Subject: New Honda Commercial Before you go to the web site, read the message below. Make sure you have sound on. New Honda commercial in the UK. http://home.attbi.com/~bernhard36/honda-ad.html> Very important that you understand: There are no computer graphics or digital tricks in the film. Everything you see really happened in real time exactly as you see it. The film took 606 takes. On the first 605 takes, something, usually very minor, didn't work. They would then have to set the whole thing up again. The crew spent weeks shooting night and day. By the time it was over, they were ready to change professions. The film cost six million dollars and took three months to complete the two minute sequence. Its is fast becoming the most downloaded advertisement in Internet history. Honda executives figure the ad will soon pay for itself simply in "free" viewings (Honda isn't paying a dime to have you watch this commercial). When the ad was pitched to senior executives, they signed off on it immediately without any hesitation -- including the costs. There are six and only six handmade Accords in the world. To the horror of Honda engineers the filmmakers disassembled two of them to make the film. Everything you see in the film (aside from the walls, floor, ramp, and complete Honda Accord) are parts from those two cars. The voice-over is Garrison Keillor. When the ad was shown to Honda executives, they liked it and commented on how amazing computer graphics have gotten. They fell off their chairs when they found out it was for real. Oh. And about those funky windshield wipers. On the new Accords, the windshield wipers have water sensors and are designed to start doing their thing automatically as soon as they become wet. It looks a bit weird in the commercial.
The 1957 Ford 'Sunliner' retractable hardtop convertible I one owned (How I wish I still did) had a similar set up. If it started to rain while the top was down it would automatically go up. If the top was up, the wipers would start automatically. Nice! mike hunt
designed to start doing their thing automatically as soon as they become Wonderful! Ain't progress nifty. How'd we ever survive without this brealthrough? Quent
In Europe, lot of features are more common then here (standard or available option) even on lower end cars. For example: automatic wipers adjustable height of the headlight beam rear foglight automatic AC display of the fuel comsumption, distance left on the tank traction control digital radio low profile tires etc.
I read that this ad will not be shown in the United States because it is felt that it won't hold the attention of the average US viewer. I like it. My wife likes it. We are about at oppositie ends of the "love technology" spectrum.
I can guarantee you that Honda has more faith in the US consumer's attention span than that. The reason the ad will not run in the US is because the vehicle shown is not available there, only it's cousin: the Acura TSX.
This is a remake of a art film called, IIRC, "The Way Things Go" which does similar things but goes on for about 30 minutes. The longer film, not having a car theme, has a lot more fire and explosions!
The '03 Accord, on the other hand, puts a lot more under the sheet metal instead of toys in the cockpit. Judging by the relative sales of the Passat and the Accord, I think Honda's efforts are well focused. Sure, the Accord has it's trinkets too, but I'll take a 240hp V6 with traction control as a standard vs. 180hp V6 without any day. For my money, it's a lot tougher keeping a car on an icy road than taking a moment to flip on/off the lights or wipers.
Firstly, this is really old news. Secondly, this commercial was not shot in one take. It was shot in two separate takes that were stitched together. A muffler rolling on the floor is the point wehere the two parts were stitched.
Sorry if it sounded as though I was advising the purchase of a Passat because they have rain-sensing wipers. (After all, I looked at the Passat and the Camry, but there's an '03 Accord EX V6 in my garage.) I was just pointing out that the feature is real and available in the US on cars in the Accord's class. Ron
Yes, it is stitched. You can find some information about how it was made here http://tinyurl.com/9hva Full version of the link http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/page.cfm?objectid=12844132&method=full&siteid=89488&headline=TAKE%20606 It is stitched from two sequences with a bit of computer animation inserted to make the transition smoother. There are other tricks at work here. For example, wheels roll uphill in obviously unnatural way because they contain hidden weights that disbalance the wheel and help it to roll. This is, of course, an "honest" trick, no computers involved.
The car in the ad is the Accord Tourer - a station wagon body style. While I'm sure there are some potential buyers in the U.S., it just isn't available here. AIUI, even the sedan version available in Europe is a smaller car than we get in the U.S.... something Honda started with the '98 Accord with their flexible global platform which allows them to shrink the dimensions of the body according to the desired market. See this article: <http://www.businessweek.com/1997/36/b3543001.htm>. Rgds, George Macdonald "Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??
Quoth in Did you watch the ad through its conclusion? There is no Accord station wagon available in the US.
I didn't recall seeing a complete car at any point. Certainly for the US market, they could just show an appropriate model afterwards. It was right hand drive, but I really thought of that as Japanese, not British. My point is that it doesn't matter. They are Honda parts. It's a clever sequence.
They don't just "show a car afterwards". The complete car is the integral part of the sequence. Just watch the video from the beggining to the end. Replacing the car with an US model would require reshooting the entire sequence (as long as they want to stick to the "no computer tricks" philosophy, of course).
This is a UK commercial, right? Why doesn't the announcer have an accent? Sounds like a Yank! *Interesting*