The principals of design-focused production studio Leviathan (www.lvthn.com) are very proud to detail their collaborations with Farm League director Tim Wheeler and executives from advertising agency Factory Design Labs and The North Face, the world’s premier supplier of authentic, innovative and technically advanced outdoor apparel, equipment and footwear. rn rnFor the integrated, cross-promotional campaign launched on 20 Nov. in conjunction with Dick’s Sporting Goods (DSG), deliverables include a dramatic :30 broadcast spot directed by Tim Wheeler of Farm League. Last year’s high-profile campaign for The North Face from Factory Design Labs also involved design and visual effects from Leviathan, whose artists have once again contributed their talents to the new spot, which features The North Face athlete Callum Pettit gearing-up for an alpine adventure from inside a DSG store. rn rnWidely considered to be one of the world’s best big-mountain skiers, Pettit is introduced with on-screen text listing his name and his vital stats. As he secures his Ratchet Triclimate jacket from The North Face, the V.O. announces, "In Winter, self-reliance is essential, protection vital, gear indispensable," and on-screen graphics convey specs for the gear – and the temperature, which quickly plummets below freezing. When Pettit bends down to latch his boots, viewers see ice spreading across the store’s floor, and suddenly, the store’s ceiling opens up. Racks of clothes and the building’s architectural framework then move away, momentarily revealing Pettit atop a snow-covered mountain peak that he soon begins shredding. "So if The North Face athletes don’t trust the gear out here," the V.O. concludes as a snow-covered Pettit appears back inside the store, "we don’t carry it in here."rnrn
rnDick’s Sporting Goods Commercial – The North Face on YouTube.rnrnThe spot’s winter effects, artful transitions from inside the store to the outdoor settings and back again, as well as all the original graphics, were conceived by Leviathan based on conversations with FDL and Wheeler. Leviathan also handled all the editing and compositing in-house, as well as creating the custom end tags for The North Face now appearing in many other campaign elements. rn rn"How we move in and out of these scenes was up to director Tim Wheeler and our crew," said Leviathan’s executive producer Chad Hutson. "Besides the inclusion of floating type and infographics, everyone involved really wanted to keep the spot feeling natural and realistic. Our creative director Bradon Webb felt we could incorporate a number of ice and snow effects that would be subtle but powerful. For the dramatic transition from inside to the snowy peak, we built the interior in CG then deconstructed it and the product racks to reveal the great outdoors, which was a thorough undertaking to maintain realism."rn rnAlthough many of the featured skiing shots come from existing footage, Wheeler and his crew did shoot original live-action footage of Pettit inside a Chicago-area DSG store before traveling to Calgary to capture him on a summit. To ensure all the assets would combine seamlessly in the finished story, Webb and his Leviathan colleagues worked very closely with the agency and production company executives to storyboard and pre-visualize every facet. A Red Epic camera system was used for live-action, and at Leviathan’s studio, Andrew Maggio edited the spots using Apple Final Cut Pro. Snow effects were created with a combination of Autodesk Maya and Adobe After Effects, and other tracking and effects shots were completed using Nuke from The Foundry, along with After Effects. Final color is courtesy of Nolo, and project finishing was handled by Hootenanny. rn rn"The greatest visual effects challenge involved removing elements of the retail store environment and replacing them with virtual and practical outdoor elements," added Leviathan’s visual effects director Matt Daly. "We recorded ice growing on camera here in our studio specifically to track in our 3D environment during the store transformation sequence. Entire sections of the store were modeled in 3D with Maya. We also employed Autodesk 1-2-3D to recreate 3D racks of clothing using store location photographs we’d shot on set." rn rn"It’s a warm-and-fuzzy feeling to be entrusted not only with the design elements of The North Face, but also the complex visual effects that came with this concept," concluded Jason White, Leviathan’s executive creative director. "It’s great to collaborate with such a professional team from the initial concept development phase all the way through to completion."rn rnThe agency’s project team consisted of executive creative director Andrew Price, creative director Josh Willis, ACD/copywriter Jeff Jenks, senior art director Greg Ryan, and director of broadcast production Melany Fehrenbach. For Farm League, credit also goes to executive producer Tim Lynch and line producer Leigh Goldstone. The campaign’s music and sound design are courtesy of Joel Corelitz of Waveplant, with VO recording and final mix credits going to Another Country. Complete project credits are available upon request. rn rnTo learn more about The North Face, please visit www.thenorthface.com.rn rnAbout LeviathanrnLeviathan is a design-focused production studio specializing in creating large-scale visual experiences across all media. Champions of breakthrough design and branding, Leviathan’s leaders draw from experiences earned inside leading digital agencies, production companies, VFX and motion studios. Also leveraging the talents of extraordinary designers, technologists, developers and producers, the studio develops and delivers cutting edge content that maximizes the capabilities of today’s media platforms. Since launching in 2010, the studio’s collaborations with agencies, brands and leading filmmakers have rendered scores of sensational projects across all markets and industries and earned award recognition from the Association of Independent Music, Communication Arts Magazine, the AICP, The D Show, The One Club, and the Themed Entertainment Association. To learn more about Leviathan, please visit www.lvthn.com, or call executive producer Chad Hutson at +1.312.878.1500.Who Needs Los Angeles? We Do.
One doesn't have to be a statistician to know that there are fewer commercials being shot in the U.S. today for the American market than ever before, and a dramatic decrease in L.A. in particular. In the last five years, as reported by FilmLA (the office tasked with issuing permits), L.A. commercial production has dipped 31 percent. But here’s the thing: This doesn’t mean that L.A. has lost its importance as the production center of the world. Production in L.A. is vital. It is the go-to. It’s where you can count on access to exemplary crews, a support infrastructure second to none, varied location and backlot options, a large population of on-screen talent and (fairly) predictable weather. The fact is, with overall decline and now the devastation of the fires, we’re on the brink of losing this mainstay resource. Without employment opportunities and now many without homes, talented and trained crew are bound to leave either the industry or the LA area for other opportunities, unless there are enough job opportunities to sustain a solid living. Now is the time when we ALL must support and bolster this community. Production is needed in L.A., now! Of course, advertising is a business, and marketers’ money should be spent as efficiently as possible, BUT we have to think beyond each production and know that if we lose the incredible resource of L.A. production as we know it, then marketers, agencies and the industry loses in the long run. Over the past several days, some agencies have issued directives to production companies that are unilaterally pushing upcoming production options out of L.A. The fact is L.A. is a large area, and many sections of the city and county are not directly impacted... Read More