BOSTON - Brickyard VFX (www.brickyardvfx.com) recently completed shot tracking for a commercial that promotes the packaging of Apple's iPod with the new Volkswagen Beetle. The studio handled visual effects and compositing for the :30 spot out of advertising agency Arnold Worldwide.
"Pods Unite" plays on the innovative design of both the efficient German automobile and the compact Apple sound unit. The spot focuses on a woman who takes the two tools on the road, and culminates with a final shot that pulls away from the iPod's display face, out of the vehicle's open sunroof, drifting away.
The pullout could not be achieved in a single camera move so, instead, Brickyard composited in a detailed graphic of the iPod screen, combining it with a number of different camera passes.
"The goal was to start things off with a high-rez blow-up of the iPod display at the head of the shot and work outward from there," Brickyard's Brian Drewes explains. "For additional shot coverage, five or six separate motion control passes were filmed using a car you can take apart like a jigsaw puzzle."
Using Discreet Flame, Brickyard composited all of the passes together and worked out the final move. Once the move was correct, the resulting clip was tracked using 2d3's Boujou, allowing for a smooth pullout from the iPod's face.