‘Forwardism Comes Home’ is a campaign to present the new 7 Series, BMW’s flagship and most luxurious sedan. The film follows metal birds through the most iconic landscapes in the Middle East to reveal the unique manufacturing story of the car – that of being the first to be made with aluminium that is sustainably sourced and locally produced using solar power. This film also announced the BMW Group’s global partnership with Emirates Global Aluminium, marking a new order of automotive excellence for a more environmentally-aware era. <88 words>

BMW Group was one of the first automotive manufacturers to establish an office in the Middle East, when it set up operations in Dubai in 1994 – today its largest market in the world. Bringing its vision and innovation to the region, along with a commitment to target 50% reduction in global carbon-dioxide emissions, the Group forged a partnership with Emirates Global Aluminium to be the first customer to receive 43,000 tonnes of its new CelestiAL aluminium per year. The first of its kind, CelestiAL is locally produced using solar power generated at the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. This film, shot across the most beautiful landscapes of the Middle East, is the German carmaker’s ode to the Middle East and its shared mission to protect our planet.

Since the beginning of the project, the team was spread across the world - with the director in Copenhagen, agency and production in Dubai and VFX in Barcelona. We undertook an intensive study for the character of the birds, using different models to test wing behaviour and flock flight patterns. We wanted to represent aluminium in a simple way and referenced traditional origami design for our 3D renders. On set, there were several shots that would be recreated entirely in post, since the heavy lifting was done by computer graphics. The VFX team used iPhone LiDAR scanning technology on shoot to get a full texture and proportional scan of the physical space in a matter of minutes, helping us avoid the traditional measurement and photographing tools. This saved us several hours on CG to achieve photo-real renders and set extension seen, for example, in the container in the final scene.