a52

a52 Colorist Paul Yacono grades David Fincher's original series for Netflix, "House of Cards"

a52tumbler — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 20:26:15 -0800

When faced with the task of grading and finishing 13 episodes of David Fincher’s original Netflix series “House of Cards”, a52’s Colorist and Lead Smoke Artist Paul Yacono worked with producers, engineers and artists to develop a pipeline that served both the technical challenges and the creative aspirations that the show presented us with. Paul started with the first episode, working within the parameters that Fincher and his DP, Eigil Bryld, established which set the look for the series. “David and his crew set out with rules in place to keep the production value on all 13 episodes extremely high”, Yacono noted. “He is an idiosyncratic director with an incredible eye. He knows what he likes and doesn’t like. There’s rarely a grey area.” Once the initial look was established, Paul and a52’s second colorist, Tommy Hooper, tag-teamed the remaining 12 episodes over a 5 month period. Not only did Paul and Tommy set the color for the show, but Paul and the rest of the HOC team at a52, including lead online editor Matt Sousa, conformed every episode and completed a large amount of VFX for the show.

Having never tackled a show of this size, we needed to make significant infrastructure changes to accommodate the amount of data we processed on a weekly basis for each one hour episode. a52’s Chief Engineer, Kevin Bass, led the pipeline development for the crew creating a hugely flexible, yet structured workflow that allowed for rolling editorial changes on all episodes. “Unlike traditional series deliveries, Netflix releases an entire season in one go. So as the show took shape, the editorial department needed flexibility to change episodes at will. We had to create a pipeline that allowed for that flexibility but also didn’t slow down the finishing for the rest of the series,” explained Bass. Netflix, being an all digital delivery network, allowed us to push the technical boundaries of our tapeless pipeline as well. Thorough encoding development had to be tested and retested to meet the needs of both viewing for WIP comments as well as delivery formats for streaming.

“a52 has always been known as a boutique VFX company,” notes Executive Producer Megan Meloth. “This starts a new chapter in our history. We’re committed to doing more DI whether it be for commercials or long form. Paul is an incredibly talented colorist and with a sophisticated engineering department behind him, we’re ready to take on our next challenge.”

Acclaimed filmmaker Derek Cianfrance teams up with a52 to create a seamless single take for Dick's Sporting Goods and Anomaly

a52tumbler — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 20:21:00 -0800

In visual effects, the single take camera move is both a thing of beauty as well as much pain and suffering for artists. When at the end of the day you can look at a spot and say, “How did they do that?” we know we’ve done our job really well.

The creative team at Anomaly thought up this VFX mind bender and with the inclusion of Derek Cianfrance, it got taken to a whole other level. More times than not, the single camera move is a roller coaster that we’re taken on. This spot however keeps that move subtle and simple which allows for more scrutiny from the viewer. Derek, being a purist, was intent on capturing the camera move in one take so that we wouldn’t have to hide any cuts with VFX trickery. Brilliant cinematography and choreography gave us the canvas to which we applied our VFX artistry.

VFX Supervisor, Andy McKenna took on the challenge of designing an approach for filling the stadium and removing the very large motion control rig that ran from the pitcher’s mound to the catcher allowing that move to happen. After a few long nights on location, the team assembled at a52 to bring Derek’s simple and elegant vision to life. “The phrase patience is a virtue comes into play on jobs like these,” McKenna notes. “There’s a lot of trust that has to be gathered from the Agency and Director because it usually doesn’t come together until the very end. Thankfully both the Agency and Derek found that trust in us.”

Latest Timberlake video finds its home at a52 for VFX

a52tumbler — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 19:30:00 -0800

Its not everyday that we take on a music video. So when we do, we are fortunate enough to work with amazing artists both in front of and behind the camera.

How could we go wrong with David Fincher at the helm and an amazing track by Justin Timberlake and JayZ.

a52 goes Pro for the Microsoft Surface and Black Ops

a52tumbler — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 19:46:00 -0800

Microsoft “Provibe” :60 from a52 on Vimeo.

For the launch of Microsoft’s “Pro” Surface, agency Black Ops tapped up a52 to bring the new spot to air. Having successfully worked with Rock Paper Scissors Editorial on past campaigns, the agency turned its sights to a52 for the VFX.

Lead Flame Artist, Andy Bate chose well for his first project of the new year. After breaking last week, the spot was named Ad of the Day by Adweek.

Superbowl XLVII Roundup

a52tumbler — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 16:33:00 -0800

NFL Network “Sandcastle” :60 from a52 on Vimeo.

Taco Bell “Viva Young” :60 from a52 on Vimeo.

Hyundai “Stuck” from a52 on Vimeo.

The artists at a52 had another great showing this year for Superbowl XLVII. Here’s some of the highlights.

Toyota goes places with a little help from Baca-Asay and a52

a52tumbler — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 13:39:00 -0800

Long time collaborators, Joaquin Baca-Asay and a52 VFX Supervisor Andy McKenna came together again for this new image campaign for Toyota via Saatchi + Saatchi.

Clever match cuts are topped off by the seamless introduction of the CG concept car created by a52 artists with their usual discreet hand of not really knowing what is real and what was done through VFX.

Congratulations to Lance Acord on his DGA nomination. We had...

a52tumbler — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 12:23:00 -0800

Congratulations to Lance Acord on his DGA nomination. We had the privilege of working with Lance on all three of his nominated commercials.

More recently, VFX Supervisor Patrick Murphy was on set with Lance for our first job with him of 2013.

Photo Credit: Scott Boyajan

Ed, Woody, And the World's Hottest Pepper

a52tumbler — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 13:40:22 -0800

We love that we work with directors like Lance Acord that afford us the opportunity to contribute to pieces outside of the commercial world. When asked if we’d like to help Lance with his retrospect on Ed Ruscha at the LACMA, we answered with a resounding “YES!” The show is on through January 21, 2013.

Be sure to catch it if you’re in town.

We're kicking off the holiday season with Target and 72+Sunny

a52tumbler — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 15:30:00 -0800

The first three spots in a Target Holiday campaign that we were lucky enough to work with 72 + Sunny and Jonas Akerlund on have hit the airwaves just in time for the start of the holiday shopping season. Magical CG characters and impeccable compositing courtesy of the fine artists at a52 populate the beautifully designed worlds from the mind of Jonas Akerlund.

Keep checking back for more spots in the campaign as the holidays are quickly approaching.

Agency215 + Blue Source remind us to stop for a moment and take things in with our latest collaboration on Nescafe

a52tumbler — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Its been a long history of a52 and Agency 215 creating beautiful spots for Nescafe and this one is no exception. This marks our sixth spot that we’ve worked with the creative team and the first one with our other long time friends at BlueSource.

Beautiful compositing at the hands of Jesse Monsour make this spot one to remember in the campaign. We look forward to these spots every year… we can’t wait to see what the team dreams up for 2013.

a52 Takes the Bate

a52tumbler — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 00:00:00 -0700

a52 has continued to bolster its roster with the signing of Andrew Bate as VFX Supervisor/Flame Artist. A multitalented VFX pro whose work spans the commercial, music video and film worlds, Bate’s recent efforts includes a Cannes Gold Lion and Emmy-winning Olympics spot for Procter & Gamble, a D&AD Annual-winning ad for Xbox, a Sports Emmy-winning promo for MLB, and Honda’s infamous Matthew Broderick’s Day Off Super Bowl ad from earlier this year.

Good Luck to Lance Acord, Park Pictures and Deutsch at the 2012 Emmy's this weekend!

a52tumbler — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 18:52:00 -0700

One of our favorites from this year’s Superbowl… the Dog Strikes Back! We had the pleasure of working with Lance and Deutsch and of course Bolt (the dog) on this follow up to last years VW Vader spot.

Good Luck at the Emmy’s everyone!

Target Goes Back to School with a52 and Andreas Nilsson

a52tumbler — Sun, 26 Aug 2012 16:49:00 -0700

Our favorite music teacher is back for more… (jeans that is) with the help of director, Andreas Nilsson and our very own Jesse Monsour. Jesse took to his stop motion animation skills and helped Andreas and the Target team at WK create a world where jeans and backpacks march to a beat all their own.

Errol Morris and W+K tell an unexpected story of LeBron's first NBA championship ring in Nike's "Ring Maker".

a52tumbler — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 15:34:00 -0700

Nike “Ringmaker” premiered after LeBron James and the Miami Heat won the 2011-2012 NBA Championship game against Oaklahoma City. The spot directed by Errol Morris tells the tale of LeBron’s rise to fame and the craftsman that makes the ring that will eventually garner his finger.

a52’s Paul Yacono colored the spot giving it a gritty, honest tone that reflects the storytelling that W+K and Morris were striving for.

Visa "The Difference"

ignore-this-please — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:58:00 -0700

Kicking off the London 2012 Olympics with a bang. We were tasked by TBWA/Chiat Day with bringing four classic Olympic moments to life in a new way. Using archival footage as a starting point we used CG & careful compositing to enhance these moments— bringing us closer to the action. Hopefully the first of many great Olympic spots to come this year.

On Location

ignore-this-please — Fri, 04 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Patrick Murphy hard at work on a blistering day in the desert somewhere in California. Photo courtesy of our talented VFX Producer/Photographer Scott Boyajan.

Corona Light "Stan"

ignore-this-please — Tue, 01 May 2012 16:04:00 -0700

Good times with Mike Mills and GS&P.

Nike Golf "Moments"

ignore-this-please — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:01:00 -0700

Always up for a challenge – we definitely found ourselves looking for creative solutions when Wieden & Kennedy + Max Malkin brought the latest Nike Golf project our way. The goal was to take some the great moments in recent tournament golf and strip the crowds away to experience the contrast between the serenity of the golf course and the excitement that comes with the tournament and the crowds.

The process was turned upside down as shots were picked and edited ahead of shooting – then came the fun part. Lead artist Jesse Monsour explains “We faced most of the challenges during production when we were shooting plates to match the stock footage exactly. We were able to get fairly close in camera but not perfect. We had to make a lot of adjustments in Flame to match up the shots more precisely. The next challenge was in the fact that these new plates we shot were incredibly clean, high-resolution images from a RED Epic camera. The stock footage was from various sources shot on cameras that aren’t meant to capture images nearly as clean and crisp. We had to play around a lot to find a look that would marry the two separate images so that the stock footage wouldn’t feel so cut out against these super clean backgrounds.”

a52 kicks off the year with Shocktop: The End of the World.

ignore-this-please — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 12:52:00 -0700

What could be more fun than blowing up things? Doing it with Matt Asselton and 72 + Sunny in Buenos Aires. At least that’s what VFX Supervisor Andy McKenna said after returning from the three day shoot in BA.

Matt was intent on focusing on the performance given the dry comedic spokesperson for the campaign. So having Andy on set with him was a tremendous asset. Combining multiple live action plates, FX elements, matte paintings and CG aliens quickly grew to an inordinate amount of work.

Production designers laid the ground work in BA with incredibly detailed art direction for the foreground elements. But making BA feel like Armageddon was no easy task.

Once everyone returned to LA, the heavy lifting began. 3D matte paintings were designed for use in multiple scenes. In particular, the devastated apartment that seconds as a base jumping platform uses a matte painting that consisted of about 70 layers giving the scene outside depth and complexity. On top of that, the alien that poses for the hosts’ cameraphone was an original a52 design created entirely in CG. Alien spacecraft, meteors and explosions rounded out the contributions from the CG department.

“Working with Matt is always a pleasure,” McKenna commented. “But he definitely had the right idea in BA. If you ever get the opportunity to go there in the summer to blow up some stuff, make sure you get a couple of bikini girls in there for good measure. Makes the shoot day go a lot faster.”

MLB 12 "Cubs Win"

ignore-this-please — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0700

There’s a lot we can do in VFX, if only we could actually make the Cubs win. But we did our best to fake it in this moving spot that imagines what the city of Chicago would be like if the Cubbies won the World Series.