The Mill and BBH China collaborate on an undefinable campaign for Audi A7 in China
The Mill Director Andrew Proctor collaborated with BBH China and Gwantsi Production to launch ‘Undefinable’ for the Audi A7; the agency’s first campaign for the automotive brand.
The spot follows a driver’s fluid course through a series of hanging installations. Each animated wave symbolizes a different trait of success, resulting in a visual representation of a characteristic shared by consumer and vehicle: they’re both ‘Undefinable’.
Proctor and the team at The Mill began carefully planning their execution of the CG animated objects prior to shooting.
Proctor explains, “Along with storyboards and previsualization, we also ran lots of animation tests and style frames. It was important to know what the installation elements would look like together and how it would all move cohesively.”
The live-action shoot then took place in an exhibition hall in Shanghai. The main challenge on set was that the installation didn’t actually exist – this still had to be created in CG – so they choreographed the blocking of the shots based on how they envisioned the final installation.
The wave animation was completed by carrying out many tests and trials to perfect the speed of the car (shot at 10 miles per hour), relative to the number of hanging objects and the way in which they came together.
“It was a wonderful experience working with BBH Shanghai to help create their first Audi spot,” said Proctor. “Being in China for the shoot was a great opportunity to learn more about the evolving and changing market, and even more incredible was the opportunity to collaborate so closely with the agency. Together, we were able to design such an engaging story around a piece of new, sculptural art.”
Credits –
Creative Team: Johnny Tan, Yu Kung, Ken Lu, Jenny Jin, Mark Nicholson
Art Director: Alpher Xian
Creative Director: Ken Lu
Agency Producer: Mulan Yap
Agency Assistant Producer: Mulan Yap
Business Director: Elvis Li
Account Director: Ryan Law
Associate Account Director: Andrew Hu
Account Executive: Mika Mao
Production Company: Gwantsi Production & Mill+
Executive Producer: William BL Huen & Thomas Gibson
Director: Andrew Proctor
Producer: Queenie Wu
Director of Photography: Ketil Dietrichson
Editing Company: The Mill
Editor: Victor Jory
Edit Assist: Ron Lubin
VFX & Design: The Mill
Executive Producers: Lindsay Bodanza, Thomas Gibson
Producer: Matt Olmon
Production Coordinator: Pat DeVaney
Shoot Supervisor: Simon Brown
Creative Director: Andrew Proctor
2D Lead Artist: Adam Lambert
3D Lead Artist: Simon Brown, Nick Lines
2D Artists: Tim Crabtree, Lisa Ryan, Peter Sidoriak, Jale Parsons, Jason Bergman, Remedy Huynh, Tim Robbins, Greg Park, Clare Carrellas, Helen Hsu, Vince Lee
3D Artists: Simon Brown, Josh Hatton, Tracie Cotta, Koen Vroeijenstijn, Cory Cosper, Donna Lanasa, Johnny Diaz, Andy Wheater, Eugene Gauran, Josh Hatton, Majid Esmaeili, Martin Rivera, Matt Neapolitan, Monique Espinoza, Patrick Vidal, Roger Kupelian, Steven Olson, Bridget Warrington, Jenna Kind
Matte Painting: Itai Muller, Rasha Shalaby, Roger Kupelian
Colour: The Mill
Executive Producer: Thatcher Peterson
Colour Producer: Ali Struck
Production Coordinator: Diane Valera
Colourist: Greg Reese