"Stage" shows unattended cameras set up at Disney Hall in Los Angeles, the Mall in Washington DC, the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, a movie set and other sites - all devoid of people. "With so much more to see," notes the voiceover, "shouldn't you be watching it on the Aquos liquid crystal television from Sharp?"
The ads were not only intended to air on HD television outlets, but they also advertising HD products.
Nice Shoes artists Rich Schreck and Kevin Wade collaborated on the project, conforming the five spots. For some scenes, Schreck and Wade combined portions of multiple telecine passes to obtain optimal color values. Similarly, they touched up tiny flaws in the imagery.
For the hero shot in "Stage," a dramatic image of SBC Park in San Francisco, Schreck spent considerable time enhancing the empty stadium. "We altered a lot of signs and images on the scoreboard," he recalls. "In SD, those details might not have been apparent, but in HD, they were very clear."
For the final shot in each spot, a pullback from an Aquos television, Wade set images of the Aquos logo and Web address into the 2K monitor image and animated reveals.
Produced by NYC's Foreign Films@Cyclops, the commercials were edited into :30 and :15 versions by Stephanie Dumonceau of Mad River Post in New York. New York's Endless Noise handled the music. Pat Portela executive produced for Nice Shoes.