A plane with malfunctioning landing gear is saved by a pick-up truck! Can you believe it?
Well, you shouldn’t believe it because it isn’t true. But the fantastical scenario makes for a dramatically entertaining long-form spot distributed online for the Nissan Frontier. Created by TBWAChiatDay Los Angeles and directed by Baker Smith of harvest, Santa Monica, “Landing Gear” is a fake news report centering on a plane coming in for what seems destined to be a crash landing until a Frontier appears. The Frontier speeds out onto the runway and lines itself up in front of the plane just in time for the pilot to drop the plane’s twisted landing gear into the bed of the pick-up truck.
Disaster averted, people ranging from airline employees to passengers on the disabled plane share stories of alarm and awe with a news crew.
“Landing Gear” is part of a new campaign promoting the Frontier as a mid-size truck with the power and capability of a full-size truck. “It’s the truck for doers,” said Tito Melega, TBWA creative director, Americas. “They go out and do stuff and are ready for just about anything, anytime, anywhere.”
These doers like to share their exploits online via video. “With this in mind, we set out to create seemingly impossible ‘did that really happen?’ moments that would illustrate the confidence that comes with driving a Frontier,” Melega explained.
It should be noted that Nissan isn’t really trying to fool anyone. “We figured, if we push it beyond the edge of reality, then people would react with curious disbelief, saying, ‘There’s no way that just happened.’ That was the effect we were going for,” clarified Melega, who noted the client and agency are thrilled with the positive reaction “Landing Gear” has garnered. “It’s been awhile since we have had new Frontier work, and suddenly, here we are with stories people want to chat about around the watercooler, post and share with their friends and followers.”
So how did Smith guide that disabled plane to a safe landing? “I’m sorry I am unable to reveal the ‘how to’ as this is an ancient Chinese secret,” the director cracked, noting, “I can tell you it was a happy marriage between in-camera shenanigans and millions of 1’s and 0’s that Zoic provided.”
Melega credited the team at Zoic Studios with doing amazing work under pressure. “The two main parts of the brief we gave Zoic were: create and design a unique airplane from scratch and make it look real but not so real that people would truly believe this actually happened,” Melega shared.
According to Zoic VFX supervisor Steve Meyer, the team at the visual effects shop “spent many hours dialing in the look of the plane, right down to the rivets and the small ripples you see on the metal panels on the plane. While the artists were perfecting the look of the plane, we had our CG animators working on the actual animation of the plane as it touches down. We needed it to look natural but in peril, all the while keeping a moving camera, a moving airplane and a moving truck all in the equation.”
Runway production While the artists at Zoic were in plane creation mode, Baker and DP Chris Soos shot the live-action portion of the commercial in just one day at LA/Ontario Airport in Ontario, Calif. “As it was filmed at a working airport, we were there under strict security scrutiny and the limitations that came with it,” Melega shared. “We literally had hours to shoot as time was limited on the runway they allowed us to use.”
Smith and his crew actually shot on the speeding Frontier on a section of taxiway that Zoic later enhanced in post to look like a real runway. The interior gate footage was shot in a non-operating terminal, and the gate area was dressed with signage and a TV monitor as well as actors.
Meyer, who was on location with the production team, praised Smith for being open to suggestions. “I’m most impressed with his collaborative demeanor–he really listened to what we had to offer or suggest,” Meyer said, adding, “He was a good listener during the entire process, from pre-pro to shooting and post.”
A nose for news crew Once the live shoot wrapped, Zoic’s compositors “took all the passes of the plane and combined them with natural environment conditions like dust, skid smoke and even a heat ripple signature,” Meyer said. “Finally, our compositors needed to sell the look of it as if it were happening live on TV.”
Rich Shambaugh of Venice Beach Editorial cut both the long-form version of “Landing Gear,” which is running online and clocks in at 1:11, and the :30 spot for TV. “Cutting a :30 is somewhat easy in that there’s only so much you can really put into it. However, when online pieces come into play, where the only determined time is what works for the concept, it can be a bit more challenging,” Melega said. “Every time we looked at something, we would ask: ‘Is this what a news crew would do?’ As much as possible we tried to put ourselves in their shoes.”
