Filmworkers, CUT Work Together On Super Bowl Spot
February 21, 2012 by Screenmag
Filmworkers, Dallas and charlieuniformtango both had a role in the Super Bowl XLVI spot for HEB, the grocery chain and client of The Richards Group.
Conceived by The Richards Group, cut by charlieuniformtango with post production services provided by Filmworkers, the spot plays like a trailer for a science fiction movie as a Texas community braces itself for an alien invasion. A farmer inspects a ruined cornfield. Fans at a sporting event spot a green light in the sky. Rocket scientists nervously monitor satellite images. Most mysteriously, H-E-B food products, shopping carts and even a big rig disappear. The drama culminates in a supermarket where a pint-sized alien in a ten-gallon hat buys milk, bread and other items before disappearing in a puff of smoke. “H-E-B brand products,” says the voice-over, “everybody wants them. Only Texas has them.”
Matt McClain performed final color correction for the 60-second commercial which debuted in Southwest markets during the Super Bowl broadcast. It will also air during other high-profile events, including the Academy Awards. An extended version is featured on the H-E-B Facebook page. The commercial’s production values are more than on par with Super Bowl spots airing nationally, in fact, they are positively Spielberg-esque. It features a large cast, numerous locations and oversized props (including an H-E-B truck parked on top of a building and 160 stacked shopping carts), elaborate movie makeup and animatronics. It was shot with an Arri Alexa camera system, which was developed for feature film production, and presented in cinema-style 2.4 aspect ratio. Post-production work at Filmworkers was carried out with a similarly theatrical flourish. McClain’s role was to give the imagery a rich, cinematic look.
“Our aim was to give the spot a dark, contrasty look, similar to an action-packed movie thriller,” he says. “My style of contrast, with warmer highlights and cooler mid-tones and blacks, really worked well for this. We had a lot of night scenes with high contrast breaking through.”
CREDITS:
CLIENT: HEB
TITLE: “Out of This World Taste”
AGENCY: The Richards Group
AGENCY PRODUCER: Debbie Koppman
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Chris Smith
ART DIRECTOR: Wendy Bouis
COPYWRITER: Brittany Sarrett
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Sugar Film Production
DIRECTOR: Chris Smith
POST PRODUCTION COMPANY: charlieuniformtango
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Lola Lott
SENIOR PRODUCER: Jeff Elmore
EDITOR: Deedle Lacour
VFX ARTIST/ONLINE: Joey Waldrip
ON LOCATION VFX SUPERVISOR: David Hannah