I call all the people who happen to share that name. NOBODY answers their phones.
My only option at this point is to leave the package and hope it makes it to the right person. I called my sister for her to make an international call and let our office know.
I left really frustrated, I had already missed the plane and I wasn’t going to make it home for Valentine’s Day. On top of that, I didn’t deliver the package in person, the worst of it all.
I was in pieces. That was at 4pm and last time I had eaten was in the US. Sarah found me another plane ticket back to the US that night but I had to spend the night in Texas. At least, I’d be back in Denver Saturday by 9am. By the way, after HOURS trying to reach the person expecting the package, we finally heard that she had received it!
The flight back to CO was on final approach and was on time! I could already see houses and cars, when the plane started going up again. Wow, where are we going? Nobody in the plane seemed to notice, and continued talking! I turn to the guy next to me and wonder if something was wrong, since I had never seen that… The guy starts worrying too.
Five minutes later, the pilot announces that the front landing gear didn’t work when he tried to land. He had to prepare crew and passengers for an emergency landing. Perfect! In general, everybody was pretty calm, except one of the flight attendants. Her eyes kept getting redder and her voice was shaking. It did NOT instill confidence.
We kept flying for ONE HOUR around the airport, being prepared for emergency landing. Passengers that were sitting next to the exit doors and weren’t comfortable with helping the others being moved to different spots… Everybody getting their valuables and sticking them in their pockets… The pilot advises everybody to dress warm and get as many layers on as possible… haha Great, I’m coming from Mexico!!! My car is parked in the garage, I wasn’t going to be out in the cold at any point of this trip!
I wasn’t scared, but my heart was beating like trance music. And I didn’t see the tunnel, blast it! Haha
By the time of the emergency landing, we had to place both hands on the forehead and rest the hand by the front seat. When the plane was coming close to the ground, the flight attendants started screaming “DON’T MOVE, HANDS ON YOUR FOREHEAD, TOUCH THE FRONT SEAT!!! DON’T MOVE, HANDS ON YOUR FOREHEAD, TOUCH THE FRONT SEAT!!! DON’T MOVE, HANDS ON YOUR FOREHEAD, TOUCH THE FRONT SEAT!!!”. And, obviously, the nervous flight attendant made the remix version of the alert.
The plane landed just fine, just shook a little bit. Seconds passed and NOBODY moved, they were so frightened. I yelled “We’re on!!!”. Still, nobody moved! Haha… Then some heads started popping up and everybody was clapping in relief. What a journey!
Point of the story: NONE. I caught myself looking for plane tickets for a weekend trip that same night…
Tags: behind-the-scenes, humor, traveling