RELEASES

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Contacts:
Roger Darnell
DWA for a52
1.828.264.8898

For Immediate Release

HOLLYWOOD — Clio-winning Los Angeles visual effects company a52 today detailed their visual effects and design work for MJZ/Los Angeles and director Clay Williams for Ground Zero’s :30 California Dept. of Health PSA spot entitled “Bubbles” which debuted regionally at the end of last year and notably aired during the broadcast of the 46th Annual Grammy® Awards on CBS on Feb. 8. 

To help viewers visualize a world without cigarettes, the spot shows a number of scenes where cigarettes are common.  In each beautifully photographed scene, instead of puffing smoke, people are shown blowing bubbles which harmlessly drift away.  Text drives home the message:  “Imagine a world without cigarettes.  Undo tobacco everywhere.”

Involved with the creative team from Ground Zero and director Clay Williams very early in the process, a52’s team helped formulate a plan for shooting practical bubbles as well as other live-action elements during filming, to allow CGI bubbles to be rendered realistically in the finished spot. 

“If we had only used bubbles that were shot in camera,” explained Monique Veillette, Ground Zero’s executive producer, “the impact of the message would have been lost... as most bubbles shot in-camera are hard to read on film.  So, a52 needed to be able to create photo realistic bubbles to enhance each shot.  These CGI bubbles needed to match the flow of real bubbles.  They needed to be exact in the way the light moves off a floating bubble as well as how the colors of the environment are picked up within the bubble. 

“Ultimately the use of CGI bubbles allowed us to have control of where the bubbles traveled – as in the end shot over the baby and off people's wands throughout,” Veillette concluded.

To create the CGI bubbles, a52 called on the artists at SWAY Studio, providing them with imagery of each scene’s environments.  SWAY then used Lightwave and other proprietary software to create two layers for each bubble, consisting of one environment reflection and a specular layer. 

a52 effects artist Westley Sarokin (who also served as on-set visual effects supervisor) then combined those layers, color-corrected them and composited them into the live-action scenery using Discreet Inferno.  He also used Inferno to replace the skies in several key scenes.

“SWAY is a fantastic company that does great work,” Sarokin said.  “They were able to give us all the elements we needed to be able to composite everything together and make it all look photo-real.”

“I can truly say that this project was a labor of love for all involved,” added Monique Veillette.  “The dedication of each contributor resulted in the creation of a beautiful spot.”

In addition to Monique Veillette, the team for Ground Zero also included executive creative director Court Crandall, creative director Arty Tan, copywriter Gregory Lane, art director Shawn Brown and co-producer Michelle Price. 

For a52, April Killingsworth served as producer and Westley Sarokin was on-set visual effects supervisor and Inferno artist.  SWAY’s team consisted of executive producer Rachel Kaminek, visual effects supervisor Mark Glaser and digital artists Robert Glazer and Will Wira.

Production was overseen by MJZ president David Zander and executive producer Lisa Rich, and also included line producer Karen Chen and director of photography Curtis Clark.  Telecine was handled by colorist Steve Rodriguez at Company 3 in Santa Monica.  The editorial team from LA’s Cosmo Street consisted of editor Katz, executive producer Yvette Cobarrubias, producer Tania Thiele and assistant editor Tommy Immer. 

Kyle Schember at Mindfield in Los Angeles mixed the final audio.

About a52
Established in 1997 as a home for the very latest high-end photo-real visual effects technologies and the industry’s most innovative and talented graphic design artists, visual effects company a52 creates award-winning imagery for the world’s most visually ambitious commercial and television projects.  Having relocated to Santa Monica in 2007, the company’s work has earned AICP Show recognition for 11 consecutive years along with recent “Outstanding Commercial” Emmy, Andy, BDA, Belding, Clio, British Design and Art Direction, International Monitor, International Automotive Advertising, London International Advertising, One Show and PROMAX awards.  For more information, please call 1.310.586.0650 or visit www.a52.com.

View QuickTime
for “Bubbles”