Santa Monica, Calif., Jan. 19, 2009 – Just breaking this past weekend, the new Acura RDX spot, “Wall Art,� produced by RPA, reveals the turbocharged crossover SUV’s city prowess—darting through alleys, ducking around corners, navigating the urban landscape.
In fact, it’s the landscape that really sets this spot apart. Enlisting the director duo of Chris Hopewell and Ben Foley of Collision Films (previous work includes music videos for Radiohead and Franz Ferdinand), this RDX commercial uses stop-frame animation techniques while plugging into the street art phenomenon. Famed Bristol, UK-based street artist Sainty (Henry St Leger), along with a team of 17 graffiti artists and painters, brought this idea to life on a massive 100-foot by 40-foot wall. All art was done by artists, not CGI.
“Wall Art� opens with an RDX parked in front of a blank wall. This same wall is painted and repainted with cityscape scenes, hundreds and hundreds of times, to animate the background behind the vehicle. The 10-day shoot for “Wall Art� used more than 450 gallons of paint and 500 cans of spray paint, resulting in more than 400 layers of paint on the wall.
“Wall Art� is premised on the RDX’s turbocharged engine, agile handling and sporty stance—the RDX is perfect for the city. The spot instills a sense of artistry and upscale sophistication in the brand.
Featuring a combination of large-scale street art and stop-frame animation, the commercial literally illustrates that the RDX is equipped for anything the city can create. The spot broke during the AFC Championship game on CBS and will continue to run on sports and high-profile programming such as 24, Criminal Minds and The Mentalist.
Elias Arts composer Kenny Segal created the music track behind the Accura “Wall Art� spot. Calling the music a “new-school funk track�, he says, “We wanted to build a piece that had a cool, re-mixy flavor to it, but at the same time we wanted the feel of having live musicians playing together in the room. We didn’t want a contrived ‘ad-funk’ track, but instead to present talented musicians jamming together. Initially guitarist Ryan Crosby and I came up with the basic groove over the drum track I laid down, and we then added acoustic bass and a great keyboard/organ player. The track was built, layer by layer, through our creative editing process, incorporating the best moments of each player’s performance. Once we had the piece almost completed, we brought these guys back into the studio again for some more jamming on top, as ‘icing on the cake.’�
The “Wall Art� commercial, an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the making of “Wall Art� and photos from the shoot, are all available at www.rpa.com/rdxwallart.
Credits:
RPA:
Chief Creative Officer: David Smith
Creative Director: John Hage
Senior Art Directors: Dan Buchmeier, Phillip Squier
Copywriter: Jeff Mullen
Agency Executive Producer: Jack Epsteen
Agency Senior Producer: Carolyn Casey
Production Co: Epoch Films
Executive Producer: Jerry Solomon
Line Producer: Pat Harris
Directors: Ben Foley/ Chris Hopewell (Collision Films)
Cameraman: Daniel Kutner
Music Company: Elias Arts
Composer: Kenny Segal
Sound Designer: Dean Hovey
Elias Creative Director: Dave Gold
Elias Executive CD: Jonathan Elias
Elias Executive Prod: Ann Haugen
Visual Effects Company: Moving Pictures Company
MPC Exec Producer: Mark Tobin
Visual Effects Artist: Adam Frazier
Visual FX Producer: Allyson Nevil
Offline Editor: Wendy Sandoval
Sound Mix Company: Ravenswork
Sound Mixer: Robert Feist
Telecine Company: Moving Pictures Company
Colorist: Mark Gethin
About Acura:
Acura offers a full line of technologically advanced performance luxury vehicles through a network of 270 dealers within the United States. The 2009 Acura lineup features five distinctive models including the RL luxury performance sedan, the TL performance luxury sedan, the TSX sports sedan, the turbocharged RDX crossover SUV and the award-winning MDX luxury sport utility vehicle. For media information and high-resolution photos of all Acura vehicles, please visit www.acuranews.com. For consumer information, please visit www.acura.com.
About RPA:
RPA, headquartered in Santa Monica, Calif., is a leading independent advertising agency based on the West Coast, with more than $1 billion in billings. RPA builds momentum for brands by offering its clients truly integrated campaigns that resonate throughout its disciplines, which include traditional advertising, interactive, and direct and event marketing. RPA’s client list includes American Honda, both the Honda and Acura brands, La-Z-Boy, Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Pharmavite’s SOYJOY and PENTAX Imaging Company, and it is the media planning and buying agency for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Lenox Financial Mortgage and Reily Foods. For more information, visit http://www.rpa.com.
About Elias Arts:
A pre-eminent and world renowned creative collective for over 28 years, Elias Arts is devoted to music composition, strategy and production. The company has employed the emotional strength of music and sound to launch, grow and reposition the most recognized brands and companies worldwide. Elias Arts has worked with well over half of the Fortune 1000 companies, and has also helped turn numerous startups into everyday brand names. Among the clients Elias Arts has worked with are AOL, Mastercard, Sony, Columbia Pictures, Nike, Apple, Coca-Cola, AT&T, Ebay, Honda, Intel, Visa, Yahoo, Universal Studios, Microsoft, McDonalds, ESPN and General Motors, to name just a few
With offices in Santa Monica and New York City, global resources and a renowned roster of gifted composers, producers, and marketers, the mission of Elias Arts is to constantly strive for creative excellence and distinction through the art of music and sound design. The company is the recipient of over 700 major industry awards from around the world. For more information, please visit www.eliasarts.com
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