Last fall we teamed up with Wyse Advertising to create kiosk ads for Medical Mutual in Greater Cleveland.  The ads featured the signature look of our favorite football team’s colors and helmet stripes. Whether we were bleeding orange, brown and white or having it for breakfast, our team was able to create the look that Wyse and the client were looking for.

Orange, Brown and White for Breakfast:

Browns for Breakfast

For the image of the fried eggs, we shot multiple iterations so we could optimize the oily spatters, which added drama and texture to the shot.  Additional shots were then taken specifically to get the egg whites and yolks to look as appetizing as possible and achieve the proper focus.  Once the exposures were finished and composited, the Cleveland Browns’ orange, brown and white stripes were added. 

Bruce Jamieson, our senior retoucher, said, “This shot was a lot of fun because it merged our studio’s fantastic food photography, of which we have years of experience, with the Cleveland Browns — a mélange that doesn’t often occur.”

Browns in Our Blood:

Bleeding Brown, Orange and White

In order to give the illusion of bleeding orange, brown and white in this image, we took many close-up photos of a model’s arm at an extremely high resolution. We then shot the photo with the bandage, brought out a syringe, and filled it with blue acrylic ink. The ink was sprayed just above the bandage, and several dozen photos were captured of the ink dripping down the arm. The digital retoucher then selected the best-looking drips and composited them with the bandage and arm. Last but not least, he used his magic to change the blue ink to Cleveland Browns orange, brown and white, and the unique image was finalized!

Both ads were also nominated for an American Advertising Federation Cleveland, Addy Award. Good luck Wyse Advertising. Bring home the gold!

We wanted to share with everyone some images we just completed for one of our newest clients, Barrette Outdoor Living. Our first project for them was brought to us by our friends at Liggett Stashower, who were working on creating three ads that communicated the advantages of the Barrette Fence, Railing, and Shed systems to contractors and commercial retailers. For the three ads, our CGI team rendered the Barrette products and placed them on stock photos that were often combined with TRG studio and location photography. A combination of several of our capabilities! Can you tell what is stock and what we photographed? Shortly after wrapping up that project, we also created images for Barrette’s product brochures as well. We helped them overcome the quandary of finding a home that had all the design elements they wanted to display their decking systems, so we did some research and rendered a home just for them! Almost everything in those shots is computer generated, even the mulch!

Our attempt at conquering the Doritos Superbowl commercial contest earlier this year didn’t win us $1 million dollars, but based on polling results we just barely missed the cut. So, why not try again this year? Our good friend Gary Pilla Jr, Art Director at Doner Advertising, brought us another great concept that we were glad to tackle. It involves special effects make-up, a refrigerator full of Pepsi Max, and a real live tiger. Check out the video here on our Youtube Page or, on the Crash the Super Bowl site. We’ll know if we make the first round of cuts during the first week of January. If we do, we’ll be asking you and your budding social network to vote for it so that our ad will run during the Super Bowl in February 2011. While you're here though, take a look at our production stills from the making of the ad.

(Through the great people at Sherwin Williams and Wyse Advertising)

A sense of disappointment pulsed through Cleveland as Lebron James, our glimmer of hope for winning a national championship, broke up with our fair city on national television. In what felt like mere moments after “The Decision”, workers got busy tearing down the Lebron James mural at the intersection Huron Road and Ontario Road by Quicken Loans Arena. “The Reaction,” as it’s been dubbed, was that of erasing his legacy from all parts of our scorned city including his jerseys, hats, memorabilia and finally the mural, leaving a large gap in the city’s Gateway District. Sherwin Williams wanted to fill that gap, and remind Cleveland that there are people and business born and raised here that won’t leave the city. When Wyse Advertising approached us on behalf of Sherwin Williams to create the photo that is featured on the building, we were ecstatic to be a part of it. So much so that we sent one photographer up in a helicopter, and another to The Flats, to see how to put the city’s best foot forward… photographically speaking. On October 26^th and 27^th, our cityscape photo from The Flats taken by Senior Photographer Adam Wilde, went up where James once was, with a tagline that reads “Our Home since 1866. Our Pride Forever.” Take a look at this video of the mural taking shape… (Photo by Adam Wilde, Video by Tim Smith) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmfh1Pf-KAM

Earlier this September, we had the privilege of helping to make a Make A Wish kid’s dream come true. Leshe Scott is a 17-year-old Broadview Heights girl battling cancer, with aspirations of becoming a photographer. The Make A Wish Foundation approached TRG to find out what kind of equipment they should get for her, but after hearing a little bit about Leshe’s story we wanted to be more involved in her wish, and make sure it was everything she wanted it to be. With the help of Dodd Camera, we were able to provide her with a Rebel Camera, additional lenses, memory cards and a case. The Make a Wish Foundation completed out her wish with an Apple Laptop and printer, so she can proudly display her work. We also invited Leshe and her aunt, who is her caregiver, to come down to the studio to see a fashion photo shoot for Dots, complete with professional models and make-up stylists. Leshe very quickly familiarized herself with her new camera and ventured into the studio to photograph some behind the scenes action of the Dots shoot. It truly was our pleasure to make Leshe’s wish come true.  Many thanks to the Make A Wish Foundation for letting us be a part of it, Dodd Camera for helping us put together the photography gear, and to Dots for participating in Leshe’s day. Below are some photos of Leshe with her new camera and equipment, as well as a few shots that she took on set that day. A wonderful photographer in the making!

Yesterday was a day for fashion in the studio! We filled up our studio with models, clothing and make-up for the 2010 Summer shoot for Dots clothing store. Photographer Julie Stanley and Dots marketing guru Melissa Skinner used large letters that create the Dots logo as props for the models to work with, and the results are fabulous! We’ll show you the images once they’re completed, but for now take a look at the behind the scenes photos to see what it takes to put on a fashion shoot!

In the last few days here at the studio we’ve had a few delicious photo shoots here for Nestle Foods, and top-of-the-line range manufacturer BlueStar.  Nestle brought with them their top chefs and a bevy of dishes that we got to nosh on all day long, while BlueStar sent us beautiful ranges that we all wished we could put in our kitchens. We took both dramatic product photographs as well as great food dishes.  Check back with us in a little while for some of the final photos, but in the meantime take a look at our behind the scenes photos from both shoots!  BlueStar is a new client of ours, which adds to our growing family of food clients such as Vita-Mix, Cheeseburger in Paradise, Sugardale, and Crop Bistro.

Over the Summer here at the studio, and under the art direction of W.B. Doner we completed a Holiday shoot for Things Remembered encompassing both their catalog and in-store signage needs. The pieces were tied together with a theme of 1950’s and 1960’s living, mimicking the AMC series Mad Men. Since it’s the holidays, it’s the perfect time to post them!  We trolled theater company wardrobes, vintage shops around town and our grandparents closets for clothing and accessories that perfectly fit the time period.  We also built a 60’s style wood-paneled bar that was so beautiful, it ended up in a client’s basement!  All of these can be seen in the Things Remembered Holiday Catalog, in-store signage, and as window clings on the front windows of their stores.  Happy Holidays everyone!

Seeing as pro golfer Paul Casey already spilled the beans about Nike Golf’s latest line of golf clubs on his Twitter, we can’t help but talk about the images on our blog!  For the third year in a row, we’ve created CGI photography and animations of Nike’s line of golf clubs. Their new driver, which won’t be available until February 2010, is called the Victory Red STR8-Fit Tour Driver, which you can see above.  Also recently released by Nike is a line of putters called Method Putters, but only one has been released so this is all we can show you!  Check out their website for more information on these clubs, and we’ll have much more to show you in 2010!

Members of the crew here at TRG Reality produced a Doritos commercial that could possibly air during this year’s Super Bowl XLIV on February 7, 2010. Once the judges narrow it down to six finalists, they’ll open it to a public vote, which is where we’ll need everyone’s support! (Of course we are completely convinced that it will be in the top six.) Our good friend and Art Director Gary Pilla Jr. presented us his idea for the :30 spot, dubbed Rose Colored Doritos, and we were thrilled to produce it. Written by Mark Thompson and directed by Adam Wilde of TRG Reality, we set out to make an ad chock- full of Doritos, humor, and one uber-hot girl. Post Production and special effects work was completed by Thom, Dave and Rich at Garage Studios Creative. Shot at Tremont Place Lofts here in Cleveland, looking through Doritos glasses makes everything in AJ’s hum-drum post college apartment look like top of the line toys that every man dreams of having. (It takes a minute to load, but it’s worth it. We promise!) Check it out, leave a comment, pass it along, and we’ll hopefully be asking for your votes in the near future! If you're having trouble with the Doritos website, try our Youtube page here.