Brickyard VFX Breaks Into Flight for Honda Motorcycles

In this latest spot for Honda Motorcycles, a frustrated driver punches through the roof of his car in bumper-to-bumper traffic, sprouts enormous red wings and flies off—all with the help of incredible 3D and effects work by the CG team from Brickyard VFX. The spot marks the first time Honda Motorcycles has created an ad based on its classic red wing logo, and is the latest in a series of collaborations between the artist-owned-and-operated bi-coastal effects boutique and director Kinka Usher of House of Usher.

The Brickyard VFX CG team, led by Robert Sethi and Yafei Wu, got involved in the project early on to design the wing effect and provide onset VFX supervision; lead Flame Artist Patrick Poulatian also supervised the shoot. The team opted to create the wings entirely in CG since the director wanted them to look real, predatory and large enough to realistically propel a grown man into flight. Practical wing props were too small and fluffy, and since they're largely made of turkey feathers, didn't create a wingspan broad or wide enough. The team worked closely with the director on set and in casting to design a wingspan that would suit the performer—the resulting CG wingspan spread 16-feet across when composited onto the actor and fully extended.