Air Force “CSAR”

“CSAR” is the third commercial in a series for the U. S. Air Force, and highlights combat search and rescue (CSAR), and shows the teamwork involved to locate, communicate with and recover downed aircrews and isolated personnel. Each commercial spot is portrayed in a cinematic, sci-fi environment and then revealed in the end to be missions that are not science fiction but rather what the men and women in the Air Force do every day.

I created matte paintings for several shots, including a large (12K x 4.7K) horizontal aerial image for the opening shot with the aircraft, a large (8K x 12K) vertical aerial image for the drop with the paratroopers, a tree top image (3.8K x 2.9K) when the troopers begin to land, and a large horizontal forested landscape (above, 9.6K x 2.7K)  for use in the main shots. All of these matte paintings were created with use in 3D projection and compositing in mind. Meaning, I worked through masks/alphas in Photoshop to generate the images, a process I normally employ.  Working through this method is particularly challenging with trees and other organic twisted multi-armed  shapes.

I also created several look development images to translate the look/feel of the forest from the initial impressionistic concept images to something more photographic. One being shown above along with the concept. I went through several revisions to get the desired look, which many times was lesson in reading between the lines, as direction was often conflicting and multi-sourced.

The 30-second spot began airing Oct. 5, 2009 on the Adult Swim, BET, Comedy Central, ESPN, ESPNews, FX, FOX Soccer, G4, MTV, NFL, Speed, Spike TV, TBS, USA and History channels.