For the duration of the Chicago Blackhawk’s 2017/2018 season, Daily Planet’s Hit The Ice video will electrify fans at the Madhouse on Madison.
It begins right before the players enter the rink, when the lights are dimmed and the attention of 22,000 fans is drawn to the four-paneled, 360-degree video scoreboard that hangs above center ice.
A slow zoom towards the Chicago skyline transforms into a glide over the ice, and it’s on. For the ensuing 90 seconds, a montage of fast-paced action, dramatic player portraits, and lively cityscapes invigorate the crowd.
The visuals combine overhead and first-person points of view with geometric elements and digital numbers that Daily Planet calls “infodust.”
According to President Scott Marvel, infodust is “stuff that you’re not meant to read the first time you watch.”
“They’re stats like the angle of a stick and the velocity of a slap shot,” he explains. “A lot goes into making a great Stanley Cup team. This is the science of winning.”
The effect also complements the players’ skating abilities.
“When you watch them skate around electrical cables at full speed, you really get a sense of the precision that they do every night,” he continues. “They can stop on a dime. It’s amazing.”
Daily Planet’s Sara Evans directed the video, which marks the company’s eleventh and her tenth consecutive scoreboard contribution to Hawks’ home games.
Shooting with multiple cameras over three days at the United Center, she employed a handful of techniques to convert “cinematic and artsy” footage into something that appeals to hockey fans.
Besides dimming the stadium and arranging key lights, she worked directly with the Hawks to authenticate the footage.
“I often ask players, ‘how would you do it,’ and have them explain it to me,” she says. “Then we asked them to skate at, like, 50% of full speed.”
For certain shots, DP Michael Gabriel also laced up and got on the ice.
“Sometimes it’s hard to capture the players, or they can be out of frame within a second,” says Evans. “So Michael would skate behind them with a camera.”
In addition to the jumbotron and the smaller screens above and below it, Daily Planet’s work also lights up the thin LED screens that wrap around the stadium between the balconies (fascias).
Beginning in January, an additional 40-seconds of content created by the company will be projected onto the ice itself.
“Our video will map the entire rink,” says Marvel. “Right before the Hawks take the ice, everything you see will be created by us.”
At the end of Hit The Ice, the opposing team’s logo appears briefly before exploding into oblivion. This is the moment that Evans found to be most intense when she watched it live at the Madhouse.
“To see it with 20,000 fans is amazing, especially when the opponent’s logo gets exploded at the end,” she says. “The fans always jump out of their seats.”
It’s the start of a great season for Daily Planet, which has received Emmy nominations for two videos — How Do You Find An Angel and Powered By Vegan — by the Chicago / Midwest chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Winners will be announced at the Swissotel ceremony on Dec. 2.
Give A Shirt Returns
Daily Planet’s popular “Give A Shirt” Pop-Up Shop will return to sell t-shirts adorned with the work of more than twenty Chicago artists at the McCormick Bridgehouse Museum on Thursday, December 7.
Among this year’s contributors are Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, Waco Bros’ John Langford, and Eicoff’s Ron “Tonka” Linnemann, who Marvel describes as “the cleanest screenprinter I ever met.”
“Once he sets up the press, his shirts are as straight and true as a shirt can be,” adds Marvel.
Per tradition, all proceeds will be donated to Street Wise. Marvel is hoping to increase the amount raised from last year’s 23k to an ambitious 40k.
For those who miss the pop-up shopt, shirts will also be available at giveashirt.net.
HIT THE ICE CREDITS
Executive Producer: Scott Marvel
Director / Editor: Sara Evans
Creative Director / Director of Motion Graphics: Jonathan Adler
Director of Photography: Michael Gabriele
Producer: Brad Moore
Sound Designer: Matthew Hane
Graphic Artists: Dan Moore, James Lee, Alyssa Barrett, Tim Berthiaume, Sara Kopke,Zack Landua
