McCann London got in touch with us to create a series of stop motion TV idents for Subway’s sponsorship of the London NFL Games in 2017 and again in 2018.

The brief was to celebrate Subway sponsoring the NFL London Games by showcasing the two brands together in a number of idents. These would be played on television, YouTube, social media and in the arena itself. We had partnered with McCann before to work on Subway idents for their sponsorship of The Big Bang Theory so it was exciting to collaborate again.

Team Work StillPlay Video

Team Work

Hands on 2017Play Video

Hands On

Perfect Partners PurplePlay Video

Perfect Partners

Beautiful GamePlay Video

Beautiful Game

Play Video

Game On

Hands On 2018Play Video

Hands On 2018

Working with such a recognisable brand meant our creative team were given guidelines to follow, including a prescribed colour scheme to ensure everything was consistent with Subway’s image. We incorporated this with some eye catching NFL merchandise that we wanted to showcase.

We got to work coming up with storylines that would call out commonalities between the two companies in short and engaging idents. For instance, both Subway and the NFL highly value team work, so one of our idents focused on that theme.

With the storyboards approved the next step was to mock up motion graphics. This helped us work out the timing and framing for each scene. It also pointed out what we would need for the production. For example bringing a food stylist on board to make sure the fresh props were handled in such a way as to come out best on screen.

Brand Colours

Primary Colours

Secondary Colours

One of the main things we wanted to capture and communicate through the idents was the fast paced, vibrant atmosphere that you would find at an NFL game.

We mocked up the animations in After Effects before shooting and then proceeded to perform test shots accordingly, ensuring the rhythm and tempo were spot on.

This also gave our DOP a chance to fine tune the lighting and set up to make sure everything was ready for the shoot days.

We created six idents over two years working alongside the creative team at McCann and Subway. The project was especially exciting for us as it was the first shoot we did in our brand new studio and it was also shortlisted for Creativepool’s Annual Awards in 2018.

You can catch the idents on Sky Sports, in your local cinema, YouTube or on the big screen at the venues if you are lucky enough to have a ticket.

Credits

Client: Subway

Agency: McCann London

Director of Photography: Peter Ellmore

Additional Animators: Samuel Lewis and George Carman

Gaffer: Jonathan Yates

Directed and Produced: Picturesmith

Camera Assistant: Mark Swaffield

Food Stylists: Rob Morris, Jack Sargeson and Lucy Ruth

Dance Agency: HeadNod