Myspace and Fanta came to us with a desire to bring fans closer to the music artists they love. The goal was to leverage social media technology and video content in a dynamic, sharable fashion. In collaboration with superstars Usher, Ciara, and All Time Low, FreeAssociation worked with Myspace to write, shoot, and direct several videos and deliver them to fans as part of a web application on the Myspace platform. The application enables fans to authenticate with their social network profiles (Facebook or Myspace) and “Co-Star” in the videos. When a fan authenticates, images are pulled from their user profile and then displayed in the videos in a realistic manner.

We combined live action shoots, motion graphics, 3D technology, and Adobe Flash to realize the Co-Star experience. Green screen assets were motion tracked using Mocha software; After Effects was used for test compositing, color correction, and special effects.
The motion tracking data from Mocha was imported into Flash, enabling us to map a user’s profile image onto the footage in a realistic manner. Video elements were exported from After Effects in layers and re-composited in Flash. This allowed us to sandwich profile images between the base video layer and layers of special effects and lighting effects for an extra ounce of realism.

The Co-Star application was a huge hit. The artists promoted the campaign on their own websites, Myspace pages, and Twitter accounts; excited fans shared the videos across social media, driving significant exposure for Myspace, the artists involved, and Fanta, the program’s sponsor.