Hasta La Creative!

Conceived by Leo Burnett, Chicago, the spot opens on a vampire couple who are interviewed in their suburban home. Admitting they weren’t “morning people,” the couple tells how their lives have been turned upside down by the crunchy taste of Nutri-Grain Fruit Crunch Bars. The whole family is now rising early and accomplishing much more. Dad even has time to walk the family bat.

The visual effects crews from Filmworkers and Vitamin contributed a number of effects to the spot, including a 3D bat that the vampire dad takes for a stroll. Vitamin artists went to great lengths to make the creature as realistic as possible and also drew inspiration from classic Hollywood vampire films.
“Real bats are not all that interesting because they move too fast,” explains Vitamin Creative Director Danny DelPurgatorio. “Instead, we took our bat into a more theatrical world and gave it a playful movement, as if often done in movies.”

Filmworkers applied additional effects work and also completed final post-production. Colorist Fred Keller applied the final color grade, using a Baselight system to give the spot a slightly macabre cast. “We gave it a vampire feel,” Keller says, “There’s not too much skin tone, but it still has an interesting color palette.”

DelPurgatorio says that the cleverness of the spot’s concept made it fun to work on. “It was a great idea,” he observes. “Our work needed to be subtle and to blend into the overall vision.”

Filmworkers is located at 232 E. Ohio St. Penthouse, Chicago, IL 60611. For more information, call (312) 664-9333 or visit www.filmworkers.com.
Vitamin is located at 232 East Ohio Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611. For more information, call 312.664.6683 or visit www.vitaminpictures.tv

Flashback is the personal tale of a man who learned to cook the perfect steak from his father. As the man slips a cut of meat onto a grill his thoughts drift back to childhood. As a boy standing by his father’s side, he learns the secrets of the family recipe and is handed a pair of tongs in a ceremony laden with emotion. Back in present day, the man sits down at a picnic table with his wife and their young son.

The flashback sequence is told through gold-toned, slow-motion imagery. The mood of fond remembrance is enhanced by an upbeat piano track and Clear’s graceful editing. He guides viewers from the present to the past and back again through a sequence of subtle cuts and dissolves. “Shooting everything over-cranked added just the right amount of elegance to set the spot apart,” observes Clear.

Clear adds that he enjoyed his collaborative work with Leo Burnett’s creative team. “Fostering creativity is what we do at The Colonie,” he says. “It’s always great to work with a team of creative people that starts from the top and continues all the way down.”

The Colonie, www.thecolonie.com
Represented by Sonia Blum at Hilly Representatives, 312.944.1100.