7th June 2006: Rushes and Red Bee Media have collaborated to create a glorious cinematic title sequence for the BBC’s coverage of the World Cup. Utilising one of their HD multiple Dual suites that Rushes installed in their recent expansion and up-grade, along with Telecine, Roto work and even a bit of 3D, the Rushes team joined forces to create this beautiful and inspiring work.
The sequence builds on the ambience and energy in Germany during the run up to the World Cup, introducing World Cup hopefuls Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry and Steven Gerrard who are teleported into iconic places in Germany’s capital Berlin, while showing their skills with a football. The titles will launch with the competitions opening match, Germany v Costa Rica on BBC1 9th June.

The titles open with a warm summer breeze blowing through golden rushes pulling focus to reveal a wide shot of rural Germany thus establishing the home of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The cobbled streets start to glow and small bursts of light pulsate. The area starts to warp and distort with light bursting and flaring from a central point. From within the light burst football players who metamorphose as if teleporting out of a fourth dimension.

Louise Braham, Design Producer at Red Bee said “To create the sequence, the players were shot at their home grounds whilst the back plates were shot in Berlin. Ronaldinho was filmed at the Nou Camp Stadium in Barcelona with a specially built green screen built on site. Gerrard was filmed at Liverpool’s training ground and Henry at Arsenal’s training ground. The entire sequence was shot in hi-speed classic slow motion with speed ramps queued by the music”.

Starting with a full grade of all the background plates by Rushes Head Colourist Adrian Seery and then a technical grade of each of the players - Rooney and Ronaldinho on green screen and Henry and Gerrard in situ - the job was then handed over to the VFX department for Roto and Comp work. All players had to be hand rotoed off their backgrounds, including the numerous players who appear from previous VT footage to make their glimmering appearance.

The piece was then heavily treated in Flame by Rushes VFX Experts Marcus Wood and Matt Jackson to comp it all together and create this fantastical world where our favourite football icons seamlessly and magically emerge from breathtaking historic German hotspots amidst swirls of golden light, as though fantastical mirages that become reality - just like our World Cup dreams!

Chris Grubb, Producer, BBC Sport, added “The music was written by Carl Davis, a world famous composer and conductor responsible for scores such as ‘The French Lieutenants Woman” and the BBC’s “Pride and Prejudice’. The title is ‘Sports Prepare’ and it is an arrangement from Handel’s ‘See the Conquering Hero Comes’. Handel was a German composer who spent most of his adult life in England and it seemed appropriate that his work should feature in this World Cup. The music was recorded by the BBC Orchestra and Choir.”

Rushes Producer Josh King says ‘We love our new suites and kit! It has more than doubled our capacity, allowing Ops to work very closely - in fact right next to each other - making communication delays impossible and enhancing our creative atmosphere’..