Delightfully devised by Sam and Frank at Wieden + Kennedy London and directed by Antoine Bardou-Jacquet for Partizan, with post production by the Mill, the 90-second spot (and three 30-second spots) uses scaled-up games, such as Rubik's Cubes, geometric shapes, and jigsaw-puzzle pieces to demonstrate Honda's pioneering approach to environmental concerns and its innovations for reducing ecological impact - from more efficient solar panels to hybrid engines. 'When you love solving things,' says the Garrison Keillor voiceover, 'isn't every problem a playground?'
Well, yes, it is for us at The Mill! After Hitesh Patel supervised the outdoor shoot with guaranteed sunlight in South Africa, Mill London completed post production in under three weeks. For the giant-sized puzzle pieces, Barnsley intensified colours and textures, and used different shots to layer in numerous people. The 3D team added heaps of Rubik's Cubes, and removed them as they were built into the hybrid engine wall (time-lapsed like the rest of the ad). All outdoor scenes were shot in camera, but for the coffee-break scene Barnsley and his team seamlessly blended the sugar-cubes tumbling-dominoes effect. Paul Harrison graded it to have a print-stock look and feel, and utilised all the sunlight in the outdoor shots to achieve its warmly optimistic hue.