Qatar Airways: A Team that Unites the World

180 Amsterdam has teamed up with Somesuch & Co and MPC London to create this great new spot featuring Barcelona players. Directed by Nick Gordon, the commercial sees stars like Gerard Piqué, Carles Puyol and Andrés Iniesta showcasing their skills to promote the airline.

MPC created more than 20 digital matte paintings, including designing an island in the shape of the team's logo. CG crowds were created using Alice, MPC’s leading in-house crowd replication software, originally developed for feature films and used in the recent zombie epic World War Z movie.

Barcelona players were filmed against green screen ahead of the shoot with total of 22 green screen shots used, including one head replacement of player Carles Puyol as he head-butts a falling plant pot. Each player was rotoscoped and composited into the film, precisely matching the lighting and shadow positions in the shoot.  

The birds eye shot of the stadium was filmed from a helicopter. The environment was then filled with CG buildings, projected matte paintings of roads, moving traffic and detailed lighting effects. The 777 plane was also created entirely in CG.