Acne has directed a Nike spot entitled “Nike Running:Paul Tergat spot online” for Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam. We created the striking 3D and post production for the spot.

“The commercial is a follow-on from the successful print campaign that W+K/Amsterdam and Nike launched in 2005. The campaign takes an educative look at how the body works and how Nike’s holistic knowledge of anatomy allows the design of great products. In the spot, Marathon World Record holder Paul Tergat takes us on a guided tour of a virtual human body. Along the way he shows us how wearing the correct jacket can mean more time running and less urinating.”

Stefan Andersson and Per Bergstén created the 3D world that Paul Tergat moves around in. The models of body parts, already produced for the Nike print campaign, were photographed and then re-built in SoftimageXSI by Andersson and Bergstén. They then used special software called Z-Brush to paint and light them that ensured they looked very graphic in style. The camera was animated to make it feel like a flying micro camera. To ensure it would look like a real camera, the team specifically used a lens in 3D which had short depth of field to make the background out of focus. Tergat, who was filmed against green screen, was keyed out by Peter Marin, Stopp’s senior inferno artist so that he could then composite him into the 3D world and onto the body parts. To subtly enhance the look and feel of the spot Marin added depth by compositing many layers that the 3D team provided him with. These helped to create a photographic effect that included depth of field, a blurred background and film grain.
The on-line spot will also be shown in EMEA on TV, cinema, retail and events.