The Renault 5 was an iconic model of the brand and the best-selling car in France during the 1970s and early ‘80s. But production stopped in ‘84. And now 40 years later the Renault 5 is back–redesigned from scratch, 100 percent electric, using resourceful materials. It’s a turning point for the brand, marking a revolution in the automotive industry.

Marking the development is this creatively ambitious spot, “R5volution is a French thing, directed by Sebastian Strasser via production company Henry for agency Publicis Conseil. The piece takes us on an epic journey as a man climbs a gigantic mountain made of old Renault cars. The mountain itself represents what the brand (and more generally, the entire automotive industry) used to be: thermic cars, pollutants, no recycled materials. But when he finally reaches the top, the man discovers what’s on the other side–a car that stands for a new automotive world: electric, digital and resourceful. In other words, the Renault 5.

The mountain was created by assembling 120 wrecked Renault cars that were found all over Argentina. It was 10 meters high and had three climbing sides. Like a real Tetris game, they were assembled with real attention to shapes, colors and parts of the structure that permitted to do impressive stunts. The leading actor was supervised and doubled by an artistic director from “Le Cirque du Soleil.” CGI was used to extend the mountain around the real structure, bringing poetry and magic to this world. More than 72 Renault 3D models were used. Postproduction company Lipstick then had to create a specific VFX tool that allowed them to pile the cars up organically, and calibrate the amount of damage, rust, or missing parts of cars.

Credits

Client Renault Agency Publicis Conseil Agathe Bousquet, president, Publicis France; Marco Venturelli, chief creative officer, Publicis France, and CEO, Publicis Conseil; Marcelo Vergara, worldwide creative director; Antoine Querolle, copywriter; Clement Palouzier, art director; Sarah Bouadiera, TV producer; Philippe Martin-Davies, global strategy director; Caroline Petruccelli, head of production. Production Company Henry, Paris  Sebastian Strasser, director; Joost Van Gelder, Julian Hohndorf, Sebastian Blenkov, DPs; Hugo Diaz, producer; Renaud Jaget, line producer; Lucie Gardes, production coordinator; Clement Pignal, postproduction. Production Services La Casa Film Polo Luisetti, exec producer. Postproduction Prodigious Raimbaut Gaffier, Benjamin Cathaia, postproduction. VFX Lipstick Berlin Stefan Susemihi, exec producer; Madlen Folk, VFX producer. Editorial Everest Paris Walter Mauriot, editor; Patrick Bennar, supervisor SFX on set; Emiliano Serantoni, colorist. Audio Start Rec Arthur Lequime, Mathieu Francois, audio producer.

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