For Nike we produced a series of five large transmission holograms for the Rugby World cup. In these holograms, 35mm film of Frederic Michalak passing, drop kicking the ball and other moves was converted into full-colour, 3D, animated holograms. These were then mounted in the windows of Nike stores across France and back lit creating the illusion of the player floating in front of the shop windows. The 2004 NIKE campaign was so successful Nike described it as, “The most successful retail promotion we have done”. Jim Moffett, Head of Marketing, Nike France declared it to be "the best retail promotion we have ever undertaken”.
You can see the public reaction for yourself in the footage above as the citizens of Paris are stopped in their tracks.

The “kick” shot was the most difficult since, for obvious reasons, a real rugby ball could not be kicked at the camera! Frederic deliberately dropped the ball to miss his foot. We hand painted the ball out of the footage frame by frame as it neared his foot and seamlessly replaced it with a completely computer generated replica that matched the detail, texture and lighting perfectly. It is this ball that people were trying to pluck out of thin air as they walked past the store window.