Brickyard VFX of Santa Monica, California, provided extensive beauty and split screen work on a :30 spot for The Gap titled "Boyfriend Trouser," directed by the Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE). The spot stars actors Claire Danes (SHOPGIRL, MY SO-CALLED LIFE) and Patrick Wilson (RUNNING WITH SCISSORS, LITTLE CHILDREN).
Set to the tune of Irving Berlin's "Anything You Can Do" from the musical ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, the playful, light-hearted spot begins with a curtain parting to reveal two dancers on an empty stage: Wilson, in a button-down shirt and khaki trousers, and Danes, clad only in a shirt and striped skivvies. The pair circles each other, facing off in a dance choreographed to the Ethel Merman-style lyrics. Wilson and Danes duel one another with increasingly complicated moves until, as the song proclaims "I can wear anything better than you," Wilson slides across the stage on his knees and jumps triumphantly to his feet. Danes laughs coyly and in one fell swoop yanks the khakis off him, leaving Wilson standing dejectedly in his own pair of striped boxers. The camera pulls out as Danes puts on the khakis and the words "the boyfriend trouser" appear on screen.
Brickyard VFX performed extensive screen cleanup for the ad, as well as split-screen work to adjust the timing of the two actors. Brickyard's team of vfx artists were focused on making the footage shine with general beauty work and finishing, including combining various shot passes to achieve the final look.
"We're delighted to have been a part of this project for The Gap," says Kirsten Andersen, vfx producer at Brickyard VFX. "The Dayton/Faris team has been a valued friend and client of Brickyard for years. Whether it's commercials or music videos, working with Valerie and Jonathan is always a total pleasure."
Other work for the Dayton/Faris team includes previous advertising campaigns for The Gap, as well as numerous spotwork for other brands ranging from Priceline and Old Navy to Chevrolet and Volkswagen. Brickyard VFX also collaborated on the music video promoting DeVotchKa's "Till the End of Time" from the movie soundtrack for LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE.
Brickyard credits include:Lead flame artist: Patrick Poulatian Flame artist: George FitzProducer: Diana YoungExec producer: Kirsten Andersen
Located in Boston and Santa Monica, Brickyard VFX (www.brickyardvfx.com) is an independent visual effects boutique. Completely artist owned and operated, the company was founded in 1999, Brickyard's problem-solving expertise on set and in the studio has been applied to model, animate, light, texture, track, rotoscope, color correct and render seamless digital effects for Hummer, Visa, ESPN, AT&T, Comcast and Timberland and many other accounts.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
