MPC Digitally Removes Tyson Fury’s Opponent in Powerful Campaign for Suicide Prevention Charity CALM

Using real footage of Tyson Fury’s fight against Deontay Wilder in December 2018, with his opponent digitally removed by MPC, we see the fighter moving around the ring, throwing and evading punches as his skin ripples with the impact of jabs. The sequence sees two big blows knock Wilder to the floor, as the referee starts to count. Summoning extra strength from somewhere, Fury lifts himself from the canvas and stands ready to fight again. CALM’s powerful message is that “Sometimes the toughest opponents are the ones you can’t see,” which appears before the words “Don’t fight it alone” and the helpline. 

Check out MPC's work here. 

MPC’s VFX supervisor Dan Lorenzini said: “As a boxer myself this film centred around a huge passion of mine. Depicting the battle of mental health in this way was a very apt and clever message from Zac the Creative”. 

Dan added: “Working on found footage is always more of a challenge than footage purposely shot for a task. Our Bangalore studio worked on over 1000 frames of footage to paint out Deontay Wilder. We created new limbs, faces and body parts of Tyson to patch the areas Wilder covered. Essentially, we were rebuilding Tyson for a number of sequences, we took sections of the crowd and recreated their reactions, rebuilt the referee, and anything that got obscured”. 

The team added impact with FX plates of flying sweat, and Colourist Peter Oppersdorff provided a powerful filmic grade. 

The campaign went live in advance of Tyson Fury's trilogy rematch against Deontay Wilder and will be backed up by VOD and YouTube, as well as DOOH Transvision screens. Social media will focus on the core film and engage influencers to drive reach and to encourage the conversation surrounding mental health, using the hashtag #InvisibleOpponent.

If you’re struggling or worried about someone, CALM's helpline & webchat are open from 5pm until midnight. Call CALM on 0800 58 58 58, or chat to their trained helpline staff online. No matter who you are or what you're going through, it's free, anonymous & confidential.