Bicoastal creative production company Stardust Studios (www.stardust.tv) recently produced a 1980s-themed live-action spot for the creative team from advertising agency RPA and their clients at Honda. The new :30 "Van Stunts" spot directed by Stardust’s Santa Monica-based art director Jonathan Wu started airing via spot TV buys and on targeted websites this month, is set to go into broadcast and cable rotations across the U.S. in April, and can be viewed online here.
Building on RPA‘s “Respect the Van” theme for the Honda Odyssey, agency VP, associate creative director and art director Chuck Blackwell and copywriter Seth Prandini have evolved the 2009 campaign creative to embrace memorable footage of cool vans from 1980s TV and movies. The spot’s original music spoofs 1980s TV show theme music, with the goal of reminding consumers of the historical coolness of driving vans.
Stardust’s project producer Josh Libitsky and Steven Poulsen handled research and licensing to secure use of clips from memorable 1980s TV and movies, and they also organized a shoot to capture the scene of a van spinning out. Working with director of photography Pat Notaro and a very small crew, Jonathan Wu captured the original footage using a Panasonic HDVX camera. That footage was color graded, and grain and filters were added in After Effects to make it match the look and feel of the licensed footage.
“This spot was a lot of fun,” Wu said. “We spent a lot of time finding van footage from various vintage TV shows, and we shot an original clip of a van peeling out. From there.our editor Michael Merkwan cut together several different versions, mixing and mashing all of the van footage. By playfully and stylishly featuring a lot of clips showing vans doing awesome stunts in the era that made vans cool, I think this spot really captures the theme of ‘Respect the Van,’ from the first frame right through to the end tag.”
Along with Blackwell and Prandini, RPA‘s project team included EVP/chief creative officer David Smith, SVP/creative directors Joe Baratelli and Pat Mendelson, SVP/executive producer Gary Paticoff, and senior producer Brian Donnelly. Stardust’s project credits also include executive producer Paul Abatemarco, designers Wu, Ling Feng, Gretchen Nash, Aaron Frebowitz and Ali Yazdanian, 3D artists Brian Broussard and Chris Eckardt, and compositors James Yi and Thomas Horne. The spot’s music is courtesy of HUM.
About Stardust Studios
Stardust is an award-winning, full-service creative production company, specializing in motion design, animation, visual effects and live-action production. Led by founder and creative director Jake Banks, Stardust’s Santa Monica and New York offices continually redefine creativity for commercial, on-air, music video and in-store presentations. Their recent work – including projects for the world’s top ad agencies, brands and recording artists – has earned numerous awards and worldwide editorial exposure. For more information, please visit www.stardust.tv.
