THE SKY'S THE LIMIT FOR MPC AND 'THE SUN'

Richard Loncraine has directed ‘We’ve Got Balls’, the new ad for The Sun newspaper, it promotes the forthcoming football season. It was produced through 2AM films, the Agency was brothersandsisters.

The all action ad features a fleet of helicopters, loaded with nets brimming with footballs and piloted by glamorously made up ladies, who fly into central London in an ‘Apocalypse Now’ formation before blanket bombing the city with their football load.  Millions of balls tumble into the city, creating mayhem among unsuspecting civilians below.  We see them hurtling through building sites, bouncing of the rooftops and filling the streets of London.  On successful delivery of the goods, they retreat back over the River Thames, leaving the city football crazy.

The majority of the work carried out by MPC involved CG helicopters. Models were built in 3D and composited into the original cityscape plate later in Flame.  The balls themselves were all shot live action on the shoot. Nets containing thousands of balls were hung on rigs and cranes. The nets were then opened and this release of balls was captured on camera to be later integrated into the back plates.  The compositing team also used matte paintings of fields, surrounding countryside and the sky which was then added in. The sea of footballs featured at the end of the ad were also enhanced.

The final camera pull back from the city is entirely 2D, and was completed in After Effects.  Cloud particles and the football itself were given a specific treatment to mirror the 3D animated elements.  The camera pull back itself transitions from a real camera move into a virtual camera move which was also created in after effects.  Planet Earth and London scenery consist of extensive matte paintings.

Credits:

Director: Richard Loncraine
Agency: brothersandsisters
Agency Producer: Jacky Bateman
Production Company: 2AM Films
Production Company Producers: Matthew Kitchen and Aly Moffat
Creative Director: Andy Fowler
Creatives: Sam Washington and Mark Harris
Post Production: MPC
Post Production Producers: Justin Brukman and Andrew Bell
VFX Supervisor: Nick Bennett
Telecine: Mark Gethin
VFX Team: Stirling Archibald, Ric Comline, Martin Cook, Ali Dixon, Lewis Guarniere, Leila Smith,
Mark Stannard