A52 Livens Up Three New Infiniti Q45 Spots
Visual effects and broadcast design house A52 has produced the visual effects for three new 30-second Infiniti Q45 spots. The project was completed for Anonymous Content and director Andrew Douglas for ad agency TBWA/Chiat/Day LA. In "Speed Effect," a new Q45 sits motionless while smoke, leaves, wind and rain create speed tunnels around it. A52's CGI team used Houdini and Renderman to create steam that was blended with 2D elements, while visual effects supervisor/inferno* artist Simon Brewster removed reflections and composited-in rain effects and a group of girls walking around the car. In "Rear View," a Q45 enters a parking garage backwards and drives in reverse up the spiral ramp and into a rooftop parking space to illustrate its new rear-view monitor feature. A52's team provided additional color-grading, composited-in video monitors, added a floor to the parking garage and adjusted the placement of vehicles within key shots. In "Power of Speech," a man uses voice commands to stop the rain, halt traffic and to adjust temperature and sound system controls inside his Q45. A52 composited rain into the opening scene, added vehicles into the major traffic scene and stopped traffic. A52 artists also added additional architecture plates that had been shot on location in Rotterdam. A moving tracking shot at the end of the commercial was also enhanced with additional traffic lights, color grading and architecture plates. "The Q45 combines a lot of performance with elegance and styling; the spots were very elegant and sophisticated, but they needed a performance portion to them," said TBWA/Chiat/Day creative director Chris Graves. "The end tag was a performance signature to all of the work that repeated throughout the whole campaign. Simon helped to make them very dynamic."