Innovation > Innovation

THE MILL 'BLACKBIRD'

THE MILL , London / undefined / 2016

Awards:

Gold Cannes Lions
CampaignCampaign(opens in a new tab)
Case Film

Overview

Credits

Overview

CampaignDescription

The Blackbird allows filmmakers to shoot a real vehicle on location. The combination of high dynamic range imagery and 3D laser scanning allows the team to build a virtual version of the environment around the car to create completely realistic CG renderings.

A bespoke AR application allows clients to see their intended tracked vehicle over The Blackbird whilst it is on location via a live render of the car.

By capturing 360 footage to generate CG car reflections, the BLACKBIRD™ camera array also captures perfect VR footage.

Using bespoke software, the imagery is blended from the multiple camera’s to create a 360 stitched landscape. A CG render of the interior of the car is added, making it possible to feel like you are inside the vehicle and taking part in the action that has been shot.

Alternative CG renders mean the assets created are completely interactive. The highest quality, expertly directed car advertising

Execution

The Blackbird creates photoreal CG vehicle assets by way of a fully adjustable car rig.

It utilises the pioneering the technique of CG re-skinning using stand-in cars, capturing the most important aspects of the car (physical driving performance and wheel interaction with the road.)

The BLACKBIRD™ is the same weight as an average car. It’s adjustable suspension alters ride height, rigidity and dampening, replicating the drive of almost any vehicle.

It is electric, making it green and versatile.

It is powered by a motor which digitally records its movements and is programmable to match the acceleration curve and gearing shifts of any car.

The blackbird automatically captures VR data with every take, creating a data-bank library of reusable, versatile footage, which can be repurposed and re-rendered for model updates and variations.

Outcome

Until now, automotive content has been dictated by car availability, limited access to locations and footage that can quickly become irrelevant.

Creating content to aid the design or launch of vehicles is no longer determined by access or availability.

The BLACKBIRD™ can be shot at any time, in any location.

The BLACKBIRD™ also generates modular assets.

It allows for a singular creative vision to be extrapolated across multiple platforms, products and markets without sacrificing any quality or direction.

High quality digital assets form The BlackbIrd can be used over and over again for marketing across all platforms, making it a hugely cost-effective production tool.

After 2 years indevelopment, The Blackbird provides clients with a proactive solution that opens up a whole new world for creative opportunities for car advertising and design.

Relevancy

The BLACKBIRD™ transforms the way automotive advertising is made. It is flexible and efficient without compromising authenticity and the rules of good filmmaking.

The BLACKBIRD™ has been designed and built in response to listening to our clients and solving the biggest challenges that they face - car availability and car model revisions.

For visualising car design or creating automotive content, the BLACKBIRD™ is efficient and cost effective. Most excitingly, the BLACKBIRD™ dramatically expands creative opportunities and makes flexible production possible. It is a production tool that inspires car brands, agencies and filmakers to do things in new and better ways.

Synopsis

Introducing The Blackbird, a revolution in car advertising.

The BLACKBIRD™ was hand built by the worlds top technicians in the very same hanger that the BLACKBIRD™ SR-71 supersonic jet was once manufactured.

Our car rig’s name is a nod to this legacy of stealth design. The BLACKBIRD™ captures the best footage and data possible due to its camera array and tailor-made stabilisation unit, engineered by Performance Filmwork’s legendary, multi award winning technician, Lev Yevstratov.

The cameras and technology mounted on the BLACKBIRD™ has been painstakingly realised, from concept to build, with the help of an elite team of the best camera technicians and experts in the business.

The Blackbird eliminates the age old challenge of automotive film making; car availability on location.

More Entries from Innovative Technology in Innovation

24 items

Grand Prix Cannes Lions
GOOGLE DEEPMIND ALPHAGO

Innovative Technology

GOOGLE DEEPMIND ALPHAGO

GOOGLE, GOOGLE DEEPMIND

(opens in a new tab)

More Entries from THE MILL

21 items

Gold Cannes Lions
THE MILL 'BLACKBIRD'

Innovative Technology

THE MILL 'BLACKBIRD'

THE MILL

(opens in a new tab)