SOCIAL: Fwd: A mobile mobile - noarchive

[Paul Spinrad]

Funny-- I totally think this is CGI (and so does Wendy).  Around MAKE we had 
an email argument about this ad, with me saying it's obviously fake, and a 
favorite contributor and advisor of ours (who, vastly unlike me, has a PhD 
in mechanical engineering from MIT) saying it's real.  The ad agency, Weiden 
& Kennedy, says it's real (of course), and snopes.com repeats this claim, 
regarding it as proof-- but I'm still extremely skeptical.  It just looks 
totally fake to me.

I googled some and found that the director of this commercial, Antoine 
Bardou-Jacquet, specializes in realistic-looking animation and CGI ( 
http://www.boardsmag.com/articles/magazine/20020401/antoine.html ).  Hmm...

There are two things that would convince me that this ad was photographed, 
not generated: 1. seeing some "the making of" shots for this ad with actual 
people in them, arranging the car parts, aiming cameras, or whatever, or 2. 
talking with someone who actually worked on the ad and having them tell me 
it was real.

If anyone wants to bet a burrito on this, I'm open to all takers.  If either 
of the two above things manifest, I buy you a burrito, and if word comes out 
from Weiden & Kennedy or wherever else one of these years that, yes, it was 
in fact just state-of-the-art CGI back in 2004 or whenever, then I'll have 
the super steak and prawn.

Paul

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Peter Khoury" <peat at curious-peter-george.com>
To: <social at deeptrouble.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2006 11:34 PM
Subject: SOCIAL: Fwd: A mobile mobile


>
> One of these things that I feel sheepish about forwarding around not
> just cause I'm spamming your in box but also cause it is after all a
> car ad.  However its very creative and very good and worth at least
> one viewing.
>
> peat
>
>
>>>> This is amazing.
>>>> READ THE TEXT BEFORE YOU CICK ON THE LINK
>>>> There are no computer graphics or digital tricks in the film.
>>>> Everything you see really happened in real time exactly as you
>>>> see it.
>>>> The film took 606 takes. On the first 605 takes, something, usually
>>>> very minor, didn't work.
>>>> They would then have to set the whole thing up again. The crew spent
>>>> weeks shooting night and day. By the time it was over, they were
>>>> ready
>>>> to change professions. The film cost six million dollars and took
>>>> three
>>>> months to complete including full engineering of the sequence.
>>>> In addition, it's two minutes long, so every time Honda airs the
>>>> film
>>>> on British television, they're shelling out big bucks. However,
>>>> it is
>>>> fast
>>>> becoming the most downloaded advertisement in Internet history.
>>>> Honda executives figure the ad will soon pay for itself simply
>>>> in>"free
>>> viewings."  (Honda isn't paying a dime to have you watch this
>>>> commercial!).
>>>> When the ad was pitched to senior executives, they signed off on it
>>>> immediately without any hesitation - including the costs.
>>>> There are six and only six hand-made Accords in the world. To the
>>>> horror of Honda engineers, the filmmakers disassembled two of
>>>> them to
>>>> make the
>>>> film.
>>>> Everything you see in the film (aside from the walls, floor,
>>>> ramp, and
>>>> complete Honda Accord) are parts from those two cars. The
>>>> voiceover is
>>>> Garrison Keillor. When the ad was shown to Honda executives, they
>>>> liked
>>>> it and commented on how amazing computer graphics have gotten.  They
>>>> fell
>>>> off their chairs when they found out it was for real.
>>>> Oh, and about those funky windshield wipers. On the new Accords, the
>>>> windshield wipers have water sensors and are designed to start doing
>>>> their thing automatically as soo n as they become wet.
>>>
>>> [ http://www.steelcitysfinest.com/HondaAccordAd.htm
>>> ]http://www.steelcitysfinest.com/HondaAccordAd.htm
>>>>
>>>>    <SPAN ltr??>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
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