LIGHTBORNE CREATES MTV VMA PROMO
Post Magazine
August 29, 2005

LIGHTBORNE CREATES MTV VMA PROMO

The commercial takes place on a beach, where a woman is shocked by the assortment of comical party-goers. A Viewer's Choice Award vending machine flies in, landing on and knocking out one muscle-head party-goer, presenting the woman with five different nominees for the coveted Moonman statue. The sixth and last option, features the host of the big night, Diddy.

When she selects that button, the machine opens up, showing Diddy, who escorts her into the real party. The spot closes with directions of how viewers can vote for their favorite artist via their Virgin Mobile phone or by logging on to mtv.com.

Creative director/director Ben Nicholson created a tight storyboard and animatic to help choreograph all of the gags. The goal was to produce a kitschy surreal environment that mocks the beach-party idea via a cheesy, over-the-top vibe and exaggerated character cliches.

Twenty tons of sand were brought in to the stage for the eight-hour shoot in order to create the beach setting. Lightborne shot the cast against greenscreen using the Panasonic VariCam HD camera. The spot was edited using an Apple Final Cut Pro high definition system. NewTek LightWave was used for modeling and animating the 3D vending machine.

Jeremiah Shuff cut the spot for Lightborne. Kyle Shoup and Chris Gliebe served as designers, with David Lombardi handling CG. Nicholson, Shoup and Gliebe handled compositing.

Ear Goo in New York City handled the original track and the mix.