Mar 21
Web and Graphic Design

New Balance: Running Green visual experiment from start to finish

By Lacey Ackerman
Today, we are constantly exposed to visual graphics and cinematic techniques. We even see many of these graphic elements within millions of 30 second commercials. Sometimes it makes me think...how much time and effort was actually spent on creating these short masterpieces? Well, I came across this 50 second bit for New Balance, which focuses on reducing carbon footprints "one step at at time" and with it, a summary on the thought process and execution of this project. First, you can take a look at the overall commercial:

 
Douglas Purver, director at roadnorth, first thought about the message he wanted to achieve. He knew New Balance likes to focus on sustainability and eco-friendly materials. With that it mind, he came up with a concept and established a plan. 

Next, he assembled special equipment in order to create a certain camera movement, which would catch a long period of time, but appear as if you were watching a single moment. The camera was placed on a street corner and shot the scene about eight times until the right look was accomplished.

 
SUSPECT then rendered the new balance 509 sneaker (as well as the plants/flowers) in Autodesk Softimage and Maya. This specific task was not an easy one because endless variations of the renderings were created and keeping track of everything was easier said than done.
 

Breaking down the layers

The team wanted to produce a realistic image, and therefore, decided to work in a linear color space using Nuke. Watch this video to see how this was executed:
 

Between five full nights of filming on a NYC street, meticulous post-production, utilizing unfamiliar programs, and creating equipment from scratch, the team surely challenged themselves. But I'd say the time and effort they put in was well worth it.
 
 

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