VFX Supervisor/Flame artist Tim Crean of Suspect steprs up to answer Five Questions.
1. What are you working on today?

Trying to leave work before 11pm.

2. What have you found is the best tool or innovation that has come out in the last year?

Iconcertcal.com

3. The project (film, television, commercial or music video) that most impressed you in the last year? Why?

Pliex Groovearmada Music Video

4. The best or favorite project that you worked on in the past year? And why?

Fathead because I was involved in the job from the very beginning.

5. Name the top 4 artists on your iPod?

108

M.I.A
Menomena
Phoenix

Recent Project: FATHEAD
SUSPECT, W+K NY, AND HUNGRY MAN TACKLE THE NFL FOR FATHEAD
Press Release
SUSPECT’s Tim Crean and Hungry Man’s Hank Perlman team up to bring us up close and
personal with in-your-face images of NFL stars in this two spot package for Fathead.
Executive Producer, Rob Appelblatt commented on the collaboration, “The track record and
innovative creative of Wieden coupled with Hank’s comedic sensibilities and pedigree…we
knew that’d be a winning combo.”

Lens: A stone-faced sports photographer gives us a serious interview on the toils of capturing the
big, bold visual smack that brings our favorite players and teams into our homes. Intercut with
the interview sequences are scenes of the
photographer on the sidelines at an NFL game
toting an oversized camera. Barely able to hold
onto the cumbersome behemoth, he attempts to
snap shots of the players, while commenting on
how his ability to capture these moments is akin to
an immortal super power.

Cooler:
The same austere sports photographer is back to
business capturing more images of superstar
NFL players. Proudly boasting that his skills are
half-cat, half-ninja, we see our photographer
stationed on the sidelines of a raucous Seattle
Seahawks game. In a flash, the Seahawk’s
Shaun Alexander streaks down the sidelines
headed for the end zone. When a incredible last minute tackles sends several players careening into the sidelines, our ninja shutter bug is propelled into a drink cooler and under
the weight of his tremendous camera, flops onto his back sending the table, several cups and
cooler flying.

VFX Supervisor/Flame Artist Tim Crean: Hank was extremely open to collaborating which made the entire process a lot of fun. It was
cool to see him tackle the VFX space because he normally sticks to straight-up comedy. From
the concept stages, we wanted our Fathead
photographer to be part of the scene, not the
focus of it. Since shooting a live NFL game
wasn’t an option, we took the route of shooting
green screen performance and integrating that
with existing NFL archival footage. This required
traveling to NFL films Headquarters in New
Jersey with Hank and the agency. With the help of the NFL guys, we sifted through mountains
of film in search of those perfect moments where our Fathead character could become part of
the action.

We took great pains in matching every conceivable aspect of the NFL footage. We went as far
as interviewing NFL cameramen to learn not only the usual camera attributes but seemingly
innocuous details as the time of day. Matching the lighting was almost as important as nailing
the film stock and the camera angles. The production even went as far as shooting additional
people on green screen so the hero photographer would have something “real” to interact
with. After painstakingly removing obstructing people and recreating clean backgrounds for
our hero to be composited into, a few more crucial elements were added. Steam and breath
were incorporated for winter season shots as well as rebuilding the lens of the prop camera in
3D. The camera prop was never meant to be seen in a close-up, but a spec can change at the
last minute in our line of work. That’s what keeps it fun, and luckily for us, Flame has a great
3D tracker and projection tool now.

Additionally, SUSPECT handled the design and execution of the animated end tag which will be
incorporated in all of Fathead’s future branding efforts.

CREDITS
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, NY
ECD(s): Kevin Proudfoot, Todd Waterbury

CD: Derek Barnes
Art Director: Stuart Jennings
Copywriter: Charlie Gschwend

Head of Production: Gary Krieg

Producer: Dan Blaney

Prod Company: Hungry Man

Director: Hank Perlman
Partner/EP: Stephen Orent

EP/Head of Production: Caroline Gibney

EP: Kevin Byrne

Producer: Mino Jarjoura

Post/Effects: SUSPECT, NY

VFX Supervisor/Lead Flame Artist: Tim Crean
Design Director: Hoon Chong
3D Artist: Steve Burger
Flame Artist(s): Steve Koenig, Jaime Aguirre
EP: Rob Appelblatt
Producer: Stefanie Bassett

Editorial: PS 260, NY
Editor: Maury Loeb

Assistant Editor: Jenna Warnecke
EP: Zarina Mac

Sound Design: Sound Lounge Music and Sound Design, NY
Sound Designer: Marshall Grupp

Audio Post: Sound Lounge, NY
Mixer: Tom Jucarone