Ice Cold Celebs Star in Crystalline JD Sports Christmas Ad

Coffee & TV were commissioned by Susie Stock Productions and MindsEye to assist in bringing the visuals for JD Sports Fashion Christmas 2018 campaign to life. The aim was to deliver a series of music-video style films to showcase JD’s celebrity line-up of brand ambassadors modelling this year’s must-have footwear and apparel.

Over a six-week period, the production team led by acclaimed music video director Daps, captured 20 well-known personalities from the sport and entertainment industries. The live action shoot was set in a wintry geometric ice space created in Shepperton Studios. Coffee & TV’s effects artists supported the process by producing realistic camera moves to enhance the impressive production value.

Coffee & TV’s growing CGI team was required to create frosty blocks of ice to surround the talent and then animate a shattering sequence to fully reveal the personalities from within. The blocks of ice were meticulously designed, lit and rendered to achieve a perfectly realistic appearance.

The Coffee & TV artists were challenged to create a shattering motion that would not appear violent or explosive, and animation that exposes the brand ambassadors from the ice block in an extremely short time-frame. So the tech team developed bespoke controls to alter the size and area of the ice breaks to suit the placement of the encased individual. The shattered ice shapes were rendered in multiple passes before compositing all the elements together.

In addition to the final composites, the Coffee & TV Flame department focussed on more subtle details, such as logos on products popping to the music, to adding a festive sparkle and frosting to key shots. The artists also extended some sets with matte paintings, including the ice floor. The commercial was graded by Coffee & TV’s Head of Colour, Simona Cristea, to enhance the wintry, cold tones, giving it a festive look. The campaign will run across TV digital and stills platforms in the UK, ROI,

European and international territories.