WESTPAC 200

Bronze Spike
TitleWESTPAC 200
BrandWESTPAC AUSTRALIA
Product / ServiceBANKING
CategoryA04. Production Design / Art Direction
EntrantDDB SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
Idea Creation DDB SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
Media Placement MEDIA LAB COMMUNICATIONS Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Production EXIT FILMS Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Additional Company MCGREGOR CASTING Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Additional Company 2 THE BUTCHERY Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Additional Company 3 ALT.VFX Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Additional Company 4 NYLON STUDIOS Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Additional Company 5 LEVEL TWO MUSIC Sydney, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Ben Welsh DDB Sydney Chief Creative Officer
Tara Ford DDB Sydney Executive Creative Director
Matt Chandler DDB Sydney Creative Partner
Noah Regan DDB Sydney Head of Art
Jason Woelfl DDB Sydney Senior Art Director
Dave King DDB Sydney Senior Copywriter
Paul Jansen DDB Sydney Senior Designer
JJ Winlove DDB Sydney Senior Art Director
Sevda Cemo DDB Sydney Head of Integrated Content
Aleks Manou DDB Sydney Motion Graphics Designer
Richard Maxton DDB Sydney Content Creator
Cushla Morton DDB Sydney Senior Print Producer
Fran Clayton DDB Sydney Chief Strategy Officer
Dom Hickey DDB Sydney Planning Partner
Joseph Smeaton DDB Sydney Planning Director
Chiquita King DDB Sydney Managing Partner
Topher Jones DDB Sydney Group Business Director
Tim Lunken DDB Sydney Senior Project Manager
Martine Jager Westpac Banking Corporation Chief Marketing Officer
Jenny Mulhuish Westpac Banking Corporation Head of Group Brands, Advertising & Media
Adrian McCaffrey Westpac Banking Corporation Person Who Loves Customers, Digital, Marketing & Customer Experience
Andrew Howie Westpac Banking Corporation Head of Westpac Advertising
Mark Molloy Exit Films Director
Adam Arkapaw Exit Films Cinematographer
Jack Hutchings The Butchery Editor
Colin Renshaw ALT VFX VFX Supervisor
Simon Lister Nylon Studios Sound Engineer
Karl Richter Level Two Music Founder Music Director

Brief Explanation

In this film, Australia's oldest bank Westpac, captures the country's spirit of mateship by bringing to life moments of help from the past. We see Australians helping each other throughout two hundred years of national history, in moments big and small. One scene takes place during the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, as worker pulls his mate out of the way of a falling beam. In another key scene a rescue helicopter, sponsored by Westpac bank, saves a young man from treacherous floodwaters. All of the scenes combine to give a moving portrait of the Australian national character, through a lens that celebrates both the past and the present. The film is scored with a cover of David Bowie’s “Heroes”, as performed by Australian band, Gang of Youths.

The Brief

This production was an epic journey of discovery, covering seven eras of Australian history across varying landscapes. We knew that to make each place and time feel totally realistic we would need to source props and costuming from the time. A long research process was undertaken to get the detail of each period and setting right. This led to unique historical discoveries such as sourcing original tools that we used in the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and incredibly accurate renderings of settings. The scene set in the emergency hospital in the 1800s was researched in partnership with a medical museum, who explained the types of bandages used in the period and how they were applied. The focus on detail was all in the aid of story and emotion, to make every scene feel as real as possible so people truly believed in the plights of the characters.