Nike China's animated love letter to Kobe Bryant recalls the NBA legend's Oscar-winning short film
Black and white tale expresses the impact that the late Lakers giant had on the sport in the country
Editor's Pick
A new animated tribute to Kobe Bryant from Nike China pays homage to the late NBA star's Oscar-winning film "Dear Basketball."
The emotive film begins with a splotch of blank ink that morphs into an image of Bryant, and the narration echoes "Dear Basketball," but instead addresses the "letter" to Bryant himself, explaining how the star inspired a generation of players in China.
The spot was directed by Francois Rousselet of Division + The Pandemic Story for Wieden + Kennedy Shanghai. To create the animation, Mathematic VFX used ink splotches that transform into characters, props and environments, in order to reflect Chinese tradition. Designers rotoscoped line animation over footage shot in camera, tracing Bryant’s face and background environments to give the spot a hand-crafted flair, and added shadows and details that mirrored the original footage. You can see more on how it was done in the behind-the scenes film seen here.
Credits
- Date
- Sep 08, 2020
- Client :
- Nike (China)
- Agency :
- Nike
- Agency :
- Wieden & Kennedy-Shanghai
- VP Marketing Greater China :
- Steve Tsoi
- Senior Creative Director :
- Simon Lee
- Brand Communications Senior Director :
- Che Lin
- Nike GC Creative Strategy Director :
- Michael Chien
- Assistant Creative Strategist :
- Yuling Yao
- Senior Art Director :
- Lei Zhang
- Senior Copywriter :
- Nokkia Wang
- Copy Manager :
- Jimmy Chen
- Executive Creative Director :
- Ian Toombs
- Executive Creative Director :
- Vivian Yong
- Creative Director :
- Jeff Fang
- Creative Director :
- Matt Meszaros
- Senior Creative :
- Josh King
- Senior Creative :
- Michael Mcguire
- Art Director :
- Zhong How
- Copywriter :
- Gem Xu
- Executive Producer :
- Bernice Wong
- Senior Producer :
- Fang Yuan
- Head of Planning :
- Renee Zhang
- Senior Planner :
- Jennings Liu
- Head of Account :
- Elvis Li
- Account Director :
- Chuck Xu
- Account Manager :
- Yuting Zhang
- Account Executive :
- Larry Zhong
- Business Affairs :
- Jessica Deng
- Business Affairs :
- Kathy Zhan
- Head of Designer :
- Fish Ho
- Designer :
- John Yao
- Production :
- Division
- Executive Producer :
- Jules De Chateleux
- Executive Producer :
- Ay Wei Wong
- Director :
- Francois Rousselet
- Producer :
- Areta Mak
- Line Producer :
- Ser Ping Lee
- Production Manager :
- Zhang Ye
- 1st Assistant Director :
- Jo Chan
- Stylist :
- Avivi Wang
- Asst. Stylist :
- Ling Li
- Art Director :
- Hsiao Shu Chang
- Assistant Art Director :
- Kuan Li Huang
- DOP :
- Li Dong Jun
- Focus Puller :
- Wang Jun Hui
- Gaffer :
- Wang Jin Dong
- Grip :
- Eric Xi
- Casting :
- Xu Chen Jie
- Casting :
- Sun Yi Tong
- Casting :
- Ariel
- Directed by :
- Francois Rousselet
- Producer :
- Jules De Chateleux
- Line Producer :
- Lola Burelle
- Illustrator :
- Yue Wu
- Ink artist :
- Stephane Levallois
- Ink assistant :
- Arthur Sevestre
- DOP :
- Amine Berrada
- 1st AC :
- Martin Robiquet
- Photo Assistant :
- Gabin Roux
- Location Manager :
- Michael Richez
- Key Grip :
- François Dupuis
- Gaffer :
- Romain Mosti
- Post Production :
- Trim Editing
- Producer :
- Noreen Khan
- Editor :
- Vid Price
- Post Production :
- Mathematic
- Executive Producer :
- Guillaume Marien
- Executive Creative Producer :
- Rebecca Rice
- Illustrator :
- Yue Wu
- Background Illustrator / Ink Choreographer :
- Stephane Levallois
- Line Producer :
- Nadège Moreau
- Line Producer :
- Sebastián Eyherabide
- Project Supervisor :
- Emeric Samier
- Lead Animator :
- Bishoy Gendi
- Animator :
- Hozen Britto
- Animator :
- Peter Lowey
- Animator :
- Reg Isaac
- Animator :
- Chiara Sgatti
- Animator :
- Pierre Rütz
- Animator :
- Xavi Siria
- Animator :
- Joe Cheng
- Animator :
- Marianne Le Moigne
- Animator :
- Adeline Jactat
- Animator :
- Rémi Bastie
- Animator :
- Chloé Hamon
- Animator :
- Boris Belghiti
- Animator :
- Clara Estable
- Animator :
- Clemence Drion
- Animator :
- David Bradshaw
- Lead Compositing :
- Daniel Rodrigues
- Compositing Artist :
- Emeric Samier
- Compositing Artist :
- Bertrand Avril
- Compositing Artist :
- Arnaud Laplace
- Compositing Artist :
- Vincent Ewald
- Compositing Artist :
- Julien Michel
- Compositing Artist :
- David Pelletier
- Compositing Artist :
- Astrid Tessier
- Lead Flame Artist :
- Clément Germain
- Flame Artist :
- Hugo Aymerich
- Flame Artist :
- Greg Langlois
- Post Producer :
- Rachel Zhao
- Post Producer :
- Sasha Pace
- Shooting Supervisor :
- Barry Greaves
- Colorist :
- Ricky Gausis
- Colorist :
- Nikola Stefanovic
- Online Artist :
- Eason Wu
- Producer :
- Min Fei Xu
- Online Artist :
- Ying Qi Liu
- Audio House :
- Lime
- Executive Producer :
- Susie Boyajan
- Sound Design :
- Rohan Young
- Mixing :
- Joel Waters
- Asst. Mix Engineer :
- Collin Thomas
- Audio House :
- HUSH
- Executive Producer :
- Bonie Wu
- Sound Engineer :
- Eson Wang
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