By design, viewers do not realize the immense amount of detail that goes into making a television commercial.  It is the essential job of a Special Effects Artist to make his or her work invisible to the viewer. This was the task of the AIC staff as they worked to take the concept provided by Al Paul Lefton Company and transform it into a tangible experience for Select Greater Philadelphia’s television debut.

According to Chris Sladek, Editor, “When we first heard the idea, we saw it as a significant challenge, but as with any project, all that matters is getting the entire team on the same page and making what’s being depicted look believable.”  Just as a viewer will catch a “jump cut” in a movie, a spectator can just as easily see if a composite is missing something.  People will admire a successful commercial, but a critical eye will often notice irregularities between the animated and the real.  It takes a carefully coordinated marriage of precise cinematography, computer generated graphics and compositing in order to create a world that is believable to the viewer.

Due to the nature of the project, which largely consisted of composited imagery, the bulk of the work was done in Adobe After Effects and assembled in Final Cut Pro. The creative team compiled plates from still and motion elements to create the inspiring environments in the spot.  As Fred Segro, Editor/Animator, described, “What appears to be one continuous shot from space zooming down to a few miles above Philadelphia is actually two separate compositions of close to 100 layers stacked and distributed through a 3D space.”  The graphics and photography teams supplied Freddie and Chris with an assortment of imagery that best represented Philadelphia’s business culture.

The significant difference between the Select Greater Philadelphia spot and other projects done at AIC was how the color grading was completed.  The majority of color correction for the spot was done in After Effects, whereas on most projects, AIC more frequently grades in Apple Color.  According to Chris, “Color is usually seen as a superior program when it comes to color correction but the tools in After Effects, when used properly, can achieve very similar high quality results.  In this case, performing basic color grading in After Effects saved a lot of time, as well.”  Color was then used for the final color grading for broadcast.

View the Select Greater Philadelphia spot in our Showcase.

The latest television spot produced by the Aurora Imaging Company is a testament to how close the relationship between editors, visual effects, and the production crew has become.  Director Enrique Mendoza and Producer Sean Quinn worked closely with myself as the Director of Photography, editors/VFX artists Chris Sladek and Fred Segro, and still photographer Nikki Sherman to create this ambitious project.

“From Space” is a :30 spot for Select Greater Philadelphia, an arm of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce that promotes Greater Philadelphia as a destination for business.  The spot starts with a push over the shoulder of an astronaut floating in an orbiting spaceship, then continues through the portal window to follow a ball of light flying through space toward the earth, and ultimately settles in the hands of a businessman in the heart of Philadelphia. The camera then pushes in on the ball of light to reveal vignettes composed of individual elements highlighting the advantages of doing business in the area and the diversity of businesses already doing so.

The majority of the spot was done via green screen and compositing work done primarily in After Effects, entirely within the walls of AIC. Using our studio, we set up both our astronaut and businessman against green screen.  Each of these characters posed their own challenges; in the case of the astronaut, we wanted to simulate weightlessness.  The businessman required golden-hour lighting, which is short-lived.  Depending on the budget, weightlessness is not necessarily a difficult effect to fake.  However, lacking the ability to hire a wire team and suspend our subject, we needed a more low-tech solution.  By placing our astronaut on an exercise ball, we found he could both shift his weight, and roll forward or backward without changing the position of his torso.  After performing a few tests, we found that this “effortless” movement was instrumental is selling the effect of weightlessness.  The only thing left was to properly motivate lighting and find the right plate to simulate the look of a spaceship overlooking the Earth – the latter was almost entirely a matter of research by our graphics team.

Our second subject, a businessman, was also shot on green screen.  The first challenge of this shot was in finding the background plate the businessman would ultimately be comped against.  This shot in particular was meant to have camera movement to it, so we had to be sure that we had a location that was interesting enough for a whip-tilt that would follow the path of the ball of light into the waiting hands of the businessman.  Using the Comcast Center in Center City was an obvious choice to Enrique, given the importance of the building to the Greater Philadephia area, and its pure aesthetic values.  However, shooting during sunrise (as the script dictated), also meant racing the sun when shooting on location.  Since we had already budgeted a day on green screen, using a controlled lighting environment to capture a static subject eliminated a major challenge of any production—beating the clock.

The only on-location shooting was done to satisfy the need for plates to which the flying ball of light would be comped into.  Enrique Mendoza was clear from the outset that each of these shots would have to be visually breathtaking, and so we decided that using the same golden lighting in each scenario would be the most effective.  Using the Canon 5D, I could easily move from one location to another, utilizing a full sensor, a small crew, and the proper time of day to get some of the more memorable views of Philadelphia that I have captured to date.

Once I wrapped up my shooting, I handed over the reigns to Chris Sladek and Fred Segro to start inserting backgrounds for our green screen, adding in the flying ball of light, and creating all the elements (shot by Nikki Sherman) that would represent the benefits of bringing a business to the Select Greater Philadelphia area.  For an examination of their great contributions to the piece, look for Part Two of this blog, coming soon.

We’re currently working with Select Greater Philadelphia on a new :30 spot to advertise the Greater Philadelphia area as a great place to work, live, and learn. The concept is very exciting and different, and includes a scene set in a spaceship, featuring Rory as the astronaut. See the finished spot here in about a month!

Visible are Rory as the Astronaut, Enrique Mendoza directing, and Sergio Gonzalez as dolly grip. Brett Zuckerman is the DP.

Throughout the past six months, AIC has shared with readers how much work goes into creating a quality television show. 
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Shooting The Ride in Hawaii meant that a show that is usually shot in three days and cut in the following seven
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