Invisible Screen

Here’s a spot that just hit the air for a staffing and HR client, introducing their new brand to the world. This spot has something in common with a few other recent “person in virtual limbo interacting with invisible screen” spots. I guess we tapped into a zeitgeist. One of the interesting challenges was making sure you felt the presence of a screen, without showing the borders of the screen (which would’ve interfered with the reveal of the 3D logo at the end.) Animator Zac Heileson added horizontal scanlines to help imply the 2D surface on which 3D icons were rotating. And there’s also a shot in which the camera crosses over the plane of the virtual screen, which raised another question: What does it look like when the lens blurps through an invisible screen? We settled on a pretty subtle, uh… blurp effect. I think I just coined a neologism for the temporary liquidity of a virtual surface. For example, Donnie Darko does a fair amount of blurping through mirrors. DONNIE DARKO: Best. Blurping. Ever. Look for the term to catch fire any minute now.

Writer & Director: Brett Wagner. Producer: Grace Atkins. Cinematography: Paul Atkins. Offline: Deborah Miller. Finish: Steve Szabo. VFX: Zac Heileson.

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