The end-to-end commercial design and production teams comprised of affiliated companies RingSide Creative and Cutters Studios divisions Flavor, Cutters and Dictionary Films are very proud to detail their contributions to a new national spot for Ford Motor Company from Team Detroit. Entitled "Front and Back," the :30 spot extends the long-running Ford Trucks "Rant" campaign with a bold, powerful homage to heroism and reliability, using a hybrid design and animation style and original live-action footage shot on-location in Los Angeles. The spot debuted nationally earlier this month and will continue to air in targeted placements online, during high-profile broadcasts and on cable.
"Over the past couple of years, the visual inspiration for our F-150 Rant campaign has been the work of Saul Bass," explained Brad Hensen, group creative director at Team Detroit. "We've tried to have a lot of fun with positive and negative space. For Super Duty, we wanted to keep a sense of that visual language, but give it its own identity. Brad Tucker and his team at Ringside/Flavor/Cutters hit it perfectly. In fact, it was difficult to choose from the multiple options they provided. It was a great experience because they guided the project through every phase."
"It is a real privilege for us to have earned this assignment from Team Detroit, and to have the chance to present a single, unified front to take this iconic campaign to new dimensions," said Brad Tucker, Flavor's executive creative director. "To create the look, we experimented to find new ways to marry 3D, live-action, traditional cel animation and motion graphics. The experience brought out the best from all of us while opening the doors to a new era of collaborations with Team Detroit."
Invited to pitch by Team Detroit executives including group creative director Brad Hensen, creative director Beth Hambly and executive producer Bob Rashid, certain technical challenges related to past "Rant" campaign spots factored into the creative brief. "The bar was set very high in terms of having the graphics and the hero trucks maximize on-screen impact, and we also did a lot of work to create scene-to-scene transitions that have not been seen before," Tucker added.
With Tucker leading the design efforts, storyboards were created by RingSide's Keith Slawinski, Nicholas Mouhot and Paul Williams, and work commenced across the U.S. RingSide also provided VFX, project and account management support. Dictionary Films executive producer Chris Rossiter, line producer Richard Kaylor and their team then organized a shoot with 2015 Ford F-450 and F-250 Super Duty trucks in an LA-area quarry. Working with director of photography Jordan Valenti, the crew used an ARRI ALEXA XT digital camera system on the Mercedes ML55 Edge System from Performance Filmworks, capturing footage at a variety of speeds, craning and rotating to present a multitude of shots for both truck models on different terrains.
Meanwhile, design and animation were occurring in Detroit at RingSide, with Adobe Photoshop and After Effects, and Autodesk Maya serving as primary production tools. "The ability for us all to maintain close contact with Brad and the entire team throughout production was a key to this project's success," said Dave Peyton, RingSide's executive producer, who was integral in uniting the team efforts – which included more than a dozen creative artists in Detroit alone – and ensuring that work-in-progress and finished content reached Cutters editor Chris Moore as soon as possible.
"Essentially, Chris's early rough-cut became the template for each step to follow," Peyton continued. "That allowed us to lock-in timings, identify our selected truck scenes and complete rough comps… and it gave our clients the confidence that we were on the right track very early on."
RingSide artists also handled final project color, with staff colorist Rick Unger using Quantel's Pablo Rio to artistic effect. "Each of the two Ford trucks had its own rotoscoped matte, which allowed me to manipulate in layers," he said. "While we had a tight timeline, this approach provided an efficient means for unifying the colors to maximum effect."
Complete project credits are available upon request. For more information on Ford Trucks, please visit http://www.ford.com/trucks.
About RingSide Creative
RingSide Creative is an Integrated Media StudioTM with expertise in creating unbelievable brand experiences. We specialize in creating video content distributed over a wide range of media, including: commercial and private television, internet, mobile and tablet applications, display and live events. Through our five divisions: RingSide Post, Cutters, Picnic, Moonlink Studios and RSC Technical Imaging; our creative talent, and technical resources service a broad range of clients in markets such as: advertising, broadcast, entertainment, education, government and business. The company is headquartered at 13320 Northend, Oak Park, MI 48237. For more information call (248) 548-2500 or visit http://www.ringsidecreative.com.
About Flavor
Flavor is a phenomenal global collective of designers and visual artists. Together with its Cutters Studios partners Another Country, Cutters, Dictionary Films and Picnic Media, Flavor represents unlimited production capabilities. Under the leadership of executive creative director Brad Tucker, creative directors Brian Higgins and Brian McCauley and executive producers Neal Cohen and Darren Jaffe, Flavor creates commercials, interactive, live-action, VFX and design works, always aiming to exceed client expectations. Delighting in experimentation and thriving on collaboration, the key ingredient in Flavor is always the creative. To learn more please visit http://flavor.tv.
About Cutters and Cutters Studios
Established in Chicago in 1980, Cutters has cemented its reputation as a premier provider of extraordinary editing and post-production artistry, and today the company is among the world's largest independent editorial companies. Based on its solid reputation for world-class editorial talents, family values and truly great leadership, over time, Cutters has opened successful studios in Detroit, Los Angeles, Tokyo and New York City. With its partner companies Another Country, Dictionary Films, Flavor and Picnic Media, Cutters Studios represents unlimited full-service creative capabilities. For more information please visit http://www.cuttersstudios.com.
