PROTON SAGA ‘ICONIC’
Grateful to be given this huge opportunity to create the iconic video for such a cherished & loved car. Before Geely ever came into the picture, Proton made this iconic car that would ultimately transcend 4 decades & still be relevant in the automotive industry today. Working on some initial concept ideas with Kenneth under JPS, we knew a few things. We needed a ‘Wow’ factor, just like the previous X50 video. And to bring back that timelessness, we wanted to focus on the art of making the Songket and also to feature some wild, retro yet modern animated Songket designs flowing in the environment, with the help of AI. So, with so much animation involved, and an extremely short production timeline, we got off to work to shoot the video in 3 full days. We had limited highways to film on – as SPE pulled out on us last minute – so we had to run & gun it on the Penchala Link instead – with cops & DBKL with us, of course. This was a logistical nightmare to be honest. We had to return to KKB twice – once to shoot some badminton scenes, & then another day to shoot the outskirts & the heritage buildings – which were ultimately replaced using AI. Creative & matching transitions were crucial to this spot, to create a very GenZ film, as this car is made primarily for that market. Hence, the scenarios depicted – dance, e-gaming, dj/parties, & the mandatory family scenario – & even then, the family dressed in a more GenZ color vibe. The ending scenario was meant to be a grand closing, with a drone shot flying over the 3 Sagas into the Stadium Merdeka & eventually tilting up to reveal the entire Merdeka 118. However, It was a no-fly-zone as police enforced this ruling so close to 118. DPed by Kenz Koh as main unit, & Fong as 2nd unit (covering all the USPs), using 2x Sony FX3 cameras. We also had the DJI Osmo Action 5 camera for some scenes, & the Insta360 X5 for one scene where we palced the camera under car & had the car reverse as we lifted the camera up – in which we cleverly reversed the footage afterwards. Edited by Ng, color graded by Nash, Onlined by Xian Gen with additional support from Post Fella’s Am, and Songket Animation GFX by Tze Vern, & additional Motion GFX support from Post Fellas. Music was eventually composed by Ananth.