A wild herd of cars. See how the latest Toyota Hilux campaign was created19.11.2020

How do you make a vehicle behave like a wild, roaming animal? And how do you multiply pickups so that you have a hundred instead of three? Born to Roam is the title of the newest Toyota Hilux campaign, which was produced by the London branch of Papaya Films. The shoot took place, in summer, in Slovenia and Croatia. The&Partnership agency is responsible for creating the spot, illustrating the migration of the vehicles and their animal spirit. With director William Armstrong and director of photography Erik Henriksson.

The creators and producers of this campaign were faced with the challenge of depicting cars as a herd of wild animals, which follow their instinct and roam through immense landscapes. How was this vision implemented? Thanks to the multiplication of three Toyota Hiluxes and the use of picturesque terrains in Croatia in a way that they resemble those in African countries.

The “herd” of cars in the spot behaves much like African buffaloes, that travel together across the sunny continent. Therefore, creating the final shots in Slovenia and Croatia required not only the imagination and skills of the cinematographer, but also a lot of work from the post-production studio. Behind implementing the initial vision were, i.a. German drone operators, Polish CGI artists, as well as a Slovenian crew and a director from South Africa.

"Each element of creativity is a product of the environment in which it is established. No wonder that a campaign that was conceived and produced under conditions of restricted mobility, has a longing to roam. The idea for the spot appeared at a time when it was only possible to circle the nearest park, so the desire to have a car which you can drive anywhere you want, is a sort of escapism", says the creative director of the campaign, Dominic Gettin.

Each shot was meant to build the viewer’s idea that they’re looking at vehicles with a true animal spirit, which behave as creatures who love freedom and spaciousness. In order to achieve that, the producers and cinematographers used, in addition to classic cameras, other types of technology, including the Russian Arm for aerial filming and three types of drones.

The campaign is openly inspired by nature documentaries, which is why the spot features many elements from productions celebrating the earth. The narrator appearing in the campaign is famous for lending his voice in wildlife films. At the time of the shoot he was in the Kalahari desert, making a documentary about cheetahs.

"As a pro, he built himself a mattress hideout in his hotel room to remotely record sound, in excellent quality", explains the spot producer, Rupert Graves of Papaya Films London. See the results for yourself: