Visual Effects studio, An Ideal World, has collaborated with Swing Productions to deliver the latest string of spots for Barona Resort & Casino’s “What will your moment be?” campaign. An Ideal World supervised and managed not just the visual effects for the project, but the editorial and finishing also.
Shot on location at Barona Resort & Casino, San Diego County, all three spots combined the Multi-Cam frozen time effect and the RED 4K camera.
Visual Effects Supervisor and An Ideal World‘s founder, Robb Hart explains, “This wasn’t a simple commercial shoot. Multiple setups using sixty Canon Digital Cameras supported by a twenty-foot rail require a lot of space โ then factor in the green screen, lights, a RED camera, Reel FX’s computer control system, our editing equipment and the bodies it takes to make it all happen. That’s a lot to stay on top of … all in the middle of the night at a working casino! Thankfully we had a very talented group of actors and crew to work with.”
Directed by Rich Underwood, each spot features actors portraying casino patrons stepping back into his or her own “Barona Moment.” To achieve the effect each Multi-Cam shot was made up of several passes. For instance, the video poker scene included the background; the ladies at the video poker, with a green screen behind them; and a beauty pass for the lights on the video poker machines. At the start and end of the shot there was the live action from the RED camera.
On set, Robb Hart, VFX supervisor and Sharon Diaz, VFX artist, utilized two Mac Book Pro laptops, Final Cut Pro, an AJA IoHD FireWire-800 Capture Device, a Sonnet F2 drive and an eCinema Systemsโข display. This setup not only allowed Robb and Sharon to capture, playback test composite and grade the footage in HD, but effectively create an offline edit from the footage, on set.
Before shooting even began, Robb and his team created the motion graphics look for the start and end of the spots. “True to the theme, we wanted a way of treating the live action source footage in moments. But just like with the Time-Slice, where we move in three dimensions, we set all our images to start and end in 3D space. In After Effects we animated a camera that revealed each scene as it moved through space. There is not one cut point in any of the spots,” adds Robb.
Following the shoot, Robb explains that, “We faced a couple of challenges in post.” The first was perfectly matching the TIFF images from the Canon still cameras with the 4K footage from the RED. “Quite simply, there is nothing we love more than a challenge and with a little slight of hand using Apple’s Shake we were able to find that perfect match. Also, when you’re working with sixty cameras through multiple setups there is invariably the potential that one or two cameras may suffer from imperfect alignment. In all honesty we expected this and it didn’t worry us. We had a lot to get through and we had to move quickly. We did so knowing that we had the skill-set and technology to correct those issues back at the studio.”
Dave Roberts, the producer from Swing productions wrote to Robb and Sharon and said “Thank you for your perseverance and attention to detail on the spots.” Larry Gallegos from Barona Resort & Casino agreed with “I second that! An Ideal World does it again!” DP, Leo Zahn echoed the sentiments, saying “You did an incredible job, juggling all these elements.”
The spots feature the voice of Dennis Haysbert, from the hit series 24. All three commercials are currently airing across Los Angeles and San Diego Counties. To view the spots online click on the links below.
About An Ideal World
Robb Hart formed An Ideal World in 1997. Hart’s prior credits include, Film Editor at Thames Television, launching MTV Europe, and Director of Digital Video at Virgin Interactive. An Ideal World is a full service studio that services advertising agencies and production companies with award winning VFX and post, as well as production. Recent collaborations include: Paul Mitchell, KFC, Acura, Farmer John, Honda, Mercedes Benz, Nesquik, Nissan, Time Warner, Toshiba, Wienerschnitzel and Yokohama.
About Barona Resort & Casino
Ranked “Highest in Satisfaction in the Southern California Indian Gaming Experience” in the J.D. Power and Associates’ 2008 Southern California Indian Gaming Casino Satisfaction Study, Barona Resort & Casino blends the best of San Diego’s most elegant resorts with the gaming excitement of Las Vegas. Barona is San Diego’s leading destination resort featuring 400 luxury guest rooms and suites, nine award-winning dining options, the AmBience Day Spa, a full-service events center, and the 18-hole championship Barona Creek Golf Club, rated the 3rd best resort course in California by Golfweek magazine.