Astra vs Drones: Holden hits new heights

Walking into the Melbourne Docklands studio felt a little like walking on set at the remake of ET.  It is a chilly day outside and equally cold within the studio's expanse.

Artificial fog fills the room as does the chilled atmospheric electronic music, the room is lit by a huge (custom made) hanging light box high up near the scaffold-filled ceiling.

The diffused light, cold and fog effect makes us shiver as if standing upon the fens and moors of Northern England.

Covered in strategically placed LED lights, a black Astra VXR sits menacingly off to the side, softly illuminated by studio lights.

Upon the newly painted grey floor are 10 quad-prop drones, purpose-built for this advertisement shoot, all designed with a predatorily insect look and adorned with colour-changeable LEDs.

Holden has reached out to Virtue, the in-house creative agency of VICE Media, which describes itself as the world’s pre-eminent youth media company and content creation studio, to help craft its new TV commercial for the born-again Astra VXR.

VICE has been in the youth media business since 1994 and now operates in 30 countries, continuing the print magazine it began in Montreal 20 years ago. But now it is exploding online with a mix of culture, sport, music, fashion, tech and highly polished journalism with a youth bent, as well as initiatives such as The Creators Project focussing on new art from around the globe.

Director Bradley G Munkowitz – or GMUNK, as he's known -- is here from the US to put together the 'Astra vs Drones' short film and TVC for Holden.

Munkowitz has been heavily involved in the company's technology channel The Creators Project, which was launched in 2009 with backing by Intel, and has many Hollywood blockbuster credits including the concept and creation of the opening titles to the movie Tron Legacy.

The combination of fog and stark LED lighting sits well with GMUNK’s style, but the fact that he is the only one standing among a crew of 80 or so people wearing a protective helmet is somewhat disconcerting.

The drone pilots lurk in the misty shadows, fingers poised over their remote drone controllers and ready to activate the swarm of custom-built spotlight drones.

GMUNK barks out some orders, the monitor in front of us lights up with a close-up shot of the rear of the Astra as well as an overhead view from a camera perched high on a pedestal. The drones whir into action, rising about three metres from the floor, lining up in two rows of five.

The Astra lurches into action, speeding down the outside of one drone line, white LEDs ablaze as the driver reaches the end of the line and throws the car around before running back between the hovering drones.

As the car passes each drone, the controlling pilot flips the blue LEDs to white.  The Astra reaches the other end of drone line and makes a sharp clockwise spin, metres from where we are standing. It is at this point; with the Astra's tyres squealing and the mist swirling, we realise why GMUNK is wearing a helmet.

Having completed a figure-eight track, again triggering the drone colour changes, the 'Carbon Black Flash' Astra blasts past the dolly-track camera and comes to rest at the end of the shoot in the darkened warehouse.

“The various techniques of light manipulation positioned the exercise more towards an art film than anything else, allowing the dramatic, abstract competition between the drones and the car to create a beautiful dance of light, form, colour, performance and technology,” he said.

Drone batteries last about eight minutes before the four props and LED lights take their toll. The pilots then emerge from the darkness to give them their own pit-stop, replacing the rechargeable energy source with a fresh one.

The plan is to subject the Astra to three sets of car-versus-drone challenges, in which spotlight drones fly in synchronised formation to form a moving racetrack with corners and checkpoints for Astra to attack. Holden claims the use of drones to create a moveable racetrack is a world first.

“This project is all about treating consumers like audiences," says VICE AU/NZ Managing Director, Michael Slonim. "Savvy brands such as Holden know it’s OK to market a product, as long as it’s adding value, and they’re telling a story that has a cultural relevance."

Holden says the Astra vs Drones campaign, which comprises a short online film and a series of 30-second TV adverts that go live today, signals a fresh direction and new thinking from the brand, but it won't say what it cost.

“We are taking the Holden brand into new territory and challenging the status quo," said Holden Executive Director of Marketing & Customer Experience, Geraldine Davys.

"Holden is going to continue to produce engaging and innovative content for our customers, content that traditionally may not be associated with the Holden brand. Astra vs Drones is perfect example of this; it’s a short film that certainly makes you sit up and take notice."