Ingredient keys UEFA Cup promos in HD for UK viewers

By Kevin Hilton
SVG European correspondent

Television coverage of the final stages of the
UEFA Cup is being promoted through a series of high definition promos
that allow the competition to be marketed centrally, with a network of
broadcast partners using the on-air idents. The campaign covers the quarter and semi-finals as well as the final
of the 2006/7 season and includes opening and closing titles, break
bumpers, promotional trailer kits, replay wipes, studio loops and
animated logos.

Production company Ingredient designed the promos around the three
colours of the UEFA logo and key elements of the tournament: the Game,
the Fans and the Trophy. Footage of games was shot by director of
photography Karl Watkins using the Pirate Photron Ultima APX camera at
speeds of up to 2000 frames per second.

The idents were post-produced in both HD and PAL at London facility
Clear, where 3D models were built reflecting the coloured panels of the
logo. A series of trajectories animated in a glass style was created to
mix with the footage of the matches and crowd sequences.

The post work used newly installed Autodesk Smoke and Flame Linux
systems. Ingredient director Andy Godden commented, “We needed a very
versatile but immediate way of working in post where changes could be
made quickly after compositing the elements together and seeing how
well they reacted. When working in HD in the past, this would have been
impossible given our schedule.”