In advance of its sixth and final season premiere on CMT, agency 2C Creative designed a launch campaign that tells a story about the two sides of every character: the celebrity everyone sees on the red carpet and the human being inside.
“Returning to 2C to launch another season of Nashville was a no-brainer for us. They bring a winning combination of technical know-how, creative spark and nonstop effort to every project,” said Peter Mannes, CMT’s VP, creative, in a statement. “Nashville is our most high-profile property and requires extreme care and consideration. 2C fully delivered on our strategic objectives and sweated the details in the process. We truly couldn’t ask for a better partner.”
The sixth and final season of Nashville premieres on CMT on Jan. 4, and will be split into two parts, with the second part expected to air in summer 2018. The first four seasons of Nashville aired on ABC, but when the show was canceled on the broadcast network, the Viacom-owned cable network picked it up.
The spot reveals the show’s cast on a red carpet, surrounded by photographers and adoring fans. They flash brilliant smiles and wave, but not all of them are happy to be there or entirely focused on what’s happening in front of them. The internal part of each character’s personality is revealed via a ghostly visual that 2C refers to as the “internal persona.” To do that, 2C shot with a motion control unit, called the Bolt, to create both the glamorous red-carpet look and the more introspective look. The shoot required two performances from most of the actors that were then assembled into a single spot in post-production.
To capture both looks in one shoot, 2C created two distinct lighting styles, using Arri Sky Panels that changed colors at the flip of a switch.
“Even though we were creating this crazy visual effect, it was really important to CMT that we didn’t let this overtake the characters. Their emotions still needed to be the heroes here, so we worked closely with the talent to make sure these emotions came through,” said Brian Eloe, 2C’s live-action director/creative director, also in a statement.
Once production was complete, 2C added a 3D cityscape backdrop and imported camera moves from the Bolt into Cinema 4D for post-production. The team then spend hours working with lighting and color grading to achieve the seamless final look.
“We had a real blast exploring the various looks for the final ‘Internal Persona’ moments,” said 2C Design Director Luis Martinez. “In the end, we kept it simple and clean so that the VFX wouldn’t overshadow the cast’s wonderful performances.”
“The fact that CMT brought us back to collaborate again and recreate the magic our teams achieved together with last year’s launch is incredibly gratifying,” said Eloe. “Bringing the network’s concept to life – that visual expression of secondary personas appearing to leave the body – allowed us to play to our strengths in VFX to create something unique and beautiful to hype the upcoming return of Nashville.”
CREDITS
Network: CMT
VP, Creative: Peter Mannes
Executive Producer, On-Air Promos: Jeff Nichols
Writer/Producer, On-Air Promos: Samantha Storey
VP, Production Management: Heather Graffagnino
Director of Production, Creative: Lindsay Lapinski
Line Producer, Production Management: Jon Brown
Senior Writer/Producer, On-Air Promos: Angela Krasteva
Senior Project Manager, On-Air Promos: Sarah Walker
Senior Director, On-Air Design: David Bennett
Senior Project Manager, On-Air Design: Shawna O’Neill
Original Music Production: Josh Keith, Prime Recording
Audio Editor/Sound Design: Jim Parker
Agency: 2C
Chief Creative Officer: Chris Sloan
Live-Action Director/Creative Director: Brian Eloe
General Manager, Senior Director of Operations: Nikki Coloma-Blaszyk
Creative Director: Marni Wagner
Creative Director: Ben Frank
Editor: Jesus Martinez
Design Director: Luis Martinez
Executive Producer, Graphics: Bob Cobb
VFX Artist/Colorist: Dmitri Zavyaskin
Compositor: Andy Fernandez
Technical Operations Manager: Ashley Hartford
Assistant Editor: Kelly Lanman
Assistant Editor: Williams Naranjo
Collaborators
Line Producer: Chris Stoerchle
Director of Photography: Chuck Ozeas
Sound Designer/Audio Mix: Cesar Haliwa
Production Designer: Gregg Horne
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