The Briefing Room

Burbank-based ad agency Eclipse tapped the talented team of artists at Riot to promote the newest version of “Area 51,” a video game title to be released by Midway Games this month. The new commercial entitled “Blacksite” is currently airing nationwide.

To view the new commercial, go to: http://www.riotny.com/client_area/area51/pr

“Blacksite” opens with a post-apocalyptic panorama of a town in ruin — smoke-filled skies, turned-over vehicles, and demolished homes. A young girl walks through the devastation holding her teddy bear, singing “Ring Around the Rosey” in a daunting melancholy tone. Suddenly, the young girl encounters something resembling a human being standing on a car. The figure jumps toward the young girl, stomps its metal leg to the ground and roars as she recoils in fear.

For Riot’s Creative Director, Cris Blythe, this project was quite rewarding because the Riot team was involved from the early concept stage. “This commercial was very visual effects-oriented, so we were involved from the pre-production, through production and then completion,” he explains. “We were able to oversee the entire process and keep the creative vision intact.”

The agency’s initial goal, says Blythe, was to make this commercial look like a feature film trailer. Blythe was able to achieve a filmic look by directing, editing and also supervising all of the visual effects, collaborating closely with his visual effects team at Riot. “We utilized pre-visualization and edited on an animatic, planning out every shot before we went on set.” This not only streamlined the production, but also the post process. Shooting on HD also enabled him to turn around the edit within just a few days, editing on Final Cut Pro. Blythe and his visual effects team were then able to complete all of the visual effects, giving special attention to the character animation, since the commercial’s main character is half human, half robot.

Blythe also gives credit to the music team at Soundelux Design Music Group who were able to deliver music cues quickly during post. Lastly, Blythe attributes the seamless transition on-screen from live-action/visual effects footage to actual videogame footage to good communication with the client. “Early on, we asked them for game footage that would match what we knew we would be shooting. This enabled us to make that transition from live-action footage to videogame footage as smoothly as possible.”

Credits:

Client: Midway Games

Spot: Blacksite

Airdate: October 2007

Advertising Agency: Eclipse Advertising/Burbank, CA

Creative Director: Robert Tepper

Executive Producer: Steve Dubb

Producer: Steve Bastien

Production Company: Lucy Films/Santa Monica, CA

Director: Cris Blyth

Executive Producer: Matthew McManus

DP: Maz Makhani

Producer: Kevin Edge

Art Director: Ben Whittaker

Where shot: On location in Palmdale, CA

Editorial Company: RIOT/Los Angeles

Editors: Cris Blyth, Russell Lichtor

Assistant Editor: David Hernandez

Postproduction Company: RIOT/Los Angeles

Colorist: Steve Rodriguez

Executive Producer: Rhubie Jovanov

Visual Effects Company: RIOT/Los Angeles

Creative Director: Cris Blyth

Visual Effects Supervisor: Andy Davis

CG Supervisor: Bryant Reif

Animator: John Velazquez

Modeler: Shu Suzuki

Compositor: Satoshi Ozeki

Roto Artist: Robert Tatum

Roto Artist: Cecile Tecson

VFX Producer: Carla Attanasio

Digital Producer: Chris Almerico

Music Production Company: Soundelux Design Music Group/Hollywood

Composer: Jamie Christopherson

Producer: Shannon Potter

Sound Design Company: Soundelux Design Music Group/Hollywood

Lead Sound Designer: Bryan Celano

Sound Designer: Clint Richardson

Producer: Shannon Potter

Operations: Marc Aramian

Audio Post: POP Sound/Santa Monica, CA

Mixer: Zac Fisher

Assistant Mixer: Joe Garten

Producer: Erin Reilly

Executive Producer: Susie Boyajan

About Riot:

Riot is a creative studio with unparalleled resources - virtually unmatched both creatively and technologically. The Riot team dedicates itself to attentive creative collaboration, approaching each project holistically, drawing upon a deep knowledge of visual effects, color correction and live action experience.

Recent feature film credits for Riot include: Die Hard 4, Live Free or Die Hard, Hairspray and currently finishing Dark is Rising, and Town Creek. Commercial campaigns and music videos recently completed at Riot include spots for Christina Aguilera, Sony, Volkswagen, Dodge, and Honda.

For more information, please contact Riot/New York: Todd Davidovich (212) 907-1200; Riot/Los Angeles: Matthew McManus (310) 434-6000; and Riot/Atlanta: Buddy Hall (404) 237-9937.

www.rioting.com