Smart production works creatively for Daihatsu and Generous Pictures

Called ‘Live Big. Drive Compact', the commercial cleverly depicts the Sirion as the perfect city car for a big lifestyle.

In order to maximise the budget of the vehicle manufacturer and tight turnaround time, Generous Pictures producer, Tori Reeves, and director, Jonty Fine, decided against shooting on location and opted to add in the backgrounds during post production.

Furthermore, because there was no script or true storyline, the commercial had to evolve organically and so close collaboration between Generous Pictures and post-production specialist, WunderKindt, was a must.

Explained Fine: “The quickest, simplest and least expensive way of meeting the client brief was to shoot the scenery without the car or actors, then shoot the car and actors in studio against a white background, and finally merge the two in post-production.

“The scenery and environments the car ‘moves' through was shot off the back of a bakkie during a drive through Johannesburg. Of course, we had to carefully measure camera heights and degrees, so we could match these when shooting the car in studio and fit it accurately into the background.

“The car and actors were shot in a studio at Nasrec; this is the only one long enough to provide 25 meters of drive space and high enough to accommodate the lighting and overhead shots we needed.

“We needed to shoot against white as it reflected the least in the car and gave us that natural look that complemented the scenery added in during post-production. All-in-all, we think we produce a pretty hot ad for one that met the client's budget and turn around requirements,” he said.

Reeves added: "At Generous, we tend to focus on what's important to deliver a quality ad within the medium or budget. In this instance, the studio length and lighting were vital ingredients to ensure we got the shots we needed to look great in the finished ad."

Mike Kane-Smith of Time Square Advertising had the following to say: “Our brief to Generous Pictures invited them to take ownership of the commercial and as a result definitive value was added. Together Jonty and Tori quickly won the favour of the Timesquare team, imbuing experience and professionalism from the onset. Jonty's enthusiasm and obvious skill was pleasure to witness and when confronted by client, he atypically, patiently indulged. We were thrilled to have chosen Generous Pictures as partners in the production, the end result is beyond original expectation. Consummate.”

Click here to view the ad. [3MB]