Verizon:
Gen Android
Hover over image above to see before & after effects
Tap the image above to see before & after effects
‘Finishing touches’ would be a deceptive phrase to describe the heavy lifting that Finishing Artists do. For example, in our latest spot for Verizon ‘Gen Android’, the central focus of the spot, the phone itself, is created by Finishing Artist Ryan Simpson. “Oftentimes, phones in commercials nowadays are just a blank screen until VFX can come in and bring them to life. When your entire spot has phones throughout, VFX is a pretty critical piece of that overall puzzle”
Hover over image above to see before & after effects
Tap the image above to see before & after effects
For this project Ryan Simpson acted as the VFX Supervisor, Finishing Artist, and Animator. Simpson’s tasks included: animating the phone inserts, compositing them into the devices, and some additional cleanup in each scene. He points out that collaborating with all parts of the project is important for its success “Oftentimes, certain elements of a piece can’t exist without visual effects, so it’s great to work collaboratively with all departments, from pre-vis to posting the finals, to ensure the desired becomes the final.”
Simpson goes on to say “This whole spot really hinges on the interactions of the talent, what is happening on the devices, and making the announcer jealous, so being on set to ensure the hand gestures were captured correctly was central to this spot playing out as intended.”
So how does Simpson find creative solutions when challenges arise? “Our imaginations are the best tool we have. They allow us to dream up new realities and my favorite part of post is being able to come up with actionable solutions to the ever present edit room questions of “what if we…” and “could we try…?” All the technical stuff in the world couldn’t matter less if you don’t have the imagination to envision and plant the initial seed.”
Planting seeds of ideas, Simpson says he finds inspiration in nature “both human and the great outdoors.”
Hover over image above to see before & after effects
Tap the image above to see before & after effects
Though we don’t typically think of color as a high impact piece of the process, color can set the overall tone of the spot. Color braids together brand principles with the desired mood.
Colorist Jensen Vinca, lays out the bifurcated nature of Coloring like this: “Color grading is this cool mix of art and science—it’s like left brain meets right brain. For me, the creative part is pretty intuitive—I can usually picture how something should look. But pulling that off means nerding out over color theory, software tricks, and clean pipelines. Over time, the technical stuff’s become pretty automatic, so I can focus on the fun, creative choices. That said, I’m always trying out new tools or techniques to keep things fresh and efficient.”
When looking for inspiration Vinca says he draws from classic landscape painters: “Lately, I’ve been hitting up museums and just staring at how they used light and composition. The way they’d guide your eye with a beam of light or set a mood with shadows—it totally hits home for me as a colorist. I try to bring that same kind of thoughtful, subtle touches to my work.”
Zooming into the ‘Gen Android’ spot Vinca describes his role and how it fit into the larger vision for the project:
“As the colorist, my job was to take the final edit and really make the visuals pop. I tweaked things like contrast, saturation, and color tones to nail a consistent style and vibe. Basically, I wanted everything to feel polished and professional while staying true to the overall creative vision.”
Though Coloring is often a balancing act between creativity and technical work, Vinca says of this spot “I was fortunate to work with a great team that set me up for success! They handed me clean footage, so instead of fixing technical stuff, I got to dive straight into the fun part—dialing in that unique look.”