QQ.com is China’s biggest online instant messaging service and they enlisted arguably the worlds most famous footballer in Lionel Messi to advertise their World Cup coverage.
Woof Wan Bau of Nexus was brought in to create this quirky commercial that see’s everyone coming together to enjoy the spirit of the World Cup.
The Messi shoot itself was hampered by the volcanic ash problem which meant that the team had to travel overland to Barcelona. Also adding to the pressure was the fact that they only had around 20 minutes with the Argentine superstar to get the takes that they needed. A busy man indeed!
Sheldon flew out to Beijing to help out on set for the China section. It went well but there were some factors contributing to the complexity of the job. The fact that not all the actors couple keep the ball in the air was an obvious one (!) and the concept that it’s all revealed as one natural continuation from player to player. It’s helped by the device of keeping key props in matching colours and positions throughout the edit.
With some good direction, clever editing by Paul Hardcastle (Trim) and then a little tweaking from Time Based Arts, we were able to pull a seamless natural spot together.
Interestingly Messi’s contract meant that as QQ’s World Cup spokesman, the views of the FIFA player of the year were regularly updated.
He said shortly after Argentina’s exit from the competition: “I will write more words in my blog. I just want to say that we did not live up to the expectation of many people and I feel very uneasy, confused, I gotta go. Good bye South Africa, good bye QQ, good bye friends.”
Director: Woof Wan-Bau
Prod Company: Nexus Productions
Prod Co. Producer: Patrick Duguid
Agency: Grey Advertising : Beijing
Art Director: Cheeguan, Yue
Head of TV Production : Tanya Tang
DOP: August Jakobsson
Editor: Paul Hardcastle (Trim)
Time Based Arts
Lead Flame & VFX Supervisor: Sheldon Gardner
Flame: Mark Robinson