Digital production and design studio Big Block produced the arresting and engaging visuals for viral campaigns for BMW, Nissan and Audi. The multimedia campaigns for these high performance vehicles share a captivating performance art quality, compelling millions of viewers to comment and share the branded content exponentially.nnBMW’s latest film “Bullet,” launching the new M5, quickly attained viral web status for its hypnotic blend of super slow motion footage of a bullet shooting through objects, but on a grander scale. Big Block‘s Mark Glaser directed the branded content for Toronto ad agency Cundari, whose concept juxtaposes exciting high-speed driving footage with serene super slow motion sequences that show the true beauty of the M5’s extreme power. This union of extreme performance with the beauty of super slow motion footage creates a unique end product that can only be described as “high-performance art.”nn
Shooting out from a concrete tunnel designed to look like a gun barrel, the BMW M5 is a speeding bullet as it races across Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats Speedway. In extreme slow motion, the car shatters a series of targets: a giant red glass apple, three enormous balloons filled with water and an oversized bulls-eye. With each impact the throaty roar of the 560-hp twin turbo engine is replaced with the crystalline notes of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, underscoring the car’s refined luxury.nnGlaser spent three days at the Utah location, using a Nikon D800 to photograph the salt flats from a helicopter, a truck and from within a BMW M5 test car. nn”Our objective was to communicate the BMW M5’s duality of luxury and high performance,” says Brent Choi, Chief Creative Officer at Cundari. “But with this brand and particularly the state-of-the-art engineering that comes from the M5, our biggest creative challenge was to ensure we created a compelling piece that was as innovative as the vehicle. In this case, both the visual and audio played critical roles in telling our story.”nnIn another digital tour de force, Big Block created a live 3D watershow for the market launch of the 2013 Nissan Altima for TBWA, Toronto. “Splash” is a virtual cat and mouse game between a lighthouse and the Altima, which appears to play out on ocean waves in the dark of night. The spot was projected on massive 60 feet by 120 feet 3D water screens at lake and river locations in Toronto, Halifax, Ottawa and Vancouver on July 1 for huge crowds at the nation’s Canada Day fireworks celebrations. nn
In the production of the larger-than-life hologram, Big Block was charged with creating animation was both playful and dramatic to show off the Altima’s energy and safety shield features. In order to enhance the live action feel and immediacy of the performance, the images could not “break frame” and had to be carefully scaled to the distance of the audience and the projector. Big Block producer Pete King noted that one of the most challenging aspects of production was that a true water screen test was only possible when the project was nearly complete, leaving no margin for error. The test, which was conducted in Pittsburgh under King’s supervision, was hugely successful.nnBig Block also designed “Heart,” a logo for Audi’s top tier RS line using actual components of its V-8 engine as graphic elements which were deconstructed and refigured by the studio’s creative director Shaun Collings to resemble a human heart. In a nod to the RS line’s allure and heart-quickening 450 hp performance, as well as its positioning as the life force of the Audi line, the animated version of the logo features a syncopated heartbeat. The new logo was revealed by Audi at The Goodwood Festival of Speed in England and will be utilized by agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty, London, for branding, merchandising, print and interactive.nn
“These diverse projects gave us the opportunity to use all the tools of creative storytelling—real world imagery, digital techniques and most importantly, imagination. To have our work capture the attention of so many is very satisfying,” said Kenny Solomon, Managing Director at Big Block.nnRecently Big Block delivered design and animation for “Peep Show,” a cheeky interactive and experiential campaign for MINI and Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners that appears on JumboTrons and bus stop video screens and incorporates a live car reveal at a Hollywood Blvd. installation.nn“Bullet” CreditsnnClient:BMW M5nnAgency: CundarinChief Creative Officer: Brent Choi; Art Director: Raul Garcia; Copywriter: Brian Murray; Producer: Sumit AjwaninnProduction Company: Big BlocknDirector: Mark Glaser; Managing Director: Kenny Solomon; Executive Producer: Pete King; VFX Producer: Kay Rough; VFX Supervisor (elements shoot): Glenn Bennett; Production Manager: Kristen Zaik; Coordinator: Cindy Chapman; CG Supervisor: Tom Connors; 3D Artist: Rob Glazer; 3D Artist: Ilya Astrakhan; 3D Artist: Nick Poznick; Lead Compositor: Shahana Kahn; Compositor: Mike Ek; nnEditorial: Whitehouse PostnEditor: Brandon PorternnMusic/Sound Design: Silent Joe WestnCreative Director: Roger Harris; Producer: Trevor Allan; Sound Design: Jo Rossi/Tony Gort; Recording: Matt ThornennMusic: Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 nn2013 Watershow “Splash” CreditsnnClient: Nissan AltimannAgency: TBWA TorontonCreative Director: Allen Oke; Art Director: Jason Lee; Copywriter: Francesco Grandi; Producer: Ella GrubernnProduction Company: Big BlocknCreative Director: Shaun Collings; Producer: Shelby Wong; Producer: Kay Rough; CG Supervisor: Tom Connors; Flame Artist: Mike Eck; 3D Artist: Mike Oakley; Fluids Artist: Ian Clemmer; Previz: Danny Braetnn“Heart” CreditsnClient: Audi RS4nnAgency: Bartle Bogle Hegarty, LondonnCreative Director/Partner: James Swan; Team Director: John Watson; Campaign Director: Eleanor PowellnnProduction Company: Big BlocknCreative Director: Shaun Collings; Executive Producer: Pete King; Producer: Shelby Wong; Print Artist: Scott Leberecht; Compositor: Mike Eck; CG Supervisor: Tom Connors; 3D Artist: Mike OakleynnAbout BIG BLOCKnBig Block is a digital production studio specializing in digital automotive content, VFX, design and finishing for feature films, commercials, web, gaming, mobile and enterprise platforms. Big Block provides integrated end-to-end services, from concept and design to live action direction and coding to meet its clients’ creative challenges.nnA key component of Big Block‘s focus is Big Block Interactive, its interactive and software development group, which generate new techniques to evolve and extend client brands across the creative landscape. A prime example is Drive-A-Tron, Big Block‘s proprietary driving simulation software, which precisely replicates the physics of driving in any live action or CG environment in real time 3D.nnBig Block was launched by business developer Scott Benson, executive producer Kenny Solomon and creative director Mark Glaser, whose collective experience with the production of branded content make them uniquely suited to meet the challenges of creative communication. nnBig Block is housed in the newly renovated Art Deco Ilona Building on Wilshire Blvd. in the heart of Santa Monica.nnFor more information, please call 310-954-9400 or visit: www.bigblockLA.com
