New Honda commercial!

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

 

What country are you in? The Canadian 2003 Accords don't have that feature.

Sean

 

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.

 

And one of the Accord EX's main competitors, the VW Passat, has
rain-sensing wipers already.
Ron

 

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

 

Excellent! I'm getting ready to order my '04 V6 Coupe pretty soon.

 

Old Yes. Stitched Images: Not!

 

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*