Phillips 66 | Flip Like Ozzie

Cardinals shortstop Ozzie Smith’s backflip during the 1985 World Series quickly became the stuff of legends. When Carmichael Lynch asked us to give this experience back to Cardinals fans at Phillips 66 Day, we knew we were in MacGyver territory.

Instead of chewing gum and shoe laces, we brought a blend of filmmaking, VFX, and code. Our dev team went to work creating a software solution that would allow participants to “flip like Ozzie” without the risk of back breakage.

At the event, participants would jump in place in front of a green screen. We’d select key frames at the beginning and end of the jump, and the custom software would create an artificial backflip, comp in a background, and text the participant the video via Vimeo Pro. Sure, our flips may not have been as graceful as Ozzie’s, but the event was a great success nonetheless.