iCar, Our dystopian Detroit

We decided to open the reel with the sync sound of iCar. This plodding and awkward scene provides a counterpoint to contemporary SFX reels that are all about speed, zing and blitz… zzz.

Back in the 80s when I was hitting Siggraph pretty regularly, the early exhibition reels were chock full of awful plastic and chrome flying logos. Nowadays flying logos seem to be making a comeback, but you won’t be bored by that synthetic jive in the Trickster reel, heck no. Get ready for authentic boredom, full on!

Premise

An auto exec proposes a ‘new’ car concept a day before the Mayan calendar ends. This is old school Detroit to the bitter end, an exemplar of unsustainable civilizations. The archaic 35 mm slide projector and it’s incompetent operator, the cliche ad campaign, the canned patter of the executive and the murmur of the distracted fidgety audience coalesce to a delicious ennui that begs to be shattered by the imminent end of days.

From: Jonathan Kelly
Subject: Re: If this were for real…
Date: February 28, 2009 9:45:44 PM EST
To: Dan Kelly

Avenues of Future Development Based on Emerging Market Trends

Summary:
Bloodied and broken by a decades-long decay of market share and recent economic turmoil, General Motors Corporation decides to launch a re-envisioned product portfolio based on the latest market research. As the R&D projects mature into new and revised car model designs, a small internal product demonstration briefing of them is given before the marketing personnel, to layout the path for their advertising campaigns. This film centers on the that briefing, held within a dark, vague, windowless room in the bowels of the GMC headquarters. The Director of the Marketing, Research and Development Division gives the briefing, with a dry, monotonous voice and an archaic projector showing demo diagrams and animations, systematically going through each sector of the market and the corresponding new or improved car model that the company plans to use to enter or better compete within it. But through the actual content of the summaries of the cars, their features and limitations, and the proposed advertising campaigns for each of them, the formulaic and backwards thinking of the company and its customers is revealed, in a highly satirical and somewhat over-the-top fashion.

Jonathan’s original script featured several new car concepts – iCar, Excellus and Spark. He directed the live action in early 2010.  The iCar sequence was revived for the reel because we liked the implied smarmy infringement / collaboration with Apple Computer, and the staleness of the iconic ad campaign from the future perspective of 2012.

Rather than trying to find a conference room or build a 3D model and do bluescreen, we opted for the subtle/simple aesthetic, shooting the talent in a dark room. An exit sign would be the only other element needed to sell the scene. The projected graphics could be a cutaway and the whole thing carried off with two shots.

Jonathan’s EXIT

From: Dan Kelly
Subject: test
Date: March 8, 2009 4:07:00 PM EDT
To: Jonathan Kelly
Cc: Dan Kelly

Here’s a very quick test of the work we did last night. Following KISS * two visual elements tell the story. Add some echo of the talent’s amplified voice, some throat clearing and coughing from the audience and i think this will work. It would be very cool to pull it off with just talent and the exit sign I think.

You can always add more room elements later. I comped this in photoshop but I think we should comp in CS4 from now on.

* KISS = Keep it Simple and Subtle. Redefined for this post, and soon to expanded on in the Trickster Pictures Aesthetic.

Later we experimented with adding louvered blinds and a door outline to the live action. The door was later dropped. Showing a corner of the projection screen created stronger linkage when cutting between live action and graphics and also enabled us to suggest Apple by including a false hint of the famous logo.

James Weston gave us feedback that the our initial visual arrangement created an unlikely composition – a real camera operator wouldn’t include the EXIT sign in shot if they could get tighter on the talent. In the revised arrangement, the EXIT sign becomes an unavoidable element.

original composition

revised composition

Development is a discovery. Subtle enhancements suggested themselves as we progressed.

Jonathan was the director of this project. I assumed the role of foley and motion graphic artist working to realize his vision. Sound design established the context – a conference room with audience. By syncing the exec’s color correction with the changing slides, light appears to bounce from the projection screen to his face, creating a strong connection between live action and synthetic elements. iCar explored how effects can enhance and alter without being obvious. How to do more with less – simplicity, understated… magic.

Jeff Gibbs found iCar to be completely pointless, “You could do that with clip art and Flash!” Guess we gotta keep churning that aesthetic.