Directed to give each a unique identity, both the Lexus ES “Remember” and Lexus IS “No Good Deed” spots debuted earlier in September and will continue to air during high-profile broadcast and cable programming over the weeks ahead.
In “Remember,” a couple enjoys a night on the town with friends, where their ES 350’s luxury and integrated technologies simplify planning while on-the-go. In “No Good Deed,” another couple dramatically illustrates how some things aren’t what they appear to be, while the 306-horsepower Lexus IS 350 is exactly what it appears to be.
“Both of these scripts from Team One were inspiring,” said Dunmore. “As we collaborated on defining the narratives, looks and unique visual signatures, we engaged Brewster Parsons to help us focus on the human and emotive aspects of the performances to fully leverage their artistic capabilities.”
Dunmore and his RSA Films colleagues, including director of photography Phillippe Le Sourd (The Grandmaster), president Jules Daly, VP/executive producer Marjie Abrahams, head of production Elicia LaPort and line producer Betsy Blakemore shot for three days in Los Angeles to capture footage for both spots. Dunmore noted that both films were realized with a performance-based cinematic approach with in-camera physical effects.
“We wanted a very organic approach to the effects, and Brewster Parsons delivered this through the process and with their on-set attendance,” said Dunmore. “All elements were filmed in camera, in the lighting and mood of each scene and without encumbrance of greenscreen or overt technical specification, then reworked and integrated by Brewster Parsons to give an original and seamless integration to enhance and define key moments of the films.”
The Brewster Parsons team was led by visual effects supervisors Andrew Eksner, Louis Mackall and Simon Brewster. Together, they focused on giving “No Good Deed” a distinct filmic look, facilitating some visual storytelling effects for both spots that would have been challenging to capture in camera. Such challenges included CG water elements in “No Good Deed,” adding gallery wall art and animation for the opening scene of “Remember,” handling extensive visual effects for both spots’ endings, and most importantly, making the cars look their best.
“Collectively, we have a great deal of experience in the realm of photography, and we all keenly understand and appreciate that photo technology is advancing very rapidly,” said Eksner. “For this project, working with Laurence and Phillippe, we used many of the techniques we’ve learned, like micro-contrast enhancement and mode-blending, which we feel had a major impact on making the cars look especially great.”
“Both spots were beautifully sculpted and realized from vision to reality by both Steve Gandolfini and Lucas Eskin of Cut & Run in the edit – taking on new perspective, inspired with alternate vision and collaboration,” Dunmore added. “Also, working with Stefan at Company 3 always brought an originality and cinematic flair to the films through look and feel, enhancing the brilliance of Philippe Le Sourd’s cinematography.”
