Belfast post facility makes ‘One Small Step’ with Magic Bullet Suite

Belfast-based production-house Streetmonkey used Magic Bullet Suite to put the finishing touches to the controversial commercial ‘One Small Step’.
The project, conceived to combat intolerance in Northern Ireland society, is aimed at an audience who use offensive words to discriminate against race, colour and religion. The ad - which has aired on national television since January 31 - encourages people to play their own part in securing a better shared future by consciously taking small steps to break down "the barriers of misunderstanding, hatred and distrust that are holding Northern Ireland back".
The voice-over for the ad is provided by Ulster-born Kenneth Brannagh. Shot on DV in a green screen studio, there were many challenges to overcome to create the client’s (FIRE IMC) vision. Multi-layered backgrounds, keying and the creation of an ‘energy wall’ required lots of complex effects work. Magic Bullet was key in unifying the many layers with the same grade.
“We try to keep ahead and use technologies which allow us to use the same film and optical treatment effects used by the likes of Paramount Pictures, HBO, Time Warner and Disney. But we are also very conscious of keeping within budget.” said Dermot Faloon at Streetmonkey. “We needed technology that would allow us to treat DV footage and output any desired film look.
“Magic Bullet is a key factor in all our commercials. At best we use the de-interlacer, Look Suite and Broadcast Spec on a commercial and at worst we just run the broadcast filter on its own.
"Our live action work has all gone through Magic Bullet, we have been using DSR570 Sony DV cameras - which are interlaced only - so the main component of the Magic Bullet Suite has been good to us.
“Using Magic Bullet allows us to track every pixel of footage and remove the interlaced video, replacing it with a high quality progressive frame. This is not simply a de-interlacing option found in many editing suites, which actually removes valuable data.
“All our work benefits by going through Magic Bullet - it allows us to compete with much more expensive film and editing solutions. We have also used it on our 3D work, which can give great results, and with version 2 now available I’m looking forward to using the Look Suite on progressive HD footage as I feel it is the strongest element of the package”
(GB)