Adidas Crazy Light, Miami

Can a shoe be lighter than air? Crazy! Or it is just Adidas Crazy Light. Fantastic creative by 180 LA and VFX by The Mill L.A. showcase five NBA teams featuring Adidas' latest sport shoe revolution. Snoop Dogg Instagram of the campaign gives high praise to gear and CGI alike: "Crazy. Light. Adidas."
A combination of shoe animation tests and arena previz inspired the Mill L.A. team to create unique cinematic camera angles with virtual spaces and ground breaking plate shoot techniques.
Four NBA arenas, Boston, Miami, San Antonio, and Oklahoma City, were meticulously photographed and the stills were then either camera projected in CGI or manipulated in Nuke to create virtual stadium shots and camera moves.
At Oklahoma the team employed a mini helicopter camera set-up, flown around the arena to gather never before seen footage. Getting a very expensive rig airborne needed some stealthy skill from the camera team, whose hearts stopped on more than one occasion, and truly pushed them to their limits.
The Mill L.A. new space also provided a unique advantage: with just five weeks to create five commercials, hosting the entire production team under one roof meant seamless integration.
"What I think makes these spots standout is pure creative simplicity. They resemble a music video or movie trailer rather than standard TV spots," shares Executive Producer Stephen Venning at The Mill L.A.
For every NBA fan: Go big. Go light. Go crazy!