NEW YORK - New York baseball personalities Willie Randolph and Joe Torre were recently brought together for Subway's latest television commercial. "Press Conference" is a dialogue-driven TV spot that hypes Subway's Double Play 6-inch sub. Conceived by Source Communications, the spot was produced by New York's Zero to 60, and edited and finished at the recently-launched New York post house, Rooftop Edit.
Randolph is shown addressing the media, with a toasted sub beside him at the podium. Rather than ask obvious questions about his new position as the Mets' manager, the media instead becomes fixated on the fresh-toasted sandwich. When Randolph desperately asks, "Any questions about me?" a voice from the crowd chimes in. It's Yankees coach Joe Torre, who ask, "Are you gonna finish that?"
Source Communications needed to turn around the spot quickly to accommodate the limited availability of Randolph and Torre before spring training got underway. To save time, Torre was lensed against curtains and integrated into the press gallery.
Sid Horn produced the spot for Source Communications and worked closely with Rooftop during the editorial process.
Rooftop's Ed Kisberg cut the :30 commercial, accenting the playful give-and-take between Randolph and the press over the manager's Double Play 6-inch Sub. Then he created a rough composite of Torre and the press gallery on his Avid Media Composer for agency and client approval.
Rooftop's online editor/Discreet Smoke artist, Anthony R. Forte, conformed the spot from Kisberg's EDL and rebuilt the final shot in Smoke. Forte rotoscoped Torre out of the shot in which he appears against curtains and composited him against a shot of the press gallery, adding lighting and performing color correction to match Torre's footage. Forte also added a zoom to the press scene, defocusing the reporters in the background to give extra depth to the shot. The result is a seamless composite that makes Torre look like he was standing among the press corps.
Colorist Ron Sudul at Nice Shoes/NY handled the transfer. Rooftop mixer Chris Russomanno performed the final mix.
Another Subway spot featuring both Randolph and Torre is scheduled to roll out in August.