Red completes effects extravaganza for pop video

Soho-based visual communications facility, Red, have provided over 280 effects shots for the promo for So Solid Crew's new single 'Ride wid us', which features a sample from cult TV show 'Knight Rider'.
The promo is a fast-paced journey through a number of different scenes that seamlessly blends a combination of in-camera and computer generated effects. The promo was directed and off-lined by Dawn Shadforth at Black Dog and began airing on February 18.
The video opens to an urban skyline at night with singer Megaman performing on a walkway in front of a huge elevated billboard. The footage was filmed in London but Red manipulated and layered the buildings to change the overall look so that it is not easily identifiable.
The Megaman scene was shot against green screen, with a green screen billboard and the city plate then keyed and tracked in behind. Red tracked additional footage to appear on the billboard and treated it to look like an LED screen. At one point, the billboard explodes to provide the transition to an in-camera dancing sequence. The explosion was created in 3D using XSI and then embellished in flame.
Another key scene from an effects point of view features a kung-fu fight on the counter-weight of a crane. A number of other cranes in the background move at a time-lapse pace to fit in with other in-camera time-lapse elements. A model of the counter weight was built and shot green screen with the band members and dancers, and then keyed over the background plate. The background cranes and the rest of the foreground crane were constructed in 3D and lit to match the in-camera lightening effects.
Red, www.red.co.uk
(GB)