Creative studio Nice Shoes has provided the color grade for AT&T’s comedic new campaign, which celebrates 2022’s Masters Tournament with a host of famous faces – all lamenting their lack of golfing ability.
The ‘Push What’s Possible’ campaign from BBDO promotes AT&T’s impressive network benefits in a variety of sporting situations, which sees the likes of Nick Jonas get distracted by spam callers and Charles Barkley enlisting the help of David Robinson to improve his skills. Viewers also witness Jordan Spieth take advantage of Colin Jost and Ralph Macchio’s enthusiasm to learn, and Maria Fassi call on golfing legends Nancy Lopez and Ben Crenshaw to help Eva Longoria.
Nice Shoes Colorist Chris Ryan was tasked with establishing a unified look across the campaign’s multiple spots, working with three disparate – and visually distinct – locations. These ranged from the high-tech interiors of Jordan and David’s houses and the muted tones of the classroom to the bright, lush golf courses, requiring color palettes to be skilfully balanced to craft a coherent aesthetic through the five narratives.
It wasn’t just the celebrities that faced challenges on the golf course, as Chris had to adapt his grade to reflect the ever-changing weather conditions on the shoot. With skies constantly shifting from cloudy to sunny, he ensured the color grade matched in each cut – a common issue that arises when working with footage shot outside. With the films moving between mother nature and stylish living spaces, Chris also had to ensure all spots worked in harmony across the many exterior to interior scenes.
Chris Ryan, colorist at Nice Shoes, comments: “For comedy campaigns like this, I tend to avoid heavy looks because I don’t want to distract from the humour. On the other hand, you don’t want it to be too generic because that can end up looking like a sitcom. The real focus was on getting these different locations to feel unified, so we worked to keep the saturation at a moderate level to help with that aesthetic – as well as a few other minor look tricks.”
