In 2007, Commercial and feature VFX supervisor Kevin Rafferty from The Orphanage and director Joseph Kahn with HSI Productions teamed up with Lowe New York to create an “explosive” spot to introduce the new 2008 Saab 9-3 sedan.
Then, The 30 second commercial spot achieved great success.
The spot highlights the rebirth of the Saab 9-3 series which includes a sedan, sport combi and a convertible.
In a CG-packed spot, which was shot in an airplane hangar and in the 115° degree heat of Death Valley, a jet engine-blast fuels a fireball around the 2007 9-3. Then, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the new 2008 car is reborn racing through the sun-drenched stretch of road.
Making of Saab “Reborn” Commercial
Joseph Kahn is known for his visual flair and keen understanding of vfx; hisToxic music video for Britney Spears won the Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Music Video. About his experience with this spot, Joseph Kahn comments: “The Orphanage executed the very demanding task of finding beauty in an act of evolutionary destruction. They brought a compelling level of design artistry to an ambitious idea. I had a great experience working with them.”
A celebrated veteran of the industry, vfx supervisor Kevin Rafferty adds: “After the recent creative successes of Director Bong Joon-ho’s ‘The Host’ and ‘Fantastic Four’, I was excited to work on this visually arresting commercial, especially one with such a well known cutting-edge director.” Rafferty, a pilot himself, relished the challenge to envision and create a CG jet, CG jetblast, CG ‘welding’ sparks, CG molten metal, CG Saabs, CG set extensions and CG ground fog for what he called “an epic amount of elements for a 30 second spot.”
Final result
he Lowe New York agency team included: Chairman and Chief Creative Officer Mark Wnek, Creative Director Simon Bowden, and Executive Producer/Head of Production Sara Eolin. HSI Productions ran the live action shoot under the supervision of Executive Producer Michael McQuhae with DP Chris Probst and Line Producer Richard Weager and editorial out of The Whitehouse, NY. In addition to Kevin Rafferty, The Orphanage team included Executive Producer Paul Grimshaw, VFX Producer Lawson Owen and CG Supervisor Nathan Fariss.
