Lucky Post’s Sai Selvarajan Creates ‘Magic’

Lucky Post’s Sai Selvarajan has created a dynamic tribute promo about Magic Johnson and the inspirational power of basketball. Twenty years ago, basketball’s Dream Team ushered in Olympic history, exposing a global audience to the majesty of the sport and creating new generations of players and fans. Gold was the prize, but for many the inspiration came from the participation of Magic Johnson who retired a year earlier after the stunning announcement that he had contracted HIV. 

 

Editor/designer Sai Selvarajan was a child when these events occured, too young to really understand their magnitude, but old enough to feel the charge derived from watching and playing basketball. Last year, press surrounding the 20th anniversary of Johnson’s shocking HIV announcement reignited Sai’s appreciation for Johnson’s courage. Listening to an archival interview with Magic Johnson, Sai discovered playing on the Dream Team provided healing for Johnson who suffered depression following his diagnosis – then considered a terminal illness. This revelation was Sai’s creative starting point for “Magic”.

 

“Throughout my life, I have played basketball and it has helped me tackle other challenges,” explains Sai, who hails from Texas by way of Sri-Lanka and Nigeria. “While I haven’t faced anything as intense, I related to Johnson’s near spiritual connection to the sport and was awestruck by his ability to face adversity in so many different forms.”

 

Finding time in between commissioned work, Sai took audio news and interview clips and began to craft his short film. Working primarily with Photoshop, AfterEffects and Final Cut, Sai applied motion and color treatment to shots of Johnson interwoven with vintage-inspired infographics. All was set to a music track by his band Warmth Through Distance. The result captures a pivotal moment in history and illuminates the power of sport just as the Olympics – and a new Dream Team – play out in London. 

    

 

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