BBC divisions team up for Euro 2004 titles

BBC Broadcast, BBC Post Production and BBC Sport have collaborated to produce the title sequence for the BBC’s Euro 2004 coverage.
The piece depicts leading European players such as Henry, Owen and Del Piero as superhuman and draws on the skills they possess which characterise their game. The larger than life players, who each have an energy vapour trail, are shown bursting in and out of various locations across Portugal - jumping over roof tops, volleying off castle walls and flying mid-air volleys across cathedrals and palaces. The sequence will form the opening and intermediary sections of the BBC Sport broadcast of the championships, which kicks off on June 12.
The sequence, created and directed by BBC Broadcast and BBC Sport producer Jason Bernard, opens on the dawn of a new day in a tiny Portugese coastal village with gas-like vapour trails, which guide through each frame – from Henry’s swift and nimble footwork, which carries him across the roof tops of Porto to Michael Owen’s lightning speed dribble through the streets of Lisbon. From there Sol Campbell defends a castle walls before heading the ball over to Paval Nedved. It is quickly passed on to Del Piero, who performs a mid-air volley straight across some of Portugal’s leading landmarks. It then carries on its journey through Zidane, Beckham, Rooney and Ljunberg and finishes up with Klivert striking the ball past tournament winners and climaxes with the explosion of the vapour trail leading to the Euro 2004 cup.
To create the sequence, unique on location footage was combined with detailed digital effects work on the 42 shots. To ensure that the giant figures fitted in seamlessly with their surroundings, the on location camera lens, angles and tilts were measured exactly. In addition, a variety of frame rates were used and the back plates were filmed in time-lapse and the foreground player action was shot high speed against a green screen to create a surreal motion. This enabled the 3D and digital effects team at BBC Post Production to marry the background and foreground action and by tracking the player’s extremities such as heads, hands and feet, they could use them as a source for particles to create the vapour trail.
(SP)