Catch that Baleno!
Last night I had a dream. I was stuck in a traffic jam and couldn’t move forward a single inch. Then everything changed in the dream and I was driving a Baleno with the ease we drove through the city during last production.
In the project “Opposites” by Bakery Films from Germany for the 2016 Suzuki Baleno it was a challenge to show that the Canary Islands and specifically Tenerife was not only beaches and moon-like volcano landscapes. Santa Cruz de Tenerife is not usually known for holding urban automobile TV Commercials but It’s been a pleasure, once again, to demonstrate that what was unbelievable we made it possible.
For this commercial mostly urban locations and an empty highway were needed. The metropolitan feeling a client would look for in this kind of spot was achieved. Modern architect designed buildings, skyline, an American empty pool for skateboarders, roads leading to the city, urban tunnels – places that people wouldn’t usually think of in Tenerife, were easily found and used in this project.
The first two days of production were focused on the actors and their behavior depicting contrast but unity. By the second day, on a company move to the hilly, green and serpentine roads of the mountain range of Anaga we reached the uninhabited areas of northern Tenerife in a matter of minutes leaving the metropolitan feeling of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in an easy to reach but still far away bucolic background. On the last day of shooting we kept the contrasts up and shot the car driving through a beach road surrounded by palm trees and a summery light blue sky and we finished on a modern highway made of concrete for the speed shots.
With the fast, furious and fun procedures of the rolling blocks and the use of a last generation mini Russian arm mounted on a just developed new Porsche Macan, we were soon delighted on set with incredible takes and still pictures.
We had full cooperation of the authorities that know the needs and nature of car commercials. They didn’t only help us with the shooting permits but also with the driving sequences. We shut down half of the major roads of the city but the traffic kept being fluid where we were not working leaving us enough space to keep the shots clear of unwanted cars on the background. We felt like VIP’s every time the authorities set up a block to make us run into a red light safely just for the sake to get a better shot. The well-orchestrated driving choreography was fast and precise having most of the time two convoys simultaneously driving and shooting around.
For this commercial, an European casting call was made for all the actors, but three of the most complicated ones to find – two identical twin brothers and a little boy able to skateboard- were found among the local talents demonstrating that in the Canary Islands, you won’t only find the variety but also the quality that the client is searching.
