Mazda - What's inside - (2009) :30 (Canada)

Rhino CD Vico Sharabani recently collaborated with director Jason Smith of Industry on an elegant new :30 for Mazda via Doner, Detroit. Sharabani supervised the planning, shoot and post work for all VFX, with a special focus on a detailed pre-vis to streamline the spot's creation as much as possible.
The setting of What's Inside is a high-tech garage where a MAZDA3 is partially deconstructed then seamlessly reassembled into a MAZDA5. As the crew of mechanics and machines finish their job, the vehicle is boarded by a family who drives the new MAZDA5 out of frame. While the spot appears to be totally live action, it is really a seamless mix of CG and in-camera footage blended to show off both the interior and exterior of Mazda5.

"Both Doner and Jason Smith were outstanding creative partners," noted Sharabani. "They understood that making the natural flow work would require major `Frankenstein-type' surgery, and their insight and willingness to adapt were refreshing. We used multiple layers in post to fully integrate a complex composite, a process that was considerably easier than it could have been, since we took care of as many details as possible in pre-vis."

In order to exactly fulfill the director's and the agency's vision, Sharabani invested an incredible amount of time in pre-vis to determine which elements should be created with CG and which should be made with more traditional methods. The high tech garage, for example, with its stainless steel cylinders, light fixtures, shelves, and flatscreen monitors, is built of real props, while the ceiling, which retracts to allow a giant claw to descend and remove the car's entire body, is CG.

Client: Mazda Canada
Spot Title: What's Inside
Airdate: November 2009
Agency: Doner, Detroit/Canada
ECD: Steve Chavez
CD(s): Dan Willey, Mark Gray
Sr. AD: Jim Ward
Copywriter: Steve Chavez
Sr. Producer: Kali Kyriazis
SV. EP: Kurt Kulas
Prod Company: Industry Films
Director: Jason Smith
EP: Joan Bell
Producer: Neil Bartley
Post/Effects: Rhino
CD: Vico Sharabani
Flame Artist: Kevin Quinlan
CG Supervisor: Yuval Levy
Modeling: Brian Dinoto
Animation: Sean Curran, Goran Ognjanovic
CG TD: Ivan Guerrero
Tracking/Match Move: Bogdan Mihajlovic
Lighting: Rob Pearson, Gilad Kenan
Flame Assistant: Barry Fulano
Roto: Joshua Bush
Producer: Karen Bianca Bisignano
Production Manager: Dorit Avganim
COO/Sr. EP: Camille Geier
Managing Director: Rick Wagonheim
CEO: Zviah Eldar
Editorial: Panic and Bob
Editor: Michelle Czukar
Assistant Editor: David Findlay