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

    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.”

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

    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.

  3. We’re kicking off the holiday season with Target and 72+Sunny

    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.

  4. Visa “The Difference”

    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.

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

    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.”

  6. MLB 12 “Cubs Win”

    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.

  7. Buffalo Wild Wings “January”

    This year we were happy to celebrate March Madness with Craig Gillespie and the team from Fallon on their hilarious first campaign for the Buffalo Wild Wings chain.

  8. On Location

    Fun times with the Arts&Science gang in Buenos Aires for the Shocktop shoot.

  9. Lego “Click”

    Definitely one of our favorites from the vault. Short film collaboration with Blue Source.

  10. Andy McKenna | VFX Supervisor | Flame Artist

    Since beginning his career in 1994, Andy McKenna has earned a solid reputation as one or the world’s premier visual effects artists working in commercials, music videos and feature films. His VFX talents were honed at Sydney’s GMD through contributions to major feature film projects, including “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” and “Rabbit-Proof Fence” and then reached new heights after he joined Animal Logic as a Senior Flame Compositor. There, Andy’s VFX supervision and contributions to major ad campaigns included Carlton’s “Big Ad” for director Paul Middleditch, the 2006 Adidas “What’s Inside” spot from director Noam Murro, and other ads for Verizon, Nike and Gatorade.

    Andy joined Santa Monica’s Moving Pixels in 2006 as VFX Supervisor and Lead Flame Artist, where his technical mastery of visual effects compositing and his creativity shone through in high-profile commercial work for Buick, Coors Light, Nissan, and Mercury, among many others. Andy then landed at a52 in November of 2008. Since then he’s created a stunning portfolio of work collaborating with top directors and creatives.