HOMENYC HELPING ARROW SAVE ELLIS ISLAND
Issue: Editing - October 2007

HOMENYC HELPING ARROW SAVE ELLIS ISLAND

NEW YORK – HomeNYC  (www.HomeNYC.tv) has completed work on an integrated package of spots for Phillips-Van Heusen’s (PVH) Arrow Apparel brand and a new “Save Ellis Island” campaign.

The Arrow brand is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation, and was introduced in 1851, making it one of America’s oldest apparel brands. The brand provided authentic American style clothing for men, women and children. Save Ellis Island, Inc., is a non-profit organization that it working to rehabilitate and beneficially re-use the buildings that remain on Ellis Island. 

HomeNYC provided production, visual effects, and editorial services for the package of TV commercials, cinema spots, Webisodes and in-flight infomercials. Ben Orisich directed the project for HomeNYC, which was shot on location on Ellis Island over a six-day period. In it, celebrities such as Katharine McPhee, Joe Montana, Kristin Cavallari, Christian Slater, Richard Belzer and Elliot Gould describe the challenges families faced in coming to America.

Orisich and DP Joe Arcidiacono were given access to the un-restored buildings on the island and used Arricam Studio, Arriflex 435 and Arriflex 235 cameras with both Kodak and Fuji film stock to capture their weathered condition. Interviews, on the other hand, were shot against a greenscreen.

The two :60 spots were created to help build interest and excitement about the new Website that was set up to aid the preservation. Gary Hernandez edited the spots on an Avid, collaborating closely with Mike Kelly, senior VP of marketing for the PVH Marketing Group, and Orisich on structure. Orisich finished the campaign in Autodesk’s Flame, where he performed color correction, image stabilization, sky replacement and added atmospheric light-rays and dust. He also created type elements. Portraits shot by Richard Phibbs, photographer for the print campaign, were integrated into a collage for the closing graphics.

HomeNYC’s Steve Griffin cut 18 four- to five-minute Webisodes for the site (www.weareellisisland.org). And HomeNYC’s Will Hong created  in-flight infomercials for Continental Airlines, which included two :60 spots headed up by two-minute intros. Hong designed the graphics and effects too.

Animation artist Lawrence Calderon created the end tags. Yessian Music in New York provided the soundtrack and colorist Eric Alvarado at Moving Images transferred the film imagery to HD.