Working with the Pilobolus Dancers

I've been holding off on posting this until the video was released at the ASCO convention in Chicago.

D2 Creative was hired by Centron, an advertising and branding agency, to create two pieces of content for Easai Pharmaceuticals' use on the floor at the premier gathering of Oncologists in the US. First, a 20 foot LCD video wall evoking the commitment Eisai makes every day in it's human healthcare initiative to patients and the provider community. This would be semi-abstract, have no narration, and speak to both the scientific, and human, consequences. It would have to be simple, written big, and visually captivating across a crowded convention floor.


Centron had brought with them the idea of using the Pilobolus dancers. Pilobolus works in creating shadow plays in which dancers move to form human and non-human characters of a scene. Very simple. Fascinating to watch. We held some group phone consultations with Pilobolus in which the writers associated some key words with scenes and scenarios that could illustrate them. D2 Creative, Centron, Eisai, and Pilobolus all convened in New London CT at Sonalyst Studios' huge sound stages for the filming.

Collaboration with Pilobolus was mind-opening experience. If you know the work they do, you can understand the need for good communication and working together well. A dozen or so dancers physically build the tableaux projected onto the screen seen by the audience or camera. The director would discuss with us the scenes and ideas, then communicate it to the dancers who would work out in groups how best to achieve it. This process spawned new ideas and "what ifs" that we all hashed out. So from the idea... immediately you have the "hive mind' of 15 or more brains working on it.
Creatively, this kept a "buzz' going for the two days of shooting and gave us variety and options in the editing room. There is a lesson in this for all creative endevors I think.

The footage of the shadows on the screen was all captured in 1080p video onto hard drive. The raw footage went through a short edit, but the real work was done in compositing. The raw images were re-keyed into clean silohuettes and I started to play with color and transfer modes in After Effects. Frederick Rescott, Creative Director at Centron, had type design ideas that were in keeping with the concept: clear, always moving and choreographed to the dancers.
We had a rough comp together in a few days. More to follow.