BMW - 5 Series Launch Event
This year, BMW launched the 8th generation of its legendary 5 Series, including the first all electric i5. To celebrate the launch, they invited dealers from across North America to Atlanta for the ultimate BMW experience. The 3-day event culminated at the Illuminarium, where 400 attendees would drink, dine, and take in truly immersive visuals.
That’s where we come in.
Guests enter the Illuminarium event space in a large oblong room called “Room 1.” This room is outfitted with multiple projectors that transform the walls into one seamless screen. To kick off the evening on a high note, BMW wanted to surround the attendees with the experience of the car in action.
BMW and event marketing company Czarnowski turned to us to create a 3 minute immersive branded content about the next generation of the 5 Series, spanning over 34 million pixels and 360 degrees. The opportunity to create an experiential piece on such a unique canvas and on such a large scale had our creative engines revved up.
Story Roadmap
As we dove into the project, we knew that we needed to keep the audience’s attention for the duration of the presentation. Just relying on dazzling visuals would not be enough to keep the audience engaged.
So we broke up the piece into three parts:
History: Since this event was about the launch of the 8th Generation, we wanted to look back at the legacy of the previous 7 generations. Using still imagery and quotes about each generation, this section was designed have a deliberate pace and act as a way to help get attendees oriented in the Room 1 space.
Reveal: Once we get to the 8th Generation, things kick into gear. With closeups, slow motion, and fast cuts, this section is all about revealing the car in the most exciting, dynamic way possible.
Driving Experience: We expand the focus from the car to the experience that the car enables. This section envelops the audience in footage of the car in action, as well as destinations across North America.
360 Degrees of Driving Excellence
This event was a chance for us to create an experience on a scale we haven’t tackled before. We’ve done ultra-ultra wide screens, but nothing in 360 degrees before. The resolution of the entire screen is a mind-boggling 16246 x 2100.
A massive canvas comes with some massive challenges. Creating for 360 degrees requires a level of thought, technique, and careful testing.
First of all, there’s no monitor that exists that can truly display something at that aspect ratio. We created a 3D model of the space, so we could test out the video in a virtual render.
While content could be placed anywhere, it was extremely important to direct the audience’s attention. We didn’t want the audience spinning in circles as they watched this. We chose to place two hero screens toward on the end wall, as that was naturally where people would be looking as they enter the room. We oriented the primary content on this wall, with supporting content expanding from and contracting to that point.
Another major concern was motion sickness. With such a large 360 degree screen, you can create a convincing sense of movement. But too much of that movement can really disorient guests. It was important to strike a balance, picking the right moments for thrilling speed without making it overwhelming.
We also used the video to help with crowd flow, as the 400 guests could not all fit in the room at once. The video ends on a nighttime panorama, with the i5 parked in the hero position. In the video, we placed a streetlamp located just above the exit door. The lamp turns on, synced to the door opening. This helps draw focus to the door and tell guests that it’s time to move to the next room, without breaking the immersive experience.
The Model of the Ultimate Driving Machine
Because the vehicle is so new, there’s not much photography or video of the new BMW i5 in action. We also didn’t have access to the vehicle (but even if we did, it may have been impossible to stop Stephen from joyriding it long enough to film it).
We created the reveal section entirely in CG. BMW provided us with a high-resolution 3D model. Our artist Sean Kiley created the gorgeous reveal shots in Unreal Engine. This section is primarily in black. It creates a sense of mystery, as the i5 emerges through light and reflections. This emphasizes the beauty of the car, showcasing the grace of the design and the elegance of its silhouette.
The dark colors also helped with the ambient light bounce from the projectors. Through testing, we discovered that a darker environment created more contrast, making the reveal more impactful.
AI-enhanced Journey
For the Driving Experience section, we had one major issue: finding content that was high-resolution enough to span the massive screen. Because this was the North American reveal of the car, American driving footage had not yet been shot by BMW.
Some footage of the car did exist on BMW Europe’s website, but at a resolution of 640x480. You don’t have to be a resolution nerd to know that’s way too small for the massive screen.
Our solution? We used AI tools to massively upscale the footage. We then mixed it in with high resolution shots of landscapes and scenery.
The end result is a stunning mix of driving footage and landscape and city visuals.
The Sound of Speed
The sound was just as important to creating this experience as the visuals.
We had access to BMW’s audio of the car. For the traditional gas engine, there was a library of engine sounds and road noise.
For the electric i5, we were given the electric vehicle sounds that were designed by Hans Zimmer.
We used sound on key shots to deepen the experience of the vehicle. But our vision was to have music drive the experience. We used 4 music tracks. For the history section, the track is nostalgic and builds slowly. That’s contrasted with the Reveal track, which is energetic and full of deep tonality. This track takes advantage of the haptic floor, which vibrates along with the rumble of the bass. Feeling the music and the sounds from the car creates a new layer of immersion.
For the driving experience, we start with an uplifting track that felt expansive with the possibility of exploration. Finally, as we arrive at our destination, we transition to an anthem for our climactic finale.
You have arrived
As the music fades and the screen goes to black, we hear faint sounds of the city during the night. The guests are treated to a panoramic screen of Atlanta at night. The 8th Generation i5 drives forward and stops with the city behind it. The streetlamp turns on above the exit, and the guests exit to the cocktail reception.
The event was a roaring success, and we are so happy to have helped kick it off on a high note. It was a true thrill seeing this project come to life, in all 360 degrees.
Our thanks to the teams at BMW, Czarnowski, and Illuminarium.
Credits
Client: Czarnowski
Video Content Producer: Leslie Kleine
Senior Account Director: Brennon Dacquay
Creative Director: Lauren Bernstein
Venue: Illuminarium
Head of Production / Senior Producer: Felix Cabrera
Production Company: Elevation
Executive Creative Director: Stephen Cocks
Creative Director: David Hendrix
Senior Designer, Animator: Sean Kiley