MOVING YOU MOVES THE WORLD

For the company’s first corporate brand marketing campaign, Garth’s ambitious and cinematic vision takes the concept of the ‘road less travelled’ to eye-popping new heights, as ordinary situations give way to new thinking.

Roads bend upward, entire cities rotate and cars drive at gravity defying perspectives in 5 scenarios, each of which required a different approach and set-up, and of course, some inventive VFX solutions from our team in LA. 

Just in time for the shoot, the expected LA sun gave way to some ‘less than ideal’ weather which, combined with the usual schedule constraints, pushed us to find ever more inventive solutions, no bad thing, ultimately!

An additional role of VFX on the project was to transform the spot’s recognisable LA locations into non-specific environments that could be anywhere in America or Europe, requiring some subtle changes throughout.

Our efforts didn’t stop there as we sent our drone soaring through at a brisk 25 mph. This speed was crucial, as it allowed our camera operator to expertly pan across the ceiling, setting the stage for the convincing integration of the CG car in post-production.

Unlucky with the weather, we adjusted the schedule as needed in real time and communicated between three units working simultaneously, enabling us to capture everything correctly for the next phase, despite the challenges. 

Moving the world takes maths. To help one Enterprise Mobility team member appear to walk over the ‘edge’ of his world and into the city, we calculated his walking speed to determine how fast the ground under his feet should move and where suburbia should be in relation to him.

Lidar and our friendly drone helped us out again when it came to our reconstructing the tall and intricate building in this scene that appears to rotate up through the light and into position. To reproduce it, in all its intricately carved and moulded beauty, we combined drone footage shot from multiple angles with Lidar and photogrammetry data to give us all the data we needed. Once combined, we rebuilt an accurate copy of the building ready for texturing and lighting.

Throughout, we used AI tools and matte painting to turn LA into somewhere less instantly recognisable. The last cityscape for example, which is shot out over L.A 500 feet in the air from inside a building, now features Tuscan style red tiled roofs, churches and spires, lending it an ‘anywhere’ feel.

Finally, Senior Colourist Lewis Crossfield stepped in with a grade that further pushed the epic look and feel of the campaign, unifying the tone of the scenarios despite the different nature (and weather) of each.

We’re all very proud of the result. Bold storytelling and beautiful shots from Garth combined with our team’s technical, creative and logistical know-how both on the ground and in-studio resulted in a cinematic and otherworldly campaign that communicates the power of thinking differently.