Nationally Distributed MOVIE Clips CD-ROM Campaign Wins GOLD

A virtual movie theater on CD created by Tampa video and integrated media production company CMR Studios won two ADDY^® awards including a Gold for interactive campaigns in the Tampa Bay Ad Fed competition. The CMR Studios staff created all of the content and programmed the interactive disc, designed and modeled virtual sets that included a highly interactive movie theater lobby, theater, arcade, screening rooms, a studio backlot and even the rooftop skyline of Batman’s Gotham City. One disc in the series also contained exclusive content for the High School Musical films created by CMR for Walt Disney Studios.

Host Debra Schrils was shot in the CMR Tampa Bay green screen studio using the RED ONE digital cinema camera then composited into all of the locations and guide viewers through the many entertainment  options and disc interactivity.

Over a million of the CD-ROMs were distributed nationwide in theater lobbies by Capitol Color Mail. Released seasonally, the interactive program features previews for upcoming features from all of the major motion picture studios, advance screenings, movie themed games, exclusive behind the scene features, and even a virtual Batman comic series by DC Comics.

With over 60,000 entries annually, the ADDY^® Awards is the world’s largest advertising competition. Conducted annually by the American Advertising Federation, the ADDYs represent the true spirit of creative excellence by recognizing all forms of advertising in all types of media.

A video production promoting participation in the foster care program for Hillsborough Kids Inc. of Tampa, Florida, presented a challenge for us. The stories were heart-wrenching and personal, but because of privacy issues they couldn’t show any of the families involved.

Unique Approach
Studio president and creative director Mike Weber presented HKI with the concept of writing a script that was the blending of several true cases into the story of one child. The treatment would be done in a form parents can relate to: a storybook. More specifically, a pop-up storybook that would become a virtual set for the six-minute video. The live action actors would be inserted into the pages using greenscreen compositing. “It seemed like a simple idea at the time” says Weber. But original artwork takes time. Ultimately CMR artists Adam Weber, Melissa Cozart, and Marina Weber devoted nearly a thousand man-hours over sixth months to producing the one of a kind book.

Local Landscape
Every page turn reveals one of eleven scenes depicting: the Tampa skyline, the University of Tampa, a house, various interior settings, Busch Gardens and Lowry Park Zoo. They each open into dimensional art that was then shot close-up in HD. All the actors that appear on camera also appear on the pages of the book, so artist Marina Weber had the job of creating their likenesses, along with a whole cast of paper extras. Dimensional background plates and animation elements add even more detail that wouldn’t be possible to physically fold in the book.

High Def Video and Special Effects
Renu Parker, General Counsel at HKI, edited the script and selected talent through Alexa Talent and Modeling to match their typical client profile. Rich Roddman directed the greenscreen shoot on the in-house CMR stage. Adam Weber handled shooting the HD footage of the pop-up book virtual set and designing unique pinpoint lighting for each scene. Page manipulation was done by Marina and Melissa.
Like puppeteers, they hid behind the book and wore green gloves so their hands could be removed from the shots later.

Post-Production
Once all the HD footage was shot, the multi-talented CMR production team changed roles again. Melissa edited the footage in Final Cut, while both she and Adam composited together all the pieces using Shake. They put the actors “in” the book, added background plates, animated elements, did color correction and color grading. Mike Weber then added a customized music track and sound effects for each scene before the final audio mix and project completion.

Award Winning Work
The HKI project was recognized for excellence with a national TELLY Award.

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This six minute special effects video for Hillsborough Kids Inc. of Tampa, Florida was the result of over a thousand man-hours of hand-crafted creativity. The concept and original art for the unique pop-up book was designed, drawn, painted and assembled by the CMR Staff prior to green screen high definition filming on our in house shooting stage and compositing to create the video.

Did You Know?

This Florida regional TV spot is all special effects. It was shot on the cyc in our infinity wall green screen studio.

Though it appears that both of the on camera talents are on stage together they are actually independent layers made possible by shooting the footage in our studio. It was then composited together seamlessly. The hardest part was getting the novice pizza thrower to catch the “pizza” in frame. (It’s really a rubber practice pizza used for training.)

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Realtime IT Solutions

This company needed an online sales tool to highlite the benefits of their technical training system. We worked with them to edit and refine their original script. We then shot the talent in HD on our green screen stage. In post production we added supporting graphics, stock footage and actual product demonstrations to create an informative and effective presentation compressed and optimized for online playback. (Just like you are watching.)

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Tampa Bay video production company CMR Studios has recently completed construction of new video studio space. The expansion includes an “Infinity Wall” hard corner cyclorama (cyc) that allows for shooting special effects in-house. With a state-of-the-art florescent lighting grid bathing the space with color-corrected, even illumination, the camera views the seamless space as totally neutral. This allows for on-camera talent to be digitally layered with graphics, backgrounds, virtual sets and even other talent or the same talent replicated. Equipped with HD cameras and teleprompter, the studio has been busy since completion. Projects completed include corporate business videos for Western Reserve Life Insurance, AEGON, Xanthus Financial Services and Habitat for Humanity, regional TV Commercials for Hungry Howies and website videos for the Bonati Institute and Realtime IT Solutions.