You’ve got a friend in Volvo Trucks

Set against the stunning backdrop of Northern Sweden, this gorgeous spot, created by We Are More and directed by Oskar Bård through Hobby Film for Volvo Trucks, champions the vehicle manufacturer’s support for long distance drivers.  

It follows a truck driver who is unexpectedly accompanied by a stranger, who climbs into the vehicle from the roof. At first, the driver is surprised and confused, but as the journey continues a heartwarming friendship develops. 

Shot over three days, the creative blends cinematic shots of sublime landscapes and open roads with simple yet effective VFX techniques. For the scene where the stranger climbs in through the truck window, the truck was completely still, and a moving landscape later composited in after some rotoscoping.  

The same simple technique was used when the service man performed maintenance under the truck. For the wider shot of him under the truck, HOBBY used a simple but cool solution—3D scanning him with an app called Polycam on the iPhone, and generating a 3D version of him under the truck. 

"I love shooting up in the most northern part of Sweden and Norway. The landscape offers so much production value with the mountains, open views, and the great light," says Bård. "The most memorable moment was clearly when I took a plunge into the freezing cold river, it was only 8 degrees warm—or cold, maybe, is a better word to show the actors that it wasn't that bad. And it worked - the actors also jumped into the freezing cold water and they loved it and we got some great shots".