ONE STORY ON THREE LEVELS
Direct audience communication is key, especially when launching a new product. By broadly introducing the brand for new viewers and highlighting specific details for your loyalists, you welcome everyone to the ad. For Northern California Honda’s new broadcast campaign, we needed to accomplish three goals:
Brand-wide: introduce a wide audience to the all-new, all-electric Honda Prologue
Regional: demonstrate how Honda’s story applies to the specific, regional audience
Individual: personalize the details by creating an individual character’s story, inviting anyone to imagine themselves in the driver’s seat.
To invoke the adventure-ready spirit of the Prologue, in partnership with Omni Advertising, Shuttershot produced and directed “James,” capturing the rugged California ethos on the climb to one of the most recognizable NorCal vistas—the Marin Headlands overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge.
REAL SCENERY, STUDIO ENVIRONMENT
While a location offers your audience essential context, the real message comes in the journey, not at the destination (to paraphrase Ralph Waldo Emerson). In our story, the journey is what builds a relationship between our hero character and our hero vehicle. To highlight that relationship, we opted to shoot on an LED volume stage—a technique known as virtual production.
Virtual production is a way of combining physical and digital worlds—in our case, bringing the foreground elements (like our actor and vehicle) onto a stage surrounded by LED screens. Those screens then display background footage, which had been previously captured. Rather than imagining the passing scenery, our actor could really look out and see the view, really watch as the car drove through the mountain roads—surrounding our actor with these real elements is the catalyst for the real performances. Meanwhile, we had the benefit of heightened safety precautions, and the camera and lighting flexibility to capture the nuances of his performance. Additionally, virtual production allows the complex curves of reflective surfaces (like the hood, windshield, and even the actors eyes) to catch real reflections from the real environments surrounding our set, rather than adding them in post. For example, all the clouds moving over the windshield and the rocky terrain whizzing past the glossy ‘Pacific Blue Metallic’ doors are captured in-camera, with more control than possible out in the elements. That perfect moment of light bouncing off of the bridge would only last for a few minutes on the real site, while on the virtual stage it can last as long as we need.
Our commitment to tactile storytelling often means getting the most engaging images all in-camera. Virtual production offers the specificity and control of the digital environment with the authenticity of practical photography. James never has to act like he’s relaxing and enjoying the view; the view is right in front of him. Production is not just about stunning visuals, but about capturing authentic human moments that resonate with an audience. On a virtual stage—without the variable challenges of fluctuating weather, limited sunlight, and expensive time management—production can focus on story, performance, and human elements.
PREPARING THE WAY
Capturing a scene like ours fully in-camera—where all environmental background elements and story-focused foreground elements blend together live and on set—requires shifting focus from post-production to pre-production.
Background elements were captured and displayed directly from San Francisco views, adjusted to match the lighting and contrast of our onset elements. They could be timed and aligned perfectly to capture key moments—like the bridge’s silhouette crossing behind the car in our final shot of James, all before we even stepped foot on the stage.
In every project, our team heavily emphasizes the pre-production process—from identifying broad themes, to workshopping and writing scripts, to shot for shot previsualization (a.k.a. “previz,” a video form of storyboards used to communicate the vision and guide on set).
Pre-production is an opportunity for us to care for our clients. Effectively communicating a creative vision can be complicated, so aligning goals before any shots are filmed provides client confidence and a shared direction for all members of the creative team.
THE DRIVER'S IN THE DETAILS
Communication during the pre-production phase also allows all aspects of production to work in harmony, down to the smallest details.
In virtual production, the smallest details sell the marriage of foreground and background. As James climbs the Northern California mountains, we see wind blow through his hair and clothes, sunlight change as he turns corners, real on-set pine branches move and reflect in the vehicle’s chrome elements, and steam waft from a thermos—even though the actor never left the stage and had no coffee (on the stage, at least).
In any production, though, the deepest details ground the story. For example, when James rustles through his trunk full of adventure-ready gear – highlighting the ample space of a Honda Prologue in contrast to most on-market electric vehicles – a green hat pokes out of a backpack. As one of the only green visual elements, there is a subconscious cue connecting back to James, dressed in green. Eagle-eyed viewers will even spy the hat’s embroidery: the grizzly bear of the California flag. While less important to the overall messaging, small details like these emphasize the authenticity and locality of the story.
The attention to detail is how we humanize the story. Viewers know what it feels like to have the wind of an open window blow through their hair; they know exactly which old hat is best for hiking; they can see themselves in James’ reflection. Even though brand-new, James’s Prologue becomes familiar—and establishes Honda as a safe space for your next adventure, a comfort when you’re outside your comfort zone.
