In June, we introduced the Civic Type R concept with a roar, to kick off a whole host of campaign activity over the coming months showcasing the 'Other Side of Honda’. Now we’re back with a new pan-European, multi-channel campaign that celebrates the Civic range and Honda’s unparalleled dedication to thorough testing.

The campaign is based on the idea that ‘there’s testing, then there’s Honda testing’, showcasing the dramatic lengths the manufacturer will go to when testing their vehicles, specifically the Civic model. (To be precise, cars at Honda’s European manufacturing plant in Swindon are tested in a specially controlled climate chamber from -30’c to +80’c conditions.)

The campaign launches with a 30” film, which brings to life these extreme environments by encasing the car in ice before slowly melting it away against a changing backdrop. This is further supported by print executions, as well as a rich media ad featuring an interactive version of the film.

Under the direction of Johnny Hardstaff, production team watched the car and snow-covered set melt of over a 5-hour sequence, filming 200 takes of the process on a motion control rig. MPC's team, led by Adam Crocker, developed a technique that enabled the director and creative team to navigate intuitively through hundreds of motion control takes, giving them full creative control over the rate at which the car and floor was melting/ freezing. MPC's 3D team enhanced the scenes to augment the snow-covered environment, turning a skeleton into a snowman and a cactus into conifers.