Keep Your Eye on the Ball
Working with Cubs Productions for many years, I was often tasked with arranging, updating and designing a wide range of creative games the crowd can play between innings. I've worked on countless versions of a essential game at all stadium, the cap shuffle game. Other games have been Swift Meat's Can You Name This Song, Home Run Inn Pizza's Name That Year, and my personal favorite, an 8Bit Home Run Derby. These are always a huge hit with stadium full of screaming Cubs fans!
A few years ago, Cubs Productions had the idea of getting the audience to play each other in a classic video game style home run derby. The camera crew will randomly pick two people in the audience to face off. They are selected as Team A vs Team B. As the 8Bit players and hall of famers face off on the Left Field Video Board, we watch our audience members on the Right Field Board as they scream and cheer for their team. The winner gets a free pizza! Numerous versions of the game were rigged and setup in After Effects, meticulously planned, and procedurally rigged with code and expressions.
As the years go on, there will be guests who visit Wrigley who visit again and again so we need to stay ahead of that and create more and more cap shuffle games. In 2022, we versioned out many more and really stepped up the complexity of how these games can work. Shown here is a game where we throw in two extra hats for some added difficulty. Another shows extra flips, extra speed and even extra balls!
STUDIO: Summer Break
MOTION DESIGN: Ryan Bechtel
CLIENT: Budweiser, New Era, Swift Meats, Home Run Inn Pizza
AGENCY: Cubs Productions
SENIOR DIRECTOR: Matt Romito
ART DIRECTION: Shane English
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Kelly King
