PROTON X50 ‘ROAR’

A 3^rd campaign for the X series, & I do believe, Proton’s most successful one to date.  Working with JPS from a rough concept by Kenneth, we wanted to incorporate 3 characters with different characteristics; a female who loves technology – hence the AI character transformation & showcasing the ADAS in digital form as well, a Caucasian couple who love the active lifestyle & what better sport to showcase than the fast-rising Pickleball, also subliminally showing off the sportiness of the X50, & finally, a family who love the fun outdoors.  Clients had a last minute additional request that took us by surprise – & ultimately enhanced the overall ending of the film – & that was to introduce a Tiger, whether live or not, it was up to us.  After brainstorming, we found that the best solution was to create an AI tiger, but even then, time was never on our side.  Thankfully, some dates were pushed back, & we managed to produce something really spirited & incredible with all the challenges we faced.  This is my 1^st foray into the AI world, & I must say, I think it has it’s advantages, because animating a 3D tiger from scratch would have been disastrous & blown our budgets. With incredible research & tests done by Tze Vern, Kenneth & Ng, we persevered to create the Tiger in different angles, as I wanted to showcase it with the car in several scenes.  However, the main limitation for this, was that we could not move the camera much.  It had to be pretty much static, not even an up & down movement, else, it would’ve been perfect!  We shot in the Paradigm Mall rooftop, SPE highway for the bulk of the driving scenes, & found the perfect location for the ending Fun Fair Theme Park in the Fun Park Gamuda Luge Gardens.  This provided some cool neon attractions, as well as a Ferris Wheel for some cool transitions.  The Pickleball scenes were shot at Pickle Park @Flour, Fire & Stone. Much fun to shoot, however, our talents had never played before, so it was quite challenging, but of course, with the power of editing, they did pretty alright in the end.  Shot over 3 days & some late nights, with Simon Chin as DOP for main unit, & Fong as 2^nd unit USP product shots.  We used the Sony Venice 2 as the main cam, together with the Sony FX3 & Insta 360X5 for rigging shots.  Edited by Ng, Color Graded by Jing Meccanica EFX, with Online by Xian Gen & Online support,  including all Motion GFX from Post Fellas. Music composed by Ananth.