BBH & Mill+ Reveal Their Labour of Love for Audi

THE IDEA

How did you come to the idea for this film and what was the inspiration behind it?

Ian Heartfield: Everyone knows about the R8. Audi's top of the range, V10 sports car has become a legend, synonymous with killer performance, state of the art design and a distinctive soundtrack. 

The task was to tell the story that there is DNA from the mother of supercars, the R8, in the smaller RS models, specifically the new RS3.  The idea of the R8 giving birth to an RS3 - actually, physically giving birth to it - came shortly after.

It’s an unusual approach; what was the client’s initial reaction?

Heartfield: It is an unusual idea, and actually tough to buy from the script. Our lucky break came in the form of Andrew Proctor at The Mill+.  His incredible enthusiasm for this project and willingness to make a seriously impressive test film, gave us and our client the confidence to press go.

It’s a change in style from previous Audi caigns; can you explain the thinking behind that? 

Heartfield: Birth is the start of a new chapter in Audi's communications. Audi is now the number one premium car brand in the UK, and the advertising needs to show that. We have a whole body of work in development that will tell this story.  

Was the thinking always to have the film entirely in CG, and what were the reasons for that?

Heartfield: I think this again is all thanks to Andrew's vision for the film, and his desire and determination to prove that CG can be the answer to everything -  if it's done well.  

What was the most challenging part of this caign from your point of view.

Heartfield: The single most challenging thing was getting the tone and feel of the film absolutely spot on. We talked about it being on a scale. At one end was a cold, unemotional, Transformers-like film, where one car just formed another. At the other end was a frankly weird, dark, messy film, closer to Alien. The task was to stay right in the middle between the two.  

THE EXECUTION

What did you think when you first saw the script?

Andrew Proctor: This is such a bold creative idea that it was one of those scripts that instantly resonated with me. It’s not often that an opportunity arises to create a fully CG film from concept to completion, paired with such a strong creative idea. It also drew on a lot of imagery and cinematography that I like and aspire to creating, so it was in many the ways the perfect brief for me.

Images of what the birth of an Audi could look like flashed through my mind and I dropped everything to immediately start crafting and concepting an initial edit, locking myself for four days straight to produce a test film. Nicely for me, the agency and client both thought it looked more like two months work rather than four days.

Had you worked on anything like this before?

Proctor: I’ve worked on a whole range of car commercials at The Mill, and have had the opportunity to direct both live-action and full CG spots through Mill+, which has helped me develop a real sense of how to render the perfect CG car.

However, I’d not come across an idea that was as atmospheric as this before, which would combine my CG experience with such a dark narrative. 

The collaborative aspect of the film was a real pleasure. Dav [Karbassioun, BBH head of film], Ian and I worked closely throughout the creative journey to push the film forward, producing something excellent and compelling, both in narrative and craft.

I was really impressed with how they handled the long CG process, as some people don't have the vision or focus to work on a film wherein it can take weeks for a shot to start coming together, but both had complete faith and trust in me and the team. 

What were the main challenges for the style and tone of this film?

Proctor: The challenge was creating a film that really stirs emotion in the viewer, almost making them feel uncomfortable, whilst also treading the line between the organic, clinical and simply ridiculous.  

The idea is easily said or written on paper, but when you begin to put it into pictures and animation you realise just how much each detail can affect the balance of the narrative and the emotions we’re trying to stir. 

We had to keep refining the animation of the R8 to display its pain and stress, giving the R8 very subtle, almost animalistic movement. We were very conscious of not making the transition too robotic and giving the game away too soon. So we worked hard to seduce the audience with abstract close-ups mixed in with wider frames, which were then layered in with the meticulously crafted environment and car panels.

In order to really convey the birthing concept, we had to create a textured substance that covered the newborn car, paying careful attention not to cover it in a liquid that would almost take the idea too far. We managed to develop a thin, wet, waxy coating that feels biological, but at the same time could be a material used to lubricate cars in a factory.

Rupert Sanders [above] was a consultant on the film; what help and insight did he bring to the project?

Proctor: Rupert and I already had a great working relationship as I had previously directed the title sequence for his movie Snow White and the Huntsman.

On a project that pushes the boundaries such as this, it was fantastic to have someone of his experience and vision to help refine the narrative and look. Along with bringing some great ideas into the mix he was the perfect sounding-board, challenging our decision-making throughout the process. 

One area Rupert really pushed was the range in the colour palette, which as you can see really shows in the final film, making it a lot stronger overall.  This was aided by our Mill colourist Matt Osborne who really added to the dark, intense, atmospheric tone of the film in the grade and worked to ensure that the images flowed seamlessly whilst retaining as much detail as possible. 

How long did the film take to make?

Proctor: The pitch process started well over a year ago, but once the job began, the VFX team worked tirelessly to craft the whole sequence in an incredible nine weeks. Any less and I think we would not have done the concept justice, as an idea this good needs a great execution and that can't be rushed.  

THE SOUND

What were BBH and Mill+ looking for when they spoke to you about the film?

Will Cohen: BBH came to String and Tins to help bring the visuals to life, by developing a soundtrack that would live and breath with the animation, and drive the emotion (excuse the pun).  

We were asked to create a voice for the car that would go beyond reality, and bed it into a landscape of sound effects that help set the scene and take the viewer out of their comfort zone. We were also involved from the beginning in the music direction - testing different references from electronic, to opera from the 1900s, to myself composing the final track on the film.

Did you know the sort of approach you wanted to take from the start?

Cohen: In terms of the sound effects, I knew what I wanted the car to feel like, but wasn’t sure how to get to that - I spent a long time testing different techniques to morph the car, from using phase vocoding to granular sling.  

Regarding the mood and style of the music, we initially leaned towards something electronic and darker. Through testing different styles and eras, we and the agency came round to the idea that something more organic and classic felt right.  

Music is so subjective, I don’t think you can know what will work until you happen upon a feeling given by a certain instrumentation or a certain discord. 

How do you make a car sound like it’s in labour?

Cohen: I needed to get the processing and shaping of the car sound itself right to show the pain and suffering. I recorded the Audi R8 on two separate occasions, from starting up cold, to stuttering uncontrolled revs, and all at high RPM. I then spent time in the studio editing to get the curve right, from initial ‘contractions’ to final push, and re-pitching and twisting the recordings to get the car to judder and jolt with the animation.   

The hardest and most rewarding part, was bringing the engine to life by blending it with more organic sounds, that hopefully take it beyond just a car and into your imagination a bit more.  

My favourites are the engine morphing with a gasping exhaling walrus and snarling bear on the close-up engine top shot near the start, the barking of the exhausts on the rear of the car shortly after, and the bellowing rhino and time stretched horse just before the r8 gives birth. These powerful animals seemed to link up well with the r8, and turn it into even more of a beast than it already is.

Was there a danger of pushing the sound too far and it taking over the film?

Cohen: There was definitely a danger of taking things too far - any sound man would love to go to town on all the robotics and technical stuff. It could have sounded very sci-fi and Transformers-like in the final reckoning.

We added in the detail, but in the mix kept it quite muted, and tried to avoid the obvious servo noises and laboratory bleeps, keeping it more abstract where possible.

What was the most challenging part of this caign from your point of view?

Cohen: The most challenging thing about this project was to keep it on the line in terms of its simplicity. We didn’t want people to think about really overt animal noises, or overly strong themes and flamboyant moments in the music that take over the mood too much.  

Having added in the detail, I hope we have paired it back to the point where the story speaks the most, but there is still enough to bring The Mill’s incredible work to life.