FC Barcelona Launch Animated ‘In a Way, Immortal’ NFT – Auction Set for July 29

by James · July 28, 2022

FC Barcelona launches an audiovisual digital artwork called In a way, immortal which recreates Johan Cruyff’s legendary stadium moment on 22 December 1973, when the iconic Dutch player “flew” through the air to score a breakthrough goal against Atlético Madrid goalkeeper Miguel Reina. The first NFT in the club’s history, it was produced in collaboration with a creative partner BCN Visuals.

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) are unique digital objects that have changed how digital art can be collected and traded. Each NFT represents a non-fungible unit of data, often associated with digital files containing media such as images, videos or audio, stored on a blockchain that can be sold and transferred. It is immutable, meaning it cannot be changed, and provides irrefutable proof of ownership of a digital object.

The digital studio BCN Visuals was tasked with developing and producing NFT’s cinematographic aesthetics and creating the animated retelling of Johan Cruyff’s legendary goal, In a way, immortal, produced in molten gold. Created by a team of 40 CG and VFX artists, the 40-second film features an original soundtrack played by a 30-piece orchestra, featuring authentic sounds from the Camp Nou stadium and FC Barcelona supporters.

“NFTs have too quickly become associated with the explosion in demand for crypto, but with In a way, immortal, we’re bringing NFTs back into the realm of high art,” commented BCN Visual’s founder and head of innovation Eric Sas. “Unlike the basic NFT GIF, this mini-movie is a true piece of digital renaissance art – almost a piece of marble chiseled by the most talented visual effects artists in Hollywood. This project aims to become the new benchmark for the next evolution of NFTs where new digital artworks are akin to the masterpieces of the past.”

The CG and VFX team worked on all aspects of the production, from a digital sculpture of Johan Cruyff to the simulation of golden liquids, textures and shading, cutting edge cinematography and camera work. Cruyff’s digital sculpture production required more than a thousand working hours, and the total production involved more than 10,000 production hours.

Elaborating on the VFX production process, BCN Visuals co-founder and executive producer Alan Company explained: “Rather than using a streamlined production-focused pipeline, we focused on a more artistic approach. Each element was designed, sculpted and crafted by hand, no reusable pre-made assets, no kit-bashing, no pre-lit environments or shaders, everything was created from scratch.We did this to ensure that every aspect showed the effort and struggle of the artists, starting from a blank digital marble canvas, and with the properties of a true work of art.”

To make the project more artisanal with a more “handcrafted look”, the creative team “intentionally stayed away from simulations, bumps or displacement maps.” The company described how each water droplet and splash was hand-sculpted, and each scratch on the sculpture’s surface was individually designed.

He further described how the team designed the sculpture in a way to showcase the motion of the iconic kick, but compressed in time, taking inspiration from the master sculptors of the Renaissance, noting, “We achieved our look by physically sculpting the anatomy (muscles, the ligaments, the expression) of the player in tension, and by carefully laying traces of sculpted fluid on each moving element.”

Sotheby’s, New York, will sell the artwork via live auction on July 29. Presented in a hybrid online live auction consisting of one-of-a-kind animated editions of In a way, immortal and four additional NFTs that will each include a still image from the animated version, capturing an iconic moment of the legendary goal. The buyer will acquire NFT and a number of VIP experiences with FC Barcelona.

Further information related to the auction is available here.

Source: BCN Visuals