Design Company Produces Show Packages for Network's 25th Anniversary
Summer Campaign Follows on the Heels of Troika's HD Package for SportsCenter
HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Sept. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Troika Design Group, a
strategic design and production company, produced six on-air graphics show
packages for the 25th anniversary of ESPN, which aired September 6th, 2004.
Mark Bohman, creative director and Troika co-founder, made the announcement
today.
"We are very pleased to continue to partner with ESPN on various
projects," Bohman said. "We wanted to create a visual language on scale with
ESPN's amazing accomplishments over the past 25 years. The 25th Anniversary
package was another exciting design challenge from ESPN." Bohman also lead
the team that created the hi-definition graphics package for SportsCenter
earlier this year.
In May of 2003, Troika was asked to deliver an overall design concept for
ESPN's 25th anniversary programming. Troika created a visual motif of a
three-dimensional timeline as a metaphor that would mark ESPN's achievements.
Troika used the dynamic timeline -- filled with energetic arching beams of
light -- as its starting point. The design company then began to design and
animate hundreds of on-air graphics elements to package the summer-long event,
including: show opens, bumpers, transitions, backgrounds, lower third
informational systems, and more.
Many elements have been running since May or June of 2004 on series
programming entitled "The Moments," "Who's #1?," and "The Headlines." Other
elements appeared on the specials "Then & Now" and "SportsCenter: The Next
25 Years," and culminated with the "Silver Anniversary Special" on September
6th.
Beyond design, Troika's dynamic timeline works practically as well. It
creates an environment for an ESPN25 title system that unifies its anniversary
programming while allowing each show a distinctive personality. Each show
begins with a signature ESPN25 animation acting as a gateway into the
timeline. Alternate paths are taken off of the timeline, moving to higher or
lower parallel areas that feature each individual show.
Lead designer Gil Haslam explained, "The three-dimensional timeline acts
as a sort of sports time-vault, containing historic sports moments and
streaming bits of trivia all contained within a stadium like environment:
hints of banners, lights, grandstand seats, and other architectural details
create a sense of place and excitement."
The Silver Anniversary Special was the hallmark piece celebrating the
defining sports highlights on the network. Within the open, transparent
panels reveal key moments of sports history down the timeline: from Chris
Berman's 49ers sideline call of "the Catch" in 1982 to Tony Hawks 900 at the
1999 X-Games, these scenes, documented by ESPN, are "etched" in the fan's mind
and are synonymous with the ESPN Networks.
Chuck Carey, executive producer and co-founder stated, "Troika's elements
form a space that uniquely celebrates ESPN and the best moments in sports over
twenty-five years. We were honored to join ESPN and the sports fan on this
trip and share in the network's legacy."
The project team used Maya and After Effects software to composite and
animate the ESPN show packages. In addition to Bohman, Haslam and Carey, the
team for Troika Design Group included producer Kristen Olsen, 3D animators
Cory Strassburger and Mark Wurts, 2D animators Mark McConnell and Richard Eng,
and editor Patrick Flynn.
In addition to ESPN, Troika has delivered high profile design projects for
over twenty networks.
Troika Design Group is a multidisciplinary, award-winning design company
in Hollywood consisting of more than 20 designers, producers, animators,
editors and conceptual thinkers who specialize in network branding,
promotional and advertising campaigns, and show packaging. Established in the
spring of 2001 by industry leaders Dan Pappalardo, Mark Bohman and Chuck
Carey, Troika has emerged as one of the premier providers of strategic design
and creative production for television. Troika works closely with television
and cable networks including ABC, E! Entertainment, UPN, Food Network, ESPN,
Comedy Central, HGTV, Fine Living, TV Guide Channel and VH1. For more
information, please visit http://www.troika.tv or call 323.965.1650.
ESPN, Inc., The Worldwide Leader in Sports, is the leading multinational,
multimedia sports entertainment company featuring the broadest portfolio of
multimedia sports assets with over 40 business entities. The company is
comprised of six domestic television networks (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic,
ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Today), ESPN HD (a high-definition simulcast
service of ESPN), ESPN Regional Television, ESPN International
(25 international networks and syndication), ESPN Radio, ESPN.com, ESPN The
Magazine, SportsTicker, ESPN Enterprises, ESPN Zones (sports-themed
restaurants), and other growing new businesses including ESPN Broadband, ESPN
Wireless, ESPN Video-on-Demand, ESPN Interactive and ESPN PPV. Based in
Bristol, Ct., ESPN is 80 percent owned by ABC, Inc., which is an indirect
subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The Hearst Corporation holds a
20 percent interest in ESPN.
|
