KILT

CULVER CITY, CA, August 3, 2011 –  Boutique post-production studio KILT Studios completes BOOST Mobile campaign with iNSPRIRE! and Man of Fire with Bop Bag. The spot, directed by Francisco Pugliese of D’Avant Garde Media, shows a boxer in the shape of a punching bag being trounced by his sparring partner. The powerful visual metaphor illustrates how with other mobile carriers, customers are abused, but with BOOST Mobile the customer – or boxer in this case –is freed and is in control of his mobile universe.The narrative of the spot is very strong  with the boxer confined to the shape of a punching bag capturing the viewer’s imagination. As the commercial progresses, the punching bag transitions to a human as arm pop out of either side of the bag and the  had and neck shrink down. The rest of the body transitions in a final sequence, and our boxer begins to fight back now empowered by Boost Mobile.

The boxer/punching bag was created in CG. The texture of the bag took on human qualities pushed into cylinder form. The actor shot against process screen reacted as if he as being hit, while  the sparring partner on set hit an actual bag to ensure that there was the proper resistance and timing to an actual punching bag. The bag was removed digitally and replaced by the CG bag.

The resulting image shows the CG bag reacting realistically to the hits of the sparring partner. “The humor really came across when the actors’ eyes crossed upon being hit,” said KILT’s Creative Director, Andy Mac. “The interplay of the actor’s performance with the action of the bag gave the story life.”

Much of the success of the spot was due to the preparation before the shoot. “We wanted to be sure the elements really matched to what our eventual art direction would be,” explained Executive Producer, Matthew McManus. “A lot of time was spent talking with the director and the agency to ensure that everyone was on the same page. That kind of dialogue prior to the shoot makes things a lot easier on the post side.”

The arms of the bag prior to the boxer becoming human were also created in CG. The motion of the bag determined the animation of the arms. “To try and use an element from live action would have never worked. The edit and animation would have had to been locked prior to shooting the shoot. So we would know what angles we needed to match to, and that just was not possible. You always want flexibility later on in the process” said Andy Mac.

For the final transition moment, KILT had to match the live action element from 3D. “It was no easy task,” said Andy Mac, “We had to not only match the position of the live action basically roto animating, but art direct the transitional elements. The transition was meant to have seamless aspects to it while still very clearly on screen see the transition from bag to human.”

KILT Studios is a boutique post-production studio in the heart of Culver City. KILT specializes in devising creative solutions for all forms of content. For a reel or more information, contact Matthew McManus at (310) 202-5500 or matthew@kiltstudios.com.