Subaru XV 45 second

Cutting Edge’s Xtreme sport spot for Subaru Japan is an exercise in precision.
In a high energy campaign designed to push the Subaru XV’s sporty features and image, Cutting Edge recently overcame a mountain of creative and technical challenges, including the need to be millimetre perfect from pre-vis to shoot, right through to the finished product.
The result is a stunning spot that features extreme sportsmen plying their craft on the surface of the Subaru XV: BMX riders flip tricks on the car’s tyres; snowboarders carve their way down the snow bound windscreen; kitesurfers draw deep lines on the water filled rear screen and then launch into the sky.
This spot is also notable for the necessary merger of production and post-production: given the close relationship between talent action, car footage and CG elements, a seamless workflow and visionary approach that recognised this challenge was required from the very outset. For this reason, production company ADK Arts chose Cutting Edge as their partner, and hand selected Cutting Edge VFX Supervisor / Director Jeff Gaunt to come on board as Director for the project.
Cutting Edge handled the Pre-Vis build, shoot, on set compositing and offline. Additionally, they delivered 3D components and created simulations such as the snow, water and splashes, as well as an original sound design that gave each of the sports its own audio identity.
According to Mr. Junichi Tanaka, ADK Creative Director, working with Cutting Edge meant that the whole process was seamless.
“The entire commercial was created as a 3D pre-vis, as everything had to be millimetre perfect in order for the shoot to happen smoothly and camera moves to be accurate,” said Junichi.
“Right from the outset Cutting Edge brought new ideas to the table and helped push the concept further and further,” he said.
Ultimately, our goal here was to ensure it didn’t feel like a green screen shoot composited, and we achieved that goal…
Jeff Gaunt, VFX Director, said one of the most pleasing aspects of the project was how the team answered every challenge posed by the concept.
“The script called for dramatic visual journey around the XV, which meant extreme camera moves and full 360 sweeps. On set, the high speed of the camera moves was also possibly the greatest challenge,” said Jeff.
“Creatively, one of the significant achievements was keeping a photo-real look given the huge technical requirements,” he said.
“We worked hard to make sure everything felt natural – for example, the snowboarder’s action had to feel like a real carve. Ultimately, our goal here was to ensure it didn’t feel like a green screen shoot composited, and we achieved that goal,” he said.
Client - Subaru
Agency - Asatsu-DK
Executive Creative Director - Osamu Saotome
Creative Director - Junichi Tanaka
Production Company - Cutting Edge
Production Company (Japan) - ADK Arts Inc
Producer - Richard Hearman
Producer - Tomonari Motobu
Production Manager - Kana Tanitsu
DOP - Robert Humphreys
Director / VFX Supervisor - Jeff Gaunt
Producer (Japan) - Junji Matsuo (MJ)
VFX Producer - Flavia Riley
VFX Coordinator - Jessica Vines
Editor - Kerry Farrell
Lead 3D / Particle Animation - Rob Conn
3D Animation - Matthew Hanger
Matte Paint - Richard Deavin
Flame Composite - Antony Haberl
Nuke Composite - Lars Andersen
Light and Render / Fluid Animation - Phil Jackson
Colourist - Justin McDonald
Sound Engineer - Ross Batten
MOCON Operator - Gerald Thompson
MOCON Assistant - Daniel Agdag