Raleigh, North Carolina - March 17, 2006 - Serious Robots, one of the Southeast's top commercial postproduction companies, is serious about High Definition. The company has completed numerous HD projects recently including a pair of Xyience breakfast-bar spots and a national commercial for Sony's Grand Wega SXRD HD televisions.

Conventional wisdom has it that the Sony spot should look as technologically-advanced as the TV it was selling. But Sony and its agency, McKinney of Durham, North Carolina, opted for a very different approach with the humorous "Lo-Def Productions Presents: Cal vs. Stanford - The Play."

The idea was to illustrate HD television in a comedic way, showing sports fans what they'd be missing if HD was not a part of their lives. The concept was to show a football clip or play that everyone knows, but illustrated in a low-def manner -- with an old-fashioned, electric football game. "

It was an interesting idea: to do a spot that actually looks low-tech so Sony can let people know how much better things can look on its Grand Wega," notes Serious Robots executive producer Bill Blankinship. "There was a tight turnaround, and we provided a complete package of HD production and postproduction services."

The spot opens on a reenactment of the infamous 1982 Cal vs. Stanford game that made the record books for the most thrilling finish in the history of college football. This version is played on an electric football game with a wire coat hanger moving the ball down the field. The camera, held at board level, gives an up-close view of the action as seen by the plastic players. Paper spectators are glued and stapled together to form the crowd and shaken up and down to cheer. The game's original play-by-play soundtrack accompanies the distinctly low-tech action to its exciting conclusion when, thinking the game is over, the Stanford marching band takes to the field to be run over by an unruly Cal offensive player, manipulated by a wooden stick. Then the off-camera stick operator goes berserk, sweeping the marching band members in a frenzy. It's flying plastic everywhere as the spot closes with the question, "If you're not watching Sony HD, what are you watching?"

Red Truck Films, a sister company of Serious Robots, lensed the football game and the final product shot in its studios with Sony's Cine Alta HD camera. "Trying to get those plastic football players to move correctly on the board was a challenge," laughs Blankinship who supervised the shoot with Red Truck Films' Garye Costner executive producing.

Serious Robots' editor Ian Krabacher offlined the spot on an Avid Adrenaline. Touch ups and compositing on the product shot.were done in Autodesk's Discreet Flame by Forest Maready. Scott Roy and Joe Wilson conformed the spot in Avid DS Nitris performing final color correction and outputting HD and Standard Definition deliverables. "Our main challenge was trying not to make the recreation look too good," notes Blankinship. "We spent a lot of time taking the prop treatments down a couple of notches."

Serious Robots' proactive position regarding HD production and postproduction has started to bear fruit as agencies and advertisers gear up for HD, Blankinship reports. "We've been talking to clients about working in HD through seminars with agencies and independent producers," he explains. "It can be very confusing to people who don't understand the technical aspects and workflows of HD. We're trying to introduce them to the realities of the format and the impact it will ultimately have on commercial production."

Serious Robots, one of the Southeast's top commercial postproduction companies provides all aspects of animation, editorial, post and visual effects to companies in the commercial, music video and other industries. Its clients include Sony Ericsson, IBM, McKinney, and Rockett Burkhead & Winslow. For more information, call 919-645-6650 or visit their website at www.seriousrobots.com.

Credits Client: Sony HDTV Spot title: "Lo-Def Productions Presents: Cal vs. Stanford - The Play" Agency: McKinney/Durham, NC

Production: Red Truck Films/Raleigh Executive Producer: Garye Costner

Editorial: Serious Robots/Raleigh Executive Producer: Bill Blankinship

Offline Editor: Ian Krabacher HD Online and Finish: Scott Roy, Joe Wilson Flame Artist: Forest Maready

Audio: Blazing Music + Sound/Raleigh Executive Producer: Eric Johnson Sound Design and Mix: Willie Elias, Aaron Keane