SMNY and Y&R Give James Lipton a Shave in LG Spots

Smoke & Mirrors New York (SMNY) helps LG convey a simple message - think before you text - by showing Inside the Actor's Studio host James Lipton sharing his beard with would-be impulsive texters, urging them to adapt his mantra: "give it a ponder." Working with Y&R and Smith & Jones Films to create four different spots for web, TV and cinema, Smoke & Mirrors created the smooth and realistic movement of Lipton removing his beard, transporting it through the air, and affixing it to the face of a youngster who is about to fire off an ill-considered text. The beard transfer inspires a thoughtful pause, followed by the wise decision to close the phone.

SMNY digitally enhanced the prosthetic beard, which required grooming, thickening and beauty work during its travel from Lipton's face to its new recipient. The first challenge in this sequence of spots was to masterfully blend, reverse and manipulate the footage to create the illusion of a flawless beard transfer between two faces in a single shot.

Additional challenges included removing beard supports from each shot, a feat accomplished with assistants Sam Caine and Stephanie Isaacson, who helped intensively rebuild scene backgrounds and the actor's hair and facial features to remove the extraneous supports. SMNY also gave the beards a realistic feel on each actor's face by meticulously blending the prosthetic with their skin to create the illusion that the person had actually grown facial hair.

Smoke & Mirrors has a history of collaborating with Smith & Jones, and Director Ulf Johansson in particular. "It was great working with Ulf again, and being on set made finding fixes to problem beards quick and eventually seamless," says CCO Sean Broughton.

Credits:

Client: LG
Spots Title: Angry Text :45, Unicorn :30, Locker Room :30
Air Date: December 2009

Agency: Y&R
ACD/AD: Jeff Blouin
ACD/Writer: John Battle
CCO: Scott Vitrone
CCO: Ian Reichenthal
Global CD: Darren Moran
EP: Alex Gianni
Art Director: Jeff Blouin
Art Director: Evan Benedetto
Art Director Jan Jaworski
Copywriter: Tara Lawall
Executive Director of Content Production: Nathy Aviram

Prod Company: Smith & Jones Films Inc
Director: Ulf Johansson
EP(s): Philippa Smith
Director of Photography: Stephen Keith Roach
Producer: Nicola Smith
Line Producer: Nancy Cannava

Editorial: Final Cut
Editor: Carlos Arias
Assistant Editor: Sonejuhi Sinha
EP: Stephanie Apt
Producer: Viet-An Nguyen

Telecine: Company 3

Post/Effects: Smoke & Mirrors, NY
CCO: Sean Broughton
Lead VFX/Inferno Artist: Nic Seresin
Assistant VFX: Sam Caine

FX/SFX Company: Absolute Post
Lead Flame Artist: Nathan Kane
Assistant Flame Artist: James "Crispy" Cornwell
EP: Sally Heath
Producer: Nirad "Bugs" Russell

Audio Post: Sound Lounge
Mixer: Philip Loeb

Shoot Location: New York

About Smoke & Mirrors::

Founded by Creative Director/VFX Artist Sean Broughton (NY) and CTO Mark Widig (UK), Smoke & Mirrors is a New York and London-based design, animation and VFX studio. The recent addition of a powerful grading suite delivers complete solutions for any type of project. A creative and artist-driven company synonymous with vision and originality since its inception, Smoke & Mirrors has consistently succeeded because of its collaborative approach and ability to build lasting creative relationships with directors, producers, agencies and clients alike. Production in the New York office is led by CCO Sean Broughton, MD Jo Morgan, and Head of Production Sue Romweber. Diverse projects includes the highly challenging Beatles spot for Rockband, as well as spots for LG, Jose Cuervo, and Dove. Recent music video work includes Deadweather's Treat Me Like Your Mother and Michael Jackson's This is it.

Smoke & Mirrors has also been involved with such feature films as James Bond and Harry Potter. Each office is fully networked via complementary systems allowing the companies to share resources, expanding their local capacities. Close involvement with hardware and software manufacturers and developers has kept Smoke & Mirrors at the forefront of innovation and technology.

SMNY and Y&R Give James Lipton a Shave in LG Spots

Credits:

About Smoke & Mirrors::

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SMNY and Y&R Give James Lipton a Shave in LG Spots Smoke & Mirrors New York (SMNY) helps LG convey a simple message - think before you text - by showing Inside the Actor's Studio host James Lipton sharing his beard with would-be impulsive texters, urging them to adapt his mantra: "give it a ponder." Working with Y&R and Smith & Jones Films to create four different spots for web, TV and cinema, Smoke & Mirrors created the smooth and realistic movement of Lipton removing his beard, transporting it through the air, and affixing it to the face of a youngster who is about to fire off an ill-considered text. The beard transfer inspires a thoughtful pause, followed by the wise decision to close the phone. SMNY digitally enhanced the prosthetic beard, which required grooming, thickening and beauty work during its travel from Lipton's face to its new recipient. The first challenge in this sequence of spots was to masterfully blend, reverse and manipulate the footage to create the illusion of a flawless beard transfer between two faces in a single shot. Additional challenges included removing beard supports from each shot, a feat accomplished with assistants Sam Caine and Stephanie Isaacson, who helped intensively rebuild scene backgrounds and the actor's hair and facial features to remove the extraneous supports. SMNY also gave the beards a realistic feel on each actor's face by meticulously blending the prosthetic with their skin to create the illusion that the person had actually grown facial hair. Smoke & Mirrors has a history of collaborating with Smith & Jones, and Director Ulf Johansson in particular. "It was great working with Ulf again, and being on set made finding fixes to problem beards quick and eventually seamless," says CCO Sean Broughton. Credits: Client: LG Spots Title: Angry Text :45, Unicorn :30, Locker Room :30 Air Date: December 2009 Agency: Y&R ACD/AD: Jeff Blouin ACD/Writer: John Battle CCO: Scott Vitrone CCO: Ian Reichenthal Global CD: Darren Moran EP: Alex Gianni Art Director: Jeff Blouin Art Director: Evan Benedetto Art Director Jan Jaworski Copywriter: Tara Lawall Executive Director of Content Production: Nathy Aviram Prod Company: Smith & Jones Films Inc Director: Ulf Johansson EP(s): Philippa Smith Director of Photography: Stephen Keith Roach Producer: Nicola Smith Line Producer: Nancy Cannava Editorial: Final Cut Editor: Carlos Arias Assistant Editor: Sonejuhi Sinha EP: Stephanie Apt Producer: Viet-An Nguyen Telecine: Company 3 Post/Effects: Smoke & Mirrors, NY CCO: Sean Broughton Lead VFX/Inferno Artist: Nic Seresin Assistant VFX: Sam Caine FX/SFX Company: Absolute Post Lead Flame Artist: Nathan Kane Assistant Flame Artist: James "Crispy" Cornwell EP: Sally Heath Producer: Nirad "Bugs" Russell Audio Post: Sound Lounge Mixer: Philip Loeb Shoot Location: New York About Smoke & Mirrors:: Founded by Creative Director/VFX Artist Sean Broughton (NY) and CTO Mark Widig (UK), Smoke & Mirrors is a New York and London-based design, animation and VFX studio. The recent addition of a powerful grading suite delivers complete solutions for any type of project. A creative and artist-driven company synonymous with vision and originality since its inception, Smoke & Mirrors has consistently succeeded because of its collaborative approach and ability to build lasting creative relationships with directors, producers, agencies and clients alike. Production in the New York office is led by CCO Sean Broughton, MD Jo Morgan, and Head of Production Sue Romweber. Diverse projects includes the highly challenging Beatles spot for Rockband, as well as spots for LG, Jose Cuervo, and Dove. Recent music video work includes Deadweather's Treat Me Like Your Mother and Michael Jackson's This is it. Smoke & Mirrors has also been involved with such feature films as James Bond and Harry Potter. Each office is fully networked via complementary systems allowing the companies to share resources, expanding their local capacities. Close involvement with hardware and software manufacturers and developers has kept Smoke & Mirrors at the forefront of innovation and technology.	Media Archive
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