MISTAKES

Bronze Spike
TitleMISTAKES
BrandNEW ZEALAND TRANSPORT AGENCY
Product / ServiceROAD SAFETY
CategoryA09. Visual Effects
EntrantFIN DESIGN + EFFECTS Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Entrant Company FIN DESIGN + EFFECTS Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Advertising Agency CLEMENGER BBDO Wellington, NEW ZEALAND
Production Company FINCH Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Production Company 2 FIN DESIGN + EFFECTS Sydney, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Paul Graham NZTA Principal Scientist
Rachel Prince NZTA Advertising Manager
Philip Andrew Clemenger BBDO Executive Creative Director
Brigid Alkema Clemenger BBDO Creative Director
Emily Beautrais Clemenger BBDO Copywriter
Emily Beautrais/Philip Andrew Clemenger BBDO Art Director
Martin Gray Clemenger BBDO Agency Producer
Linda Major Clemenger BBDO Group Account Director
Bethany Omeri Clemenger BBDO Account Manager
Thomas Scovell Clemenger BBDO Director Of Digital Innovation
Annabelle Wilkinson Clemenger BBDO Media Business Director
Emily Goulden Clemenger BBDO Media Account Director
Derin Seale Finch Director
Karen Bryson Finch Producer
Rob Galluzzo Finch Executive Producer
Stefan Duscio Finch Cinematographer
Drew Thompson Method Studios Editor
Stuart White Fin Design/Effects Visual Effects Supervisor
Michael Smith Fin Design/Effects Flame Artist
Ben Eagleton BE Colourist

Brief Explanation

Two drivers experience an extended moment of pause at that split second before they collide into one another. It demonstrates that while a person may be a good driver they can't change the fact that human beings are prone to making mistakes, including other drivers. Even the smallest of mistakes on the road can cost us our life, or take someone else's.

Creative Execution

The planned effects for this spot involved the freezing of time. Flame was used to isolate and lock down all parts of the plate that should be frozen and numerous CGI elements such as leaves, dust and gravel were added to give the impression of time ramping to a halt. The profile shot of the car going from 100kph to frozen was stitched together from 2 separate plates running in opposite time directions executed based on extensive previs. Extensive work was also undertaken to maintain weather continuity over the 2 day shoot. The unplanned effects involved completely recreating the impact moment from various greenscreen plates, panoramic background photographs, a CG car, glass and debris. This was necessitated when the main crash cam took such an impact in the real stunt that its memory card ceased to record 3 seconds before impact. The battery of the in-car camera was found in bushes 15 meters from the crash site after following its flight path on footage filmed from a slow motion overhead camera. Some degree of VFX was always planned for this moment as only the speeding car was driven by a stunt man on the hero (full speed!) take. The father's car was driven by remote control with the father filmed separately being jerked by a wire harness rig, subsequently removed in Flame.