Nice Shoes

Nice Shoes, Shortlisted in Cannes, Celebrates a Bronze Lion Win - 06.30.2010

Nice Shoes and McGarryBowen: Three Years of Collaboration for Chase - 06.21.2010

Nice Shoes Hires Bowman To Run Design Division - 06.14.2010

Nice Shoes Redefines Red Workflow - 06.01.2010

Nice Shoes Handles Post For Myren's Latest Doc - 05.25.2010

Nice Shoes Delivers Promise In United Nations PSA - 06.07.2010

Nice Shoes Contributes To Unique Polar Bear Club Video - 05.19.2010

Profit-Sharing Model Perfect Fit For Nice Shoes On Hot Indie Films - 05.03.2010

Nice Shoes Spins Out Post For Another Indie Movie - 05.01.2010

Nice Shoes Again Collaborates With Offspring On Ford Campaign - 05.06.2010

Arias with a Twist: The Docufantasy Debuts At Tribeca Film Festival - 04.16.2010

Nice Shoes Expands VFX Team - 03.22.2010

Nice Shoes Makes A Splash With Stella For Mother - 02.23.2010

Arias with a Twist: The Docufantasy to Premiere in Berlin - 02.16.2010

Nice Shoes Hires Travis Taylor To Oversee Sales & Marketing - 02.03.2010

Revamped Nice Shoes Rolls Out Another TD Ameritrade Campaign - 01.19.2010

Nice Shoes Adds Division By Joining Forces With Freestyle Collective - 12.04.2009

Nice Shoes Brings Creative Vision and High-End VFX to the NHL - 11.01.2009

Nice Shoes Color Grades MTV VMAs Promo Starring Britney Spears & Russell Brand - 09.10.2009

Nice Shoes Color Grades and Titles Garbage Dreams - 08.12.2009

GEs Real-People - 08.06.2009

BlackBerry Loves U2 - 07.22.2009

Nice Shoes Colorist Lez Rudge Makes An Imprint On New Spot Promoting Mandela Day - 07.07.2009

Nice Shoes Names Mike Donovan Managing Director - 07.01.2009

Nice Shoes Goes Risqué For Calvin Klein Jeans - 06.23.2009

Aron Baxter Returns To Nice Shoes As New Creative Director - 06.09.2009

Nice Shoes Sponsors Dusty Festival - 05.09.2009

Nice Shoes Makes A Nice Move - 04.16.2009

First Boards Awards Hosted By Nice Shoes - 04.02.2009

"BlackBerry Bullet" Punctures Apple - 03.12.2009

Nice Shoes New York Makes $3 Million Investment in FilmLight Color Grading Systems - 03.05.2009

Colorist Ron Sudul - The Top Five Questions I Get as a Colorist for Nice Shoes - 02.26.2009

Nice Shoes Colorist Lenny Mastrandrea Participates In Mayors Office Panel - 02.02.2009

Nice Shoes Steals The Show With Electrifying VFX For Chase - 01.15.2009

In New Music-Driven Spot Color Graded At Nice Shoes
Posted: 07.22.2009 17:00

It’s obvious that “BlackBerry Loves U2” in a new 60-second spot paying homage to the band which Lenny Mastrandrea and Ron Sudul color graded at Nice Shoes. The music-driven commercial, from Arc Worldwide/Chicago, is airing during U2’s 360 Tour which BlackBerry’s parent company, Research In Motion, is sponsoring. The spot also precedes the release of BlackBerry’s exclusive U2 Mobile Album which will enable BlackBerry users to not only hear a selection of tracks but also to experience an array of exciting interactive features. In the spot, Bono and the band are seen performing in an extreme close up, against a background of colorful, moving light flares and particles. When the camera pulls back U2 is revealed on stage in a huge stadium surrounded by cheering fans as the tag, “BlackBerry Loves U2,” appears amidst the light effects. Mastrandrea and Sudul were asked to deal with many reflective surfaces in the commercial. “Bono’s glasses, the instruments, the drum set and amps reflected a lot of greenscreen,” notes Mastrandrea. “It took a bit of work to get the reflections off so Mass Market could comp the light effects in without having to deal with spill.” The VFX shop then composited new reflections of the light effects onto those surfaces later. “The footage was shot and lit well, and we corrected most of it on neutral black or gray backgrounds,” says Mastrandrea. “We knew some scenes would be low light and some would be very bright and hot; we had to take the transitions that happened naturally on the film and enhance them to make the changes really pop. We started with a much darker correction and pushed it to reveal detail and enhance the drama of the transitions.” The colorists gave the early, low-light scenes cool highlights and warmed up the later, brighter shots of the band. Overall, their goal was to create a “natural and beautiful tone” that “didn’t look forced,” Mastrandrea reports. “We didn’t want to distract from the spot.” Their biggest challenge was “trying to envision the CG backgrounds that hadn’t been created yet,” says Sudul. “There were no storyboards or picture references,” adds Mastrandrea. “We knew where the backgrounds would go, and we had to imagine what they would be. To achieve that end, the colorists and Mass Market's artists worked “very collaboratively,” says Sudul, “so we could give them the flexibility they needed in the VFX suite.”