The Colonie Helps Toyota Launch 2017 Corolla
October 13, 2016

The Colonie Helps Toyota Launch 2017 Corolla

CHICAGO — The Colonie (www.thecolonie.com) recently teamed with Burrell Communications to provide editorial, VFX and design services for I Do, a new broadcast spot for Toyota that introduces the 2017 Corolla. Editor Bob Ackerman took the automaker’s tagline, “Let’s Go Places,” and ran with it. Fast-paced cuts and editing effects helped create an upbeat message that celebrates the bold creativity of both the new Corolla and its target audience - today's on-the-go generation of young African American adults.
The Cavalry in LA served as the production company for the spot, which integrates three distinct vignettes, each with a bold, imaginative spin. The spot opens with a young woman behind the wheel of her Toyota. She arrives at a city park and her friends help her yarn bomb the surroundings. 

The second scenario finds an enterprising man parking his Toyota Corolla and unloading his 'Pop-Up Barbershop' in front of a tall wall adorned with artful graffiti. A well-placed painting of a young man’s face sits under a huge Afro-shaped dome of leaves that extends over the top of the wall completes the picture. 

The third vignette featuring a young filmmaker shooting footage of the 2017 Toyota as her crew adds some illuminating effects. Taking her cues from this scene, The Colonie’s senior designer, Jen Moody, crafted a series of shots that utilize a “light painting” technique to create a trail of light effect. One of the characters writes the spot’s title, “I Do” with a light, which Moody layered to create a more tangible quality that sells the effect. VFX supervisor Tom Dernulc took a classic Toyota Corolla from a previous segment and seamlessly integrated it into the background of the scene.

The Colonie team explored several methods for creating the various VFX in the spot before deciding upon a combination of Autodesk Flame Premium and Adobe After Effects. Then, it was a matter of picking the right moments. Ackerman grabbed some of their top choices, roughed in the effect in Avid Media Composer, and presented the client with a nearly finished look right from the very first rough cuts.  

“Early on, creative director Lisa McConnell had expressed a desire to explore using a series of stills flashing to advance the spot’s story,” says Ackerman. “We loved the idea. Condensing short sequences of footage into rapid progressions of imagery provided us with an innovative way to convey the full scope of these three scenarios in a very limited :30 time frame, while also adding an interesting visual element to the final spot.” 

Chicago Recording Company’s Ian Scott provided sound design and handled the mix. Yessian provided the music track.