In Gatorade's 'Declare', a TV spot in TWBA/Chiat/Day L.A.'s new integrated marketing campaign for the brand, we observe a full gamut of world class athletes pushing themselves to their limits. And it is Gatorade that makes the difference in their performances, allowing them to 'Win From Within'.

Smuggler's Jaron Albertin directed the inspirational 'Declare', with The Mill handling VFX and Telecine. The spot was shot on 16mm and the ARRI Alexa. Billy Higgins, our VFX Supervisor/Lead 2D Artist, notes that all the footage of runner Usain Bolt was shot in Jamaica on the Alexa. "I then made that Alexa footage match the 16mm by putting a treatment on the film in the Flame," Higgins explains. "Other FX in the spot include adding crowds to soccer stadiums and changing jersey colors and footwear colors to match from scene to scene."

Head of Telecine Adam Scott was tasked with matching the Alexa shots to the 16mm shots of the rest of the commercial. "[The creatives] Brent and Steve wanted the spot to have a documentary feel," Scott says. "So my objective in the grade was to get the best natural look out of what was there. That meant grading the Alexa shots to match the original 16mm film."

The cross-section of sports vignettes culminates with a bolt and flash bursting from Usain Bolt's chest. "It was my favorite scene," Higgins says, "shot at 120 fps on the Alexa and ARRI's new Alexa Plus camera. "We added the 16mm look and color treatment as well as crowd and camera flashes. Our Lead Designer Tom O'Neill created the end graphics with the bolt bursting out of Usain's chest that transitioned to the tag 'Win From Within'. It was a great collaboration with our Design department and a very efficient way to add different designs very quickly."

Gatorade 'Declare' also marks The Mill's most recent project with TBWA/Chiat/Day in what is a longstanding relationship with the agency. "We worked with a great agency team-Jayanta, Steve, Brent, Molly and Sarah-who we've worked with many times before," Higgins concludes. "That shorthand made the process a pleasure!"