Infiniti: The New M

Posted Apr 21st 2005 3:59PM by Tom Biro
Filed under: Agencies, Outdoor, Television

infinitibillboard150 Recently, new spots showed up on television promoting Infiniti's new M45 model. The campaign, by TBWA\Chiat\Day out of Los Angeles, have a pretty good story behind them in the "How ever did they do that?" category. TBWA\Chiat\Day brought in LA-based Rockfight for the production, and West Hollywood's A52 handled the visual effects.

The first commercial, the :30 "Dusk," [QuickTime] features the vehicle's new adaptive headlights showing up after a swirl of light enters the dark screen. Shortly thereafter, a swirl of light introduces a spinning wheel with the voiceover discussing "unsurpassed 335 horsepower." Finally, the car is seen from the side, with slashes of light marking its contours, the darkness giving way to a lit screen and the camera panning out as the Infiniti logo fades in.

The second spot, the :15 "All Wheel Drive," [QuickTime] starts quickly, with the light swirls identifying the left side tires of the M, showing it race through a snowstorm. The side-view follows, with the climax of the logo again. This ad is short and sweet, and is meant to give you the feeling of comfort and control, even in driving snow.

While the ads on their own are pretty excellent, the punch line is better.

As it turns out, exactly two things are actually real in "Dusk," and it's the slashes of light and the car itself.

The whole background of desert, road, mountains, and more is all CGI. In fact, A52 says that there are about six million branches of sagebrush in the ad - all rendered there for your viewing enjoyment. Well, the car is actually CGI too, but it was modeled after a real vehicle that ran on a conveyor belt during filming.

Below: "Dusk" Scene 2

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Below: "Dusk" Scene 3

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Below: "Dusk" Scene 4

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Below: "Dusk" Scene 5

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For "All Wheel Drive," the M45 is also the CGI model, the light slashes are real, but the snow - all of it - is CGI. Though in this case, they do admit to spraying a little bit of frost to the vehicle for the live-action shots before creating the model.

Below: "All Wheel Drive" Scene 1

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Below: "All Wheel Drive" Scene 2

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Below: "All Wheel Drive" Scene 3

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Below: "All Wheel Drive" Scene 4

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Scene 2's still is the only place that it feels to me like CGI at all - the live action footage doesn't seem that way at all. Though "Simulation" at the bottom of the shot probably influences that thought process.

A52 also informs that the CGI model of the M45 is used in all elements of Infiniti's latest campaign - the outdoor/billboards and the brochures included.

[Footage and images courtesy of A52]

Reader Comments

(Page 1)

1. Does anyone know the music in the ad? The car is nice but I really like the music. I dont know what it is but it fits pretty nice. Someone come up with a name of the music cause its been killing me. Thanks.

Posted at 11:55AM on Jun 15th 2005 by James

2. Who cares? After 16 years of crappy ads, we finally get a average ad and we are to be impressed?
The car looks like an Altima with giant head and tailights.

Posted at 4:17PM on Jun 16th 2005 by George Chaney

3. That is about as far from an Altima as you can get. Sure it's made by the same parent company, but that vehicle is far superior to an altima. Walk around one, sit in one. Hell, go drive one. I think you'll agree that it is an amazing vehicle.

I like thte commercials. If this were a Lexus I wouldn't even pay attention.

Posted at 4:17PM on Jun 16th 2005 by Jason Rist

4. George Chaney is mad because he cant afford one. The new M45 is a awesome car and I love it so much.

Posted at 4:17PM on Jun 16th 2005 by Harmon

5. this is a turnaround for infinity. in the 80's they hired hill holiday of boston to come up with an innovative ad for their new luxury line. the ad featured no car, just elegant organic, natural shapes and images. unfortunately, the first infinitys looked more like taurus, and no amount of 'creative' think was going to sell the car against mercedes and cadillac. so to admonish someone, other than their crappy designers, like all derivative japanese designs, they laid off over a 100 hill holdiay employees who worked in california for the infinity account; they blamed the ad people for their low sales. now, they're using the same concept...morphed organic shapes and geometric non car images. go figure!

Posted at 4:17PM on Jun 16th 2005 by tim

6. #4: These ads are nothing like the first ones you reference. The focus is on the car this time, in case you did not notice. Unless of course, you did not bother seeing the ads and just pasted your comments from the Autoblog forum that cites this story at AdJab!

Posted at 4:17PM on Jun 16th 2005 by Digant Jariwala

7. I've seen them, big deal. I like the new A6 and GS ads better.
That Halloween Orange has to go

Posted at 4:17PM on Jun 16th 2005 by Howdy

8. You actually liked the GS ads? Like wow man, I was swimming around on the ocean floor and found an ignition button. Next thing I know, I'm cruising in a new GS! What the hell is so important about that feature that they spent half the ad talking about it? They're not exactly rare on $30,000+ cars nowadays.

Posted at 4:17PM on Jun 16th 2005 by The Dude

9. can we say super sized G35?

Posted at 4:17PM on Jun 16th 2005 by carfan05

10. Is there a site were I can see this commercial!?

Posted at 4:17PM on Jun 16th 2005 by AJ

11. The Infiniti M ads are cool and all, but who did the music? I really want to know. It sounds a lot like older DJ Shadow work.

Posted at 4:17PM on Jun 16th 2005 by John

12. John - the music by LA-based Elias Arts, with composer David Wittman, David Gold as creative director, and Dayna Turcott as producer. It was ultimately mixed and finalized by Skywalker Sound.

Posted at 4:17PM on Jun 16th 2005 by Tom

13. I wanted tonknow the name of the song, the song was really cool and I've been tyring to catch the commercial for the last couple weeks and i finaly heard it today (June 10, 2005) during the Game 1 of the finals..heh heh...anyway...whats the name of it?

Posted at 4:20PM on Jun 16th 2005 by Gerald Parks

14. and why isnt there any sound on my video playing through quick time? I'll try and work it out

Posted at 4:20PM on Jun 16th 2005 by Gerald Parks

15. Hi James and Gerald: Regarding the name of the music, sorry to say, there is none. The music was composed specifically for the campaign. Elias Arts (www.eliasarts.com) has a long history of creating amazing music for commercial campaigns which people fall in love with and crave -- but yet, the only way to hear the music is on the ads themselves. Feel free to direct your live their way.... Cheers!

Posted at 1:23PM on Jun 21st 2005 by Roger Darnell

16. I was wondering if anyone knew the title of the song that plays in the background of these commercials. Please post if you know. Thanks for the Help!

Posted at 10:06PM on Aug 15th 2005 by Suzanne Sudman

17. The line up that infiniti has right now is amazing- every single one of their vehicles are the best in its class! the FX is unbelievably stylish, and the design and look that it has still looks futuristic today. and anyone who would by an Audi A6, or any Jaguar over the M is a dumbass. everyone knows that if your car isn't made from a japanese company, it will probably break down within the first 30 days. germans make crap cars!
and anyone who would get a lexus GS- or any lexus for that matter over the M obviously hasn't sat inside the new M, and compared it to the GS (or any other lexus). The M has the nicest interior over any car .

Need another reason? check the M's 0-60 and compare.
Infiniti has the nicest, most innovative, high-quality, high-tech, luxurious, extreme performance vehicles out there.

Posted at 5:25PM on Sep 29th 2005 by Ryan

18. carfan05 - This is an iteration of a platform design, hardly the same car. Besides, the G35 is an excellent car.

Posted at 1:48AM on Nov 4th 2005 by Glenn Pratt

19. http://www.infiniti.com/content/0,,cid-123084_sctid-52054,00.html brushstroke commericals and others for M.

Posted at 12:43PM on Dec 12th 2005 by Carmaster

20. I don't the title of the song Sudman...

But what I wanted to say is that M45 should be named the best car of the YEAR. Damn, it gives you everything you ever imagined in a car, and for the best price compared to its competitors. Excellent interior amenities, sporty performance, kickass alloy wheels and styling that's only second to that of the mercedes CLS 55 AMG! The CLS is to die for! On top of that Car and Driver conducted a test in which M45 beat BMW 545, which was the car of the year recently.

Posted at 12:43PM on Dec 12th 2005 by Carmaster

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