Go Beyond…?

I can’t tell how I feel about this new spot from The Mill for Land Rover. For The Mill’s part, it’s incredibly well done; the vfx work is simply stunning.

And there are some very nice directorial moments from Nicolai Fuglsigâ€â€?the entire office scene, for instance. That green glow across the workers’ faces is a great touch, making us feel as though we are inside a horrible 1985-ish computer terminal looking out at ourselves, trapped in an office with bad air conditioning. The whole thing is beautifully claustrophobic.

mill.jpg

But it also feels a little forced. There’s a fine line between melodrama and fantasy, and I think this spot dances over that line from time to time, mainly due to overly exuberant writing near the end. I don’t really buy the climax. I do, however, think recalling the office scene (with that artfully placed phone ring!) was a slick move that recovers some of the spot’s power.

About the author

Justin Cone

/ justincone.com
Together with Carlos El Asmar, Justin co-founded Motionographer, F5 and The Motion Awards. He currently lives in Austin, Texas with is wife, son and fluffball of a dog. Before taking on Motionographer full-time, Justin worked in various capacities at Psyop, NBC-Universal, Apple, Adobe and SCAD.

11 Comments

doctor

stress on words in VO is completely melodramatic, i think that bothers me more than the writing. Are they trying to fool us out of knowing this is a car commercial? If you wanna “Go Beyond” drop the end tag and product placement and just sponsor the film. Photography and VFX are nice though, will give it that.

justin

“…drop the end tag and product placement and just sponsor the film.”

Very nice suggestion. That would have shown some courage.

SNDK.NO

“typical” car ad where the car company is strugelig to grab a tag line that put their product in a top of mind position. I belive the effects was nice and all, Gregors voice worked (Im a big GP fan and have seen the movie Faster where he has the voice to many times.)
But I belive as “the doctor” (are you Rossi?) they failed in establishing “Go Beyond” as a top of mind when you think of a car brand that will take you places virtualy and in “real life”.

I guess a hummer could take you longer when it comes to driving, and a Ferarri or a Cooper touch you soul more then a Land Rover…

a

Turn off the audio and try to forget that its a card.. lovely visuals, utterly stupid concept.

Indeed

Oops. Makes the mistake of inserting the actual product into the now-branded emotion. Cheesy. Should have just sponsored the film.

It works better to let the audience draw the connection between the brand and whatever aspect of the human condition is being parasiticly used:

https://www.museedelapub.org/pubgb/virt/mp/benetton/graphics/benettondia17.jpg

alex

If I were to “Go Beyond”, it would most certainly not be to a place where cops marvel at giant soap bubbles. Out of focus naked chicks on a beach? Maybe. But the no bubbles thing is non-negotiable.

powermac

I am not sure about idea. Too much of “lifestyle” emotions makes film cheap.

lemon

The whole thing is too corporate and uninspired. It’s long and a bit cliche. Even the director couldn’t save this spot from being just plain boring.

travis

50% of this was audio… 50% of the audio was the VO.. The vo for the most part sucked… Making this 75% successful.

dontregister

A nice movie. Making it for a car turns the whole thing to absurdity.
So much just to sell what we don’t need : a big fat car.
And i feel uncomfortable with the voice-over. It seems like an antidrugs campaign voice.

DR.

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