Director:
Olivier Gondry
Production Company:
Partizan
Agency:
BBH
Just as much behind-the-scenes care and skill went into the making of the ad, which is a highly stylised interpretation of the manufacturing process: The Mill team, led by Yourick Van Impe, James Healy, John Leonti and shoot supervisor Hitesh Patel, spent six weeks crafting the spot with a mix of Yo-Reveo, Flame, Maya and Shake.
The "fast-slow" effects - like a long-exposure shot of cars driving along a highway - began with four days' initial filming in Eisbach Studios in Germany, shooting in motion-controlled passes on three different cameras as the car was assembled by 130 mechanic passes- every one of which needed to generate a trail. The fact that the cameras were always on the move meant the Mill team faced the challenge of adding passes, and blending both 2D and 3D elements, to achieve the layered end result. Each technician and machine was shot on its own, and over time the overlapping effect was built up, creating a feeling of playing tricks with space and time.
"The concept of light trails was always the original brief the Mill was working to," says lead 3D animator John Leonti. 'It was a difficult job due to the volume of work that needed to be 3D rotoscoped… The 3D team created some tests in Maya to experiment and research into light trails, geometry and shading. We needed to make sure the trails didn't obscure the car or take attention away from it.'
Finally, the Mill's New York-based Telecine operator Damien Van Der Cruyssen set the grade with director Olivier Gondry. Back in London, lead Telecine Adam Scott followed the grade through the film. The result is a high-contrast look using clean whites to deliver the clinical, high-tech feel the director wanted.
Agency: BBH
Producer: Jane Bessey
Creatives: Andy Clough, Richard McGrann, Kevin Stark, Nick Kidney
Production Company: Partizan
Director: Olivier Gondry
Producer: Russell Curtis
Director of Photography: Alex Barber
Editing Company: Final Cut
Editor: Jono Griffith
Edit Assist: Joce Hockings
VFX & Design: The Mill
VFX Producers: Charlotte Loughnane, Chris Batten
Shoot Supervisor: Hitesh Patel
2D Lead Artist: Yourick Van Impe
3D Lead Artists: John Leonti, James Healy
2D Artists: Adam Grint, Jonathan Box
3D Artists: Ross Denner, Stefan Gerstheimer, Will Fullagar, Nilly Brook, Sergio Existo, Simon Hoodchild, George Pimental, Guillaume Julliene, Dan Browne
Assist: Mark Payne, Corey Brown, Gary Driver, Simon Holden, Giles Cheetham, Leon Woods, Paul Wilmot, Marcus Ober
Colourists: Adam Scott, Damien Van Der Cruyssen
Art Department: Paul Downs, Gareth Parr, Adam Lambert, Andy Bate, Ilia Mokhthreizadeh