Freesat 'Launch'

Framestore has just finished helping VCCP and Stink create an intergalactic campaign for Freesat. Directed by Stink’s Paul King (who also shot The Mighty Boosh) the first ad in the campaign uses cheesy American salesman (The Mighty Boosh’s Rich Fulcher) to hilariously highlight the complexity of some subscription packages.

Framestore’s brief was to make sure the space station looked homely; a setting where the crew would happily live and watch TV. Colourist Simon Bourne addressed this brief by retaining all the film’s detail, including highlights, with an emphasis on skin tone and clothing. He also gave the ad a slight glow thus allowing for flares to be added later.

Oliver Bersey then took care of enhancing the space environment in 2D: “Aside from compositing many screen inserts, I painted-up a selection of stills to create the space environment,” said Oliver. “I gave the suitcase some legs and created a floating set top box from stills. Rich Fulcher was shot on wires for the ejection sequence which was made more convincing by combining practical effects and post generated elements. The overall look was critical so we used a subtle blend of highlight diffusion and carefully placed flares to seal all the comps together. It was a fun job to work on.”