Brown Blog Films

We recently produced two commercials for The Irish Examiner’s soccer and rugby coverage for agency Young Euro RSCG. Directed by Feidhlimidh Woods, the first commercial, ‘Sketch’, focused on soccer.

The agency brief was to depict the the two distinct styles of Irish Examiner sports writers Alan Green and Liam Mackey combining to give a descriptive, more comprehensive picture of the Premiership. We developed a mixed rotoscoping style to reinforce this brief. Alan Green’s pragmatic and analytical style was presented as a draughtsman-like figure illustration and Liam Mackey’s more flamboyant, emotive style was rendered as an fluid oil painting. The two styles then combined to make a full picture.

1. Demo_Pencil only

This is the Original Sketch Test using Adobe Photoshop. A quicktime movie of a man kicking a ball was imported into Photoshop and then sketched over in a number of passes, starting with a basic gesture drawing and progressing through to shading and tone. Additional animation lines where added to heighten the sense of movement and life in the sketch.

2. Demo_Paint only

The reference footage was then imported into Studio Artist by SynthetiK. In this software the footage can be painted over frame by frame. The software picks up the underlying colours from the footage and uses this to paint creating a realistic oil painting feel.

3. Pencil Paint Mix

Finally the two passes are comped together in Adobe Aftereffects to give the impression of a moving painted sketch. The line work is prominent at the beginning and the paint work slowly builds up giving the impression that the sketch is being painted over.

4. Sample Green Screen Layers

Green Screen Footage was then shot of footballers playing out the action of the different shots for the commercial which was then rotoscoped by the animators using Photoshop and Studio Artist. Additional 3D elements where built in 3Ds Max for elements that could not be shot in the real world like the stadium or the goal posts. These where then comped into the green screen footage and handed off to the animators to sketch and paint.

5. Final Composite

Once the final pencil and paint passes where completed, the footage was then composited together in After Effects. Additional grades and particles where added to help blend all the components together to create a uniform aesthetic.