JamesMac  VFX SUPERVISOR

Jim and Barny at No.8 got in touch to see if I could help them out on a Sports Direct commercial directed by Henry Schofield. I obviously leapt at the opportunity. I started by helping supervise the tech recce and shoot in Crystal Palace, Islington, Wembley and Black Island Studios.

We were shooting on FPV Drone, Go Pro Max 360 and Alexa Mini (the lenses ranging from a world bending 8mm prime to a 24 - 290mm zoom!). Parkour export Daniel Ilabaca bought along his GoPro Max, something I had not shot with before. It was seriously impressive watching the flexibility of the camera and GoPro App on set.

Henry had a very defined brief that Jim conveyed to me. The shoot supervision was all about managing the creative solutions for each of the camera stitches between scenes and shots. We shot HDRI scenes with the Ricoh Theta and carefully choreographed camera moves and transitions.

In VFX land, we stitched multiple shots together, all without the help of motion control plates. The erratic nature of the edit and Henry’s vision helped us create some mind bending moves through the world of Sport Direct.  

This was the first project partially put together in a post Covid world. Jim and Barney literally gave me the keys to No8 and I cycled in everyday to keep my body and mind moving. I will forever be eternally grateful to them.