For the 1st Annual Country Music Television (CMT) Giants special, honoring Reba McEntire, the leading lady of country music, UVPHACTORY (UVPH) conceptualized, designed and produced graphics packages for both a live performance, October 26 at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, CA, and the two hour CMT televised presentation premiering on the network Saturday, November 18.

The Manhattan-based design and production company, ‘created the graphics that will be screened on the stage behind the performers at the live event and on the 20 plasma screens positioned around the theater; and, for the televised special, the hi-def graphic package to be seen by the viewers at home, which includes opens, logos, wallpaper, backgrounds, mortises, transitions, title cards, lower thirds, closes, bump ins, and bump outs,’ said UVPH Executive Producer Brian Welsh.

 For one special night, stars of music, film, and television will pay tribute to their favorite redhead, who, in the course of her illustrious career, has had 33 #1 hits, 29 albums, 15 American Music Awards, 12 Academy Of Country Music Awards, seven Country Music Association Awards, two Grammy Awards and the “CMT Johnny Cash Visionary Award.” The CMT Giants special will feature performances by musical superstars Faith Hill, Trisha Yearwood, Kelly Clarkson, Martina McBride, Jennifer Nettles, LeAnn Rimes, Brooks & Dunn, and others, singing some of Reba biggest hits, plus a special performance by the honoree herself.

Alexandre Moors, UVPH Director/Creative Director, explained, ‘We wanted a painterly quality which centered on Reba trademark flowing red hair and her profile. To achieve this, we married her red tresses with all sorts of flowers, stars, jewels and interesting particles that suggest the richness and the sumptuous visual quality of a Gustav Klimt. The challenge was in the multiplication of layers, to get the hundreds and hundreds of elements into her hair so that in one image the viewer would have so many things to look at that it would seem like a little painting.’

John Stanch, UVPH Lead Compositor, added, ‘The particles and sound waves we utilized are to be interpreted as extensions of Reba locks. In some instances the particles blend with her hair and make it appear longer. In others, they are a direct Klimt reference – geometric shapes with rounded squares, rounded triangles, some minimal sparkles for glitz, a few rubies, and gemstones here and there. To tie everything together we also used Klimt-like patterns in round objects when her profile was not appropriate for a transition.’

On her experience working with the UVPH creative team CMT Art Director Amie Nguyen said, ‘Reba is one of those rare one name entertainers and we wanted a unique approach to this graphics package. We pitched the project out and loved UVPHACTORY’sS idea of using Reba signature red hair and profile as the unifying elements of this beautiful package. She is a ruby, not gold, and their execution is as classy as the lady herself, and really captures her spirit. In addition to being great creatively, the UVPHACTORY team are wonderful collaborators – they listened and really understood our needs, our harsh schedule, and all the red tape at our end. The finished package is truly exciting and, and considering it is HD, we have not had a single hiccup, and that been great.’

CMT was so pleased with the UVPH graphics packages that they returned for a pair of :30 promos and whole new tool kit, including opens, lower thirds, backgrounds, endpages, mortises and the like. The design team at UVPH created a sister to the show package, employing similar elements and playing up one part of the color palate or another, creating complimentary worlds, but ones that would not give away the show packages.

The UVPH creative team included Principal/Co-Founder Scott Sindorf; Principal/Co-Founder Damijan Saccio; Creative Director/Director Alexander Moors; Executive Producer Brian Welsh; Art Director: Charlie Wan; Production Manager Ashlea Hartz; Lead Compositor John Stanch; Additional Compositors Shuyi Wu, Sophie Lee and Robert Damani Henery; Graphic Intern Yun Wang; 3D Animatiors Susie Jang and Dan Fine; and 3D Intern Tim Ivanov.

UVPHACTORY utilized Adobe After Effect 7.0, Apple Final Cut Pro 5.0, Softimage|XSI 5.11, Adobe Photoshop CS2 and Adobe Illustrator CS2 in the completion of this project.

Representing CMT (Nashville, TN) were On-Air Graphics Manager Emile Schnick, Art Director Amie Nguyen, Coordinating Producer Sara Ross and Production Assistant Jonathan Pinkerton.

About CMT
CMT, America No. 1 country music network, carries original programming, specials, and live concerts and events, as well as a mix of videos by established country music artists and new cutting-edge acts, including world premiere exclusive videos. Founded March 6, 1983, CMT, owned and operated by MTV Networks, reaches 83 million households in the United States. Go to country music biggest web site at www.cmt.com.

About UVPHACTORY
UVPH is an award-winning design, production and motion graphics boutique filled with multi-disciplinary directors, designers, producers, editors, animators and all around artists. UVPH offers a complete range of creative services
including conceptualization, live-action direction and production, editorial, 2D/3D animation, sound composition/design and final compositing for broadcast, commercial, film, music video and web clients.

Additionally, UVPH has leapt full force into the longer format arena, directing and producing music videos. Since the company formation in 2000, UVPH has attracted a diverse client base including AT&T, BET, Bravo, Cartoon Network, CBS, Cinemax, Cingular, Coca-Cola, Comedy Central, ESPN, FOX Sports, General Electric, HBO, IBM, IFC, Miramax, MTV, NBC, Nike, Scripps Networks, SCI FI Network, Showtime, USA, US Cellular, VH1, and VOOM HD Network, among any others. Most recently, UVPH has had their work exhibited in New York City Museum of Modern Art.
www.uvph.com