XTV COMMERCIAL FOR CNN MOBILE NEWS

Design and production facility, XTV, has just completed a commercial for CNN Mobile, the 24-hour global and pan-regional news and information service for GSM mobile phones.
The 30 second commercial will start airing on CNN's Asia-Pacific feed from mid-August in the run-up to the Sydney Olympics.
CNN promotions director, Carsten Lakner, and XTV's Zen Jepras developed the concept for the commercial to illustrate the speed and efficiency of the service - dubbed "news for a mobile world" - which updates users via text on the mobile phone's screen.
The commercial centres around a spectator who dials the CNN Mobile news service on his Nokia WAP phone while watching a 100 metre sprint from the grandstand in a stadium. When the winner crosses the finish line the spectator is informed that the athlete has just run a new world record.
Directed and scripted by Lakner, XTV's Hannah Mitchell produced the commercial with Jepras responsible for developing the storyboard and all the 3D graphics while also acting as technical director on the shoot.
The commercial combines live action and cg graphics. The main graphics features a CNN computer generated character that interacts with the athlete. Other vital elements were also created and subtly layered into the action sequences.
The post production work was completed at XTV with John Gradwell editing.
Jepras created the 3D images in SoftImage, while compositing and finishing was completed in Flame by David Frearson and in Henry by Jan Hallett.