In "Roads," a dramatic new spot for the Acura TL via Rubin Postaer and Associates, Santa Monica, a road is magically carved and paved in front of an Acura as it races across a rocky terrain. Particles of the road literally jump up and fuse together just in time for the car to travel onto it. When the ground dips down considerably, a bridge forms in front of the Acura. Eventually, the car reaches civilization, but instead of joining the massive traffic jam on the regular highway, the Acura makes its own path next to it. The ad combines stunning images directed by Gerard de Thame of bicoastal HSI Productions and London-based Gerard de Thame Films, and visual effects executed by The Mill’s London office (the company also maintains a base in New York).
"Acura TL has dynamic new styling and performance," said Rubin Postaer’s Wendi Knox, who served as creative director/ copywriter on the spot (Mark Erwin was creative director/art director). "It’s really a breakthrough for Acura. The Acura creating its own road as it travels is a visual metaphor for it going where no car has gone before, and breaking new ground. We had worked with Gerard before and knew he is a brilliant visualist. We knew he could make it really dramatic and intriguing."
When it came to finding sites for the shoot, the team selected Spain’s Canary Islands and Bedford and Warwickshire, UK. "For the location, we wanted it to feel primordial, like it had never been touched," explained de Thame. The film was shot in 35mm, mostly early or late in the day. The crew also shot different weather conditions, including a cloudy sky. "We wanted that moody look," de Thame said. "In post, we manipulated the sky to make it even more dramatic."
Agency producer Shelley Eisner added, "We loved that it has a real feel to it—organic and natural."
To aid in the visual effects work, "we had a specially built rig mounted in front of the car," related de Thame. "[From the rig,] we fired high pressure water to look like steam. This created the effect of the road being created. It gave us something physical [for post]." Additional elements of the road were shot at Black Island Studios, London.
Rick Lawley of The Whitehouse, Santa Monica, cut the spot. (The Whitehouse also maintains offices in New York, Chicago and London.) At The Mill, the visual effects process started with the Discreet Inferno/ Flame team doing sky replacements of the live action and removing the existing road. The 3-D team used Alias’ Maya to build the CG road, and its particle system to create the appearance of the road coming together in front of the car. The Flame team combined the CG, live action elements, and some smoke created with Discreet’s Combustion system.
"The biggest challenge was the look of the particles and the idea of the road being built right in front of the car," explained The Mill’s David Smith, who was lead Inferno artist on the spot. The Mill did some R&D specifically to determine how to form the road.
Flame artist Philip Oldham added that another challenge was to "get the sense of photorealism to the CG. It took a lot of massaging of color and lighting and using plug-ins [such as 5D Lens Flares] to get the light reflections," he noted. The team also used a beta version of Foundry’s newest Furnace plug-in for Flame to simulate motion blur in the 2-D space, rather than rendering in 3-D, which according to Oldham "would have taken ten times longer."
Since the visual effects team was in London, and the agency and editor were in Southern California, the production used BeamTV for review and approvals. The Mill also sent rough cuts via BeamTV to de Thame, who was in France during postproduction.
"It’s fantastic," said de Thame of BeamTV. "It’s like being in the room. You can tap in and send notes. I had satellite [service], so I was downloading cuts within seconds onto my laptop."
