Project Title: Behind the Wheel in Singapore
BACKGROUND
McLaren is a British automotive manufacturer and pioneering supercar company founded by Formula One racer Bruce McLaren. The company produces both race cars for the Formula One tracks and sports cars for the motoring enthusiast.
BRIEF
We were approached to produce a video series centered around the McLaren 720S Super Series. According to the narrative vision given to us, the series was inspired by Carpool Karaoke, and it focused on promoting the McLaren service and the performance of the 720S as well as its aesthetics. The goal was to increase fan engagement across all of McLaren’s social media platforms, and raise awareness of the 720S.
The video would feature local influencer Aaran Rylan, and McLaren instructor Lim Chun Kiat (CK), talking and bantering as they drive around Singapore along a planned scenic route.
RESPONSE
We were involved in the filming as well as in the post-production aspect of the project.
To shoot a quality car commercial, having the proper equipment, staff, and lighting is incredibly important, and the planning process has to change according to the client’s vision.
For indoor, showroom-style shoots, finding and implementing good lighting can be challenging. It can be difficult to properly illuminate the car interior, with all its closed and tight spaces.
When it comes to filming scenes of the car out on the road, planning for and around good weather is key. Ideally, the shoot should take place in the morning or early afternoon for the best sunlight, while the midday sun should be avoided.
Prior to the day of the shoot, we also went on a recce trip to make sure that all locations were safe for filming and aesthetically pleasing. We also had to make sure that we had a tracking car with good suspension and good equipment to account for the bumpy roads
Taking all of this into consideration, we managed to pull through all the challenges on the day of the shoot, and we obtained around 3 hours’ worth of footage.
Post-production was by the far the most crucial part of the project. Our editor had to cut down 3 hours of footage into 90 seconds. Furthermore, the banter between Aaron and CK had to be carefully spliced into soundbites that were seamless, coherent, and matched the visuals of the video.
Lastly, we were asked to create several different formats for different social media sites. This meant varieties in length, dimensions, and orientations, like vertical for mobile viewing. These were things we had to take into account back in the planning stages of the project – we had to plan for and research on good camera angles that would support these different formats.
OUTCOME
McLaren was pleased with the final product, and they were especially pleased with our quick turnaround time.
The finished product was published on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube.