MPC Illuminates Mariah Carey for T-Mobile

Press Release from MPC

The cold, crisp air hangs over the town's central square. Throughout the wintry day, the collective attention of passersby is on an enormous white Christmas gift placed at the plaza's center. As dusk falls, a noise emerges from the box. A crowd gathers. In an explosion of light and sound, Mariah Carey emerges, performing a moving rendition of Silent Night. Then, as suddenly as she appeared, she disappears - this time in a dazzling 3D shatter of glitter, sparkles and confetti. The captivated and overjoyed crowd pauses in amazement before the performer miraculously reappears and delivers her upbeat version of All I Want for Christmas Is You.

In fact, spectators in five European cities are watching the event - which features a hologram of the famous singer - simultaneously, unwittingly taking part in a unique T-Mobile promotional event featuring VFX by MPC New York. The studio teamed up with Radical Media Director Dennis Liu and hologram projection experts Musion to create the memorable event.

"We were thrilled to be involved with T-Mobile's holographic event," noted MPC EP Justin Brukman. "To take part in an event choreographed across five global markets was a special challenge. With careful coordination between MPC, Radical Media and Musion, I think we contributed to a really memorable evening for a lot of people."

MPC's work stands out in the Mariah explosions and surrounding transitions on and off the stage. The studio worked closely with Musion to finesse the transitions to maximize their effect when projected as holograms at the live events.

Audiences in Macedonia, Germany, Montenegro, Croatia and Poland watched the live event, while people across the globe tuned in to a live broadcast via www.lifeisforsharing.tv, which soon went viral on YouTube and elsewhere. Liu shot Mariah using a Sony F35 at 50i, choosing the camera that would produce shots most compatible with! interla ced footage. "We found ourselves in the unusual position of working to double-length shots and then interlacing," said Brukman. "Wanting your shot to have a 'video,' feel is certainly not the norm, but Dennis is a pro and we pulled it off."

Credits:

Brand and Product: T-Mobile
Title: Silent Night
Live event on Nov 17, 2011

Advertising Agency: SAATCHI & SAATCHI
Agency Producer/Commissioner: Jiri Mika

Production Company: Radical Media
Director: Dennis Liu
Production Company Producer: Richard Fenton
Production Company EP: Ben Schneider

Post Production Co: MPC
Post Production Producer(s): Derek Macleod
VFX Supervisor(s): Alex Lovejoy and Vicky Osborn
VFX Team: Drew Downes, Carl Fong, Brinton Jaecks, Kelly Bruce
CG Team: Mitch Deoudes, Dean Robinson, Bill Dorais,
Telecine: Paul Harrison

Hologram Projections: Musion
London Production: Josh King

About MPC:
MPC is an award winning VFX and Digital studio servicing the advertising, motion picture and television industries. From its London, New York, Santa Monica, Vancouver, and Bangalore offices, MPC's dynamic and diverse team delivers industry-defining VFX, animation, motion graphics, color grading, production, projection mapping, social and mobile application development, online advertising, data management, software R&D and pipeline development.

With a trio of integrated divisions, MPC utilizes a unified approach that drives the use of existing or newly created assets across the whole range of today's media landscape. MPC Creative handles client projects directly with top-notch directing, CG animation and character design. MPC FX Studio is a dedicated corps of graphic and digital designers who bring clients' visions to life. MPC Data Lab processes the content and makes it available for editing on demand. MPC is a Technicolor Company.

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