Honda CR-V Super Bowl XLV Ad - Forecast - (2011) :30 (USA)

Regional Super Bowl Spot from RPA Creatively Showcases Unlimited Capabilities of Honda CR-V and Brand New School

LOS ANGELES - Feb. 4, 2011 - The artists and producers from international production company and design studio Brand New School (BNS) are very proud to announce that their latest project work in conjunction with advertising agency RPA, a national broadcast/web spot for the 2011 Honda CR-V, will debut in selected regions across America throughout Fox's official broadcast coverage of Super Bowl XLV on Sunday.

By using artful graphic design, seamless visual effects, flawless finishing and the lighthearted visual storytelling that BNS is known for, the finished :30 spot conceived by RPA's creative team and directed by BNS director Ben Go offers a refreshing, eye-catching take on traditional commercials showing vehicles being driven. The agency's creative brief called for Ben and his colleagues to use the storytelling framework of a five-day weather forecast to demonstrate the CR-V's driving capabilities under different conditions. "Another important part of the idea was to tease viewers with mysterious, giant type, that's only partially visible in the sky, while the CR-V drives from one set of weather conditions to the next," Ben explained. "In the end, we reveal that the type is part of the weather forecast graphics."

"This time of year, people all over the country are sitting there looking at some pretty miserable weather forecasts. We wanted to take them inside the world of one of these forecasts and literally show that the CR-V can handle whatever nature offers—a timely and pertinent message," said Jason Sperling, SVP, Group Creative Director at RPA. "BNS created a beautiful blend of real environment and graphic forecast elements. And did it on a production calendar not much longer than a five-day forecast."

With a background in design, painting, photography, and a degree from Otis College of Art and Design, Ben joined BNS when the company was starting out 10 years ago. Over the past decade, his impeccable eye and fine arts aesthetics have impacted high-profile projects for many prominent television networks and other consumer brands. For this project...

Ben and his colleagues, including director of photography Bill Bennett, planned out a very ambitious single-day live-action shoot in and around California's Santa Ynez Airport. "We really wanted to grab the audience's attention instantly with the beauty and sophistication of the spot," Ben began. "To achieve that, we opted for a look that's both real and graphic, both stylized and photoreal... a good mixture of fact and fantasy. On location, we wet down the road, and had practical snow on it as well... then we composited partly realistic and partly graphic rain and snow in the finished shots. The sunny environment in the original plate we shot was also replaced with different CG environments to match the different weather conditions."

On location, the BNS team used the ARRI Alexa digital camera system to capture HD source footage. Also, a crane car called The Edge System from Performance Filmworks allowed the crew to capture the moving vehicle from various angles as it appeared in different situations at and near the picturesque airport.

For BNS VFX supervisor Vadim Turchin and many studio artists, the first steps in post were to track the live-action scenes and rotoscope the background and the CR-V. A matte painting was created for the background, which was projected onto 3D geometry in Maya. All the elements were then put together in After Effects, along with additional plates, particle effects, and initial color correction. Final color was handled in Autodesk Flame.

For more information on Honda, please visit www.shophonda.com.

About Brand New School
With offices in New York, Los Angeles and London, Brand New School is a vertically integrated production company and design studio that delivers extraordinary media on all platforms. Offering a new model for creative digital production, we are filmmakers, developers, designers, animators, editors, illustrators, and producers dedicated to driving communications to new heights. Akin to leading academic institutions, our guiding philosophies prize experimentation and learning, and our commitment to discovering the best ideas for our clients is absolute. For more information, please visit www.BrandNewSchool.com.

For RPA, credits go to chief creative officer David Smith, group creative directors Joe Baratelli and Jason Sperling, senior art director Hobart Birmingham, copywriter Perrin Anderson, executive producer Gary Paticoff, and producer Phung Vo.

Along with Ben Go and Vadim Turchin, the BNS team also included West Coast executive producer Jason Cohon, line producer Jane Van Dyke, production supervisor Kenia Gutierrez, VFX producers Amy Russo and Josh Wakefield, production designer Jeff Higinbotham, matte painters Andrew Park and Eric Urquhart, designers Tiffany Dantin, Kris Wong, Ken Quemel, Patrick Hruby, Sakona Kong, Wakako Ichinose and Ugo Nonis, 3D/VFX artists John Sadler, Emil Nilsson, Ryan Kirkwood, lead compositor Ergin Kuke, Flame artist Matt Lydecker, production coordinator Italia Piefederici, and assistant editor Brenden Mendez.

The spot features "Rescue Song (RAC Remix)" from Mr. Little Jeans.