The Syndicate Scores with Monday Night Football

(Sorry for the lame PR-ish sounding title. I just couldn’t resist.)

The 3D work and cinematography in The Syndicate‘s new opener for ESPN’s Monday Night Football is simply insane. Live action 35mm footage of downtown LA is beautifully blended with a hyper-real CG city to create a believable sense of space. The whole spot is brimming with detail. This is definitely a project worthy of repeat viewing after repeat viewing after repeat viewing.

And I actually like the concept, too. It reminds me of those moments in Broadway musicals when one guy bursts into song, and then inexplicably the guy sweeping the street next to him joins in. They are followed shortly by the florist, a businessman and a whole crew of construction workers, all perfectly choreographed.

Well, the Monday Night Football opener isn’t nearly asâ€â€?how should I say it?â€â€?flamboyant, but it does have that sense of spontaneous drama. It’s clever, entertaining, and in The Syndicate’s hands, visually bad ass.

Here’s the press release, which goes into a fair amount of detail about the making of the spot.

Clarification: The spot was directed by Matt Checkowski and Kurt Mattila. The Syndicate supervised shots and handled the vfx.