Popeyes (NASDAQ: PLKI) wanted their brand ambassador Annie to have three times the impact in their latest campaign "Louisiana Trios." How do you turn one spokesperson into three? Brian Buongiorno, founder of Tone Visuals, Inc., went on set in New Orleans to help triplicate Annie.
GSD&M's Mike Blair wrote the “Louisiana Trios” campaign to feature Annie (brilliantly played by Deidrie Henry) interacting side by side with two other Annies as they announce the latest chicken/fish/biscuit offerings. Mike wanted the scene to look seamless and natural, so Buongiorno advised against the traditional use of green-screen as separate passes in favor of shooting Annie with two stand-in actors. This live interaction between three people enabled Deidrie to play off the other two Annies more realistically and maintain the correct eye line during the entire take.
To bring Mike’s vision to life, veteran post-production artist Brian Buongiorno utilized his decades of experience as a VFX artist to collaborate with director Rocky Powell of RockHouse Films. Once Rocky shot the live action sequences on film, Buongiorno captured the output of the cameras' video tap and digitized it. Brian then edited the passes together so that Rocky could verify, in real time, that he captured what he needed to complete the shots. "Since Rocky shot three live-action takes, I was able to composite them together as a split screen. This let me preserve the lighting and shadows from each of the hero takes, making the final spots look as if all three Annie’s were shot in camera” added Buongiorno.
"Having Brian on set was invaluable," adds Rocky, "because it took all the guesswork out of a tricky shoot. This campaign was creatively challenging and technically tough. Brian's artistry and technical chops enabled us to deliver flawless work."
Once the final takes were chosen and edited by Carve Editorial, Buongiorno performed the final color, 2D visuals effects, and online finish for the spots.
"Louisiana Trios," aired nationally in May 2014.
Tone Visuals, Inc. (www.tonevisuals.com) is headquartered in Austin. Founded as a visual effects house in Los Angeles in 2001, Tone now specializes in digital color grading, visual effects, and online finishing.
