These teams may not have made the cut (and some of the coaches got sacked) but Nine Mile Circle would like to share some football spots done earlier in the season. Team Detroit’s “This Team, This Truck” campaign features the Ford F-150 and the fans, coaches and stadiums of the individual teams for the University of Georgia, Tennessee, Auburn, Alabama and for the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.
Collaborating with the agency, Nine Mile Circle was tapped to work with Pogo Pictures on the project starting in pre-production. The logistical challenge presented by the agency: the various university stadiums would have to be shot on different days from the principal photography. Collectively, Editor Kyle Kramb Flame Artist Andrew Pope and Director Ryan Smith devised a shooting plan to seamlessly merge the various stadiums with footage of the corresponding fans and coaches shot at different times, locations and sometimes wildly varied weather conditions. All the stadiums with the exception of Auburn were shot separately and composited by Andrew during post-production.
Color grading also played a unique role. Colorist Dave Pickett made subtle adjustments for each of the different schools. Each spot was approached with careful consideration of the school colors and the weather conditions of the footage. The UGA spot was a bold, more saturated approach based on the red school colors. Alabama was de-saturated with the exception for the Crimson. Tennessee was a light contrast, almost pastel approach due to the white truck. Auburn was a bold approach while trying to eek out some sunshine feel on a rainy day.
The Atlanta Falcons version, shot by Pogo director Ben Callner, presented a different challenge. Over the course of several days and with only a loose script Callner followed Falcons’ Coach Smith as he interacted with a number of different actors playing enthusiastic tailgating fans outside the Dome. During the editorial process Kyle Kramb carefully sculpted two :30 vignettes using the best moments. Another challenge solved; Ford was to be a major Falcons sponsor for this season, but at the time of shooting the latest Ford logo had not yet been placed on the side of the Georgia Dome. Andrew skillfully replaced the old sign with the new Ford branding.