“IN A WAY, IMMORTAL” IS AN AUDIOVISUAL DIGITAL ARTWORK FROM THE LEGENDARY SCORE FROM JOHAN CRUYFF VS ATLÉTICO MADRID!

FC Barcelona had unveiled “In a Way, Immortal,” an audiovisual digital artwork that recreates Johan Cruyff’s famed stadium moment in 1973, when the iconic Dutch player ‘flew’ through the air to score a key goal against Atlético Madrid. It was the Club’s first NFT, created in partnership with creative partner BCN Visuals.

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are one-of-a-kind digital artifacts that have altered how digital art is collected and traded. Each NFT is a non-transferable unit of data commonly connected with digital files, including media such as images, movies, or audio, and is stored on a blockchain and can be sold and exchanged. Which means it cannot be changed and serves as indisputable proof of ownership of digital property.

The NFT’s cinematographic style was built by BCN Visuals. They also made the animated recreation of Johan Cruyff’s renowned goal, In a Way, Immortal, represented in molten gold. The 40-second short, produced by a group of 40 CG and VFX experts, includes authentic sounds from the Camp Nou stadium and FC Barcelona supporters and an original score performed by a 30-piece orchestra.

According to Eric Sas, founder and head of innovation at BCN Visuals, ” with “In a Way, Immortal,” we are returning NFTs back into the realm of high art. “NFTs have become too rapidly associated with the surge in demand for cryptocurrency,” he said.

This little film is a genuine work of Renaissance digital art, almost like a marble sculpture created by Hollywood’s most experienced visual effects artists, in contrast to the conventional NFT GIF.

With the help of this project, new digital artworks will be held to the same standard as classical works of art in the NFTs of the future.

The CG and VFX team worked on every aspect of the project, from a digital sculpture of Johan Cruyff through the simulation of golden-colored fluids to camera work.
Cruyff’s digital sculpture required more than 1,000 hours of labor, and the entire production took over 10,000 hours to complete.

About the VFX production process, BCN Visuals Co-Founder & Executive Producer Alan Company explained, “Rather than employing a streamlined production-driven pipeline, we concentrated on a more aesthetic approach.” As a result, there were no reusable pre-made components, kit-bashing, pre-lit environments, or shaders; each piece was designed, sculpted, and carved by hand from scratch. We did this to ensure that every element displayed the labor and difficulties of the artists, starting with a white digital marble canvas and exhibiting the characteristics of an actual art piece.

The creative team “purposefully ignored simulations, bump, or displacement maps” to give the project a more “handcrafted appearance.” Instead, according to the firm, every single water droplet, splash, and scratch on the sculpture’s surface was painstakingly carved by hand.

He continued by describing how the team drew inspiration from Renaissance master sculptors when designing the sculpture to showcase movement in the iconic kick but compressed in time. He said, “We achieved our look by physically sculpting the player’s anatomy (muscles, ligaments, expression) in tension, and by carefully adding trails of sculpted liquid on each moving element.”

On July 29, Sotheby’s in New York will hold a live auction for the artwork. In addition, the one-of-one animated edition of “In a Way, Immortal” and four more NFTs that will each incorporate a still image from the animated version, representing an iconic moment of the legendary goal, will be presented in a hybrid online-live auction. The buyer will receive the NFT and several VIP experiences with FC Barcelona.