Swedish automotive giant Volvo has released a breath-taking three minute online film to promote the launch of the company’s new V90 Cross Country, in a shoot produced by Edinburgh-based service production company LS Productions.
Devised by Redwood and directed by Martin Swift, the film follows a couple as they embark on a luxurious road trip, pushing the rugged new all-road, all-weather hybrid to the limits across a variety of testing terrains.
Tasked with conjuring a Scandinavian look and feel to the film, LS Productions set about sourcing locations across Scotland, maximising the sheer diversity of natural beauty that the country has on offer. Having completed an extensive scouting mission, and following a four-day director’s recce in May, 15 locations across the Isle of Skye and Glen Etive were selected for the final shoot.
Sarah Drummond, Head of Production at LS Productions, comments: “Martin actually discovered us on Instagram and loves the location imagery we post so much, it fuelled a real desire to work with us – so it’s been great to collaborate with him on this project.”
Of this, Martin Swift says: "It only took a couple of hours driving through epic landscapes to realise that this was going to be a bit special. LS Productions completely embraced the creative vision, professionally integrated with our international crew, ensuring we all became one big happy Scottish family. I wanted to shoot in the highlands for a long, long time; I can now tick this off with a smile."
The shoot took a total of six days to complete, five of which were on Skye and the other 150 miles south, in Glen Etive. The team utilised their fantastic relationships with the local authorities to liaise police forces at each location, who operated all stop and holds to ensure the shoot stuck to the tight schedule.
Logistically, the LS team were in charge of a 47-strong crew as well as co-ordinating a total of 19 vehicles – not including the hitherto seen V90. “Another challenge thrown up on this project was keeping the hero car under-wraps,” explains Sarah. “Of course, the car itself is a brand new model and at the time of shooting it hadn’t been revealed to the public, so keeping it secure and out of view was essential.”
Shots of the car were captured using a Russian Arm which, loaded with the Alexa XT, was used for three days of the shoot, whilst five days were spent shooting with the Alexa Mini on a drone, provided by LS Productions’ long-standing partners and aerial photography experts LA Media.
“We have a fantastic relationship with LA Media,” says Sarah. “When their expertise is combined with our knowledge on drone friendly locations and a commitment to providing the best location management, it ensures that everything runs smoothly on the day of the shoot.”
Alex Fielding, Producer at Redwood, concludes: "Working with LS Production was an absolute joy! A great service company with fantastic location and production knowledge, great resources and an amazing team.”
CREATIVE CREDITS:
Creative Agency: Redwood
Senior Creative Team: Ian Dickson & Jamie Marsden
Account Director: Virginie Bourhis
Production Company: LS Productions
Head of Production: Sarah Drummond
Producer: Ray Allan
Director: Martin Swift
DoP: Carl Rasmussen
Producer: Alex Fielding
Editor: Nick McCarthy
Photography: Sam Christmas