Fox Sports and its agency, Foote, Cone & Belding, wanted to distinguish Fox’s NFL coverage from that of the competition. In a nutshell, Fox’s advantage boiled down to its exclusive coverage of the NFC, where many of the best players and biggest stories had unfolded in the previous season.

Motion Theory was asked to create a spot from stock footage in order to tell the story of NFL player Jeremy Shockey’s especially good year—as well as highlight his especially large ego. In order to go beyond conventional footage spots, Motion Theory brought the story to life with 3-D animation and typography that interacts seamlessly with the footage.

The first step was to create a fast-moving edit out of existing game footage—an exciting montage of football action that would grab the attention of every NFL fan. The second step was to add impact and meaning to the footage with graphics, typography, and animation. Each animated moment is designed to work on its own as a scene, but to also drive the story forward. The hand-drawn style of the animation seeks to add to the sense of fun, irreverence and excitement. Meanwhile, the typography and “big mouth” references pour out, poking fun at Shockey’s trash-talking ways.

The finished piece was an integral part of Fox’s campaign for promoting its NFL coverage. The NFL season ended with Fox’s best NFC playoffs ratings in four years, and included a sizable jump in female viewers, helping to balance Fox’s NFL demographics.

It is a completely separate challenge to see the animation of typography.

“It looks like they worked the hell out of it.” Robert Valentine