LOS ANGELES — MPC (www.moving-picture.com) recently worked on two new spots for Mercedes-Benz that promote the automaker’s E-Class and SL-Class vehicles. The studio partnered with Anonymous Content director Frederic Planchon and Merkley + Partners’ David Fox and Scott Zacaroli on the project, which highlight the evolution of Mercedes’ sports cars as well as the patents that the manufacturer has secured over the years, which number more than 80,000.
In order to ensure delivery of a large number of shots in a short turnaround, MPC did extensive pre-shoot R&D, working closely with Planchon and the agency creatives. For shots that features the patent paperwork blowing in trailing in the wind, the CG team developed a mix of strategies involving particle animation and individually animated papers.
"We always strive to deliver high-quality results regardless of challenges that evolve over the course of a project," notes MPC LA MD Andrew Bell. "With Patents, our team delivered top-notch work in just nine days and in time for the Oscars, one of the biggest television events of the year."
The Art spot takes a historical tour through the SL-Class, showcasing the model's many iterations against a backdrop of an ever-changing Los Angeles from the 1940s to present. MPC swept Planchon's footage, removing or replacing signage and architecture to make sure everything was era specific, then added subtle details, including a 1960s-era motel and crowd duplication and structural features at a race track. MPC London colorist Jean-Clement Soret took the director's Red Epic footage and bathed it in a filmic style evoking these bygone eras.
"Anonymous did a fantastic job prepping their locations around LA to capture the architecture, automobiles, dress and characters of each era," notes Bell. "Their careful work made our post and clean-up processes that much easier, especially on the telecine, as setting a cinematic and period-specific grade for each of the decades was pivotal in creating the spot's feel."
Rock Paper Scissors’s Jonnie Scarlett cut the Art spot, and Ted Guard edited the Patents commercial.