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Digital production studio Lollipop take it to the hoop with a slam-dunkin’ interactive experience for the Jason Richardson Foundation. NBA fans are familiar with the explosive style and virtuosity of Phoenix Sun’s star Jason Richardson – they're the same skills that won him two back-to-back NBA Slam Dunk championships. But what many don’t see is the work Jason does off the court helping young people reach their full potential through his foundation. That was the starting point for jrich23.org. jrich23.org invites visitors to select from a choice of balls lying round an atmospheric court, each of which triggers Jason to perform a unique dunk or trick captured exclusively for the website. With over ten minutes of total content, a total of 12 shots to choose from and in-depth info on the various activities of the Foundation, Lollipop have created a host of reasons to open your wallet and donate. “The guys at Fidamont came to us with this great concept that involved using Jason’s slam-dunk prowess to help raise awareness and funds,” says Lollipop creative director Michael Gramlow. “Jason’s one of only three players ever to win back-to-back Slam Dunk crowns, alongside Michael Jordan and Nate Robinson, so we wanted to draw on that unique talent to create a charity site with a difference that would really earn people’s donations.” With the core concept in place from the outset, the first task for Gramlow and the team was to capture enough footage across a tight six-hour shoot to populate the site. Without the luxury of shooting in a large stadium it was up to the Lollipop crew to unleash their imagination and talents on a high school gym in Phoenix. “The location actually worked out great,” reveals Gramlow, “which meant that the biggest challenge we had was with lighting and post-production. School Editing and Crush put a lot of effort in to create the look we were after, while the sound designer, Grayson Matthews, worked on nailing the feel of a much bigger space than we were filming in.” Multitasking on the project, Gramlow took the directing role, using two cameras to film at different speeds. From there the footage was edited together to combine regular and slo-mo cuts of the various movements and add a dynamic pace and tone to the action. “We knew that the shoot would be incredible, but it’s really only when you’re on the court with someone who is as athletically gifted as Jason that you really appreciate how talented they are,” says Gramlow. “It became very apparent after Jason’s first few shots that performing dunks are way more physically demanding than us non-dunking types had assumed.” With the footage in the can, Lollipop set about integrating the content into a simple yet effective website. “We designed the interface to be as pared back and unobtrusive as possible to keep the focus on the video,” says Gramlow. “At the same time, access to the other content on the site had to be readily available so we included a basic menu to connect visitors with more information about the Foundation and some downloadable content as an extra treat. When you’re used to working on technically complex web environments it’s easy to forget the creative challenges that come from stripping an idea back to its core and executing that well. This project was a good reminder that clean and simple is often better.”
Credits: Agency: Fidamont Digital Production: Lollipop, Toronto Music/Sound Design: Grayson Matthews, Toronto Video Files: View a jrich23.com case study video here
Lollipop The Jason Richardson Foundation Fidamont
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