Lucozade Sport Launches 'Evolution' Commercial Campaign

Tony Kaye has directed a series of Lucozade Sport commercials for its 'Evolution' campaign with Rushes carrying out the full post production on this VFX heavy project, which included the completion of over 100 VFX shots.
The theme of the campaign is the evolution of sports alongside the evolution of Lucozade Sport, looking at how they have both significantly improved in performance over the years.
The 60-second and 30-second commercials use imagery of athletes from different eras competing against each other spanning the decades from 1920 to the present day.
The source material was shot on a number of different cameras, from slo-mo digital to 35mm and 16mm film to photo finish cameras.
Adrian Seery, Director of Telecine, undertook a complex job that required the use of multiple grades on the same shot.
He said: "The da Vinci Resolve suite proved the ideal grading environment for the multi-layered colour correction required. Working from scanned data allows for greater speed and accuracy compared to second passes in conventional telecine suites."
The fast turnaround on the shoot meant footage was shot both in the day and at night with the daylight material regraded to give day for night sequences where needed. All the stadium crowd scenes were tracked in from separate plate shots by the Rushes team led by Flame artist Rufus Blackwell.
The selected takes from each decade were graded in Resolve and then mattes created of all the different performances from each era. Individual looks were then created to represent each era using a combination of layered film effects and shooting material back off the TV monitors and downgrading through different analogue tape formats. These were then composited with integrated graphic dates together with graphic overlays.
Blackwell collaborated closely with Director Tony Kaye, M&C Saatchi Creative Director Graham Fink and creatives Tristan Cornelius and Joe Miller along with typographer Jeff at Research Studios to develop the image and graphic design for the commercial.
Fink commented: "Making this Lucozade Sport commercial has been a long process: an evolution of techniques and ideas.
"Trying to find that which is new and fresh. Working with a team of obsessive individuals: director, editor, visual effects artists, sound designers, who jumped hurdle after hurdle in the pursuit for excellence. Good is the enemy of great. I got the result I wanted."
Flame artist Adam Watson focused on the running sequences with fellow Flame artist Leo Weston working on the pack animations which feature throughout the commercial. Artist's David Kiddie, Emir Hasham, Marcus Wood, Richard White and Combustion artist Noel Harmes also made significant contributions to this complex project.
Editor Peter Goddard supplied the edits to work from the 60-second, 30-second and 8 x 15-second commercials for the multi-channel campaign, which will be going live on TV, web, print and screened at various sports events.
(KMcA/BMcC)