The smart #3, Animation Film

SMART #3

I had the pleasure to direct a full cgi aerodynamic and design film for the new smart #3. Together with smart Europe, smart Automobile, Serviceplan China and Serviceplan Make I created this crazy ride through the three different worlds of the #3.

Realistic Art Form

The first of the three different worlds through which the vehicle moves in the film is defined by a very minimalist, sophisticated and artificial architecture. The positioning and colouring of the different buildings give the vehicle a lot of free space to stand out visually and the information level a good readability by using graphic air flows and typography. However, in order not to make the environment appear too cold and to give it the well-known "human touch", we also used colourful accents such as graphics on the street and on building facades, natural objects such as trees and used the shadow of the light as an important design element in the space.

Animation Art

For the second part of the film, we worked very closely with the illustrator Adolfo Correa and developed a colourful illustrative world in which the #3 was to be presented in a very artistic way. The aim was not to visualise reality, but to show the individuality and uniqueness of the vehicle. Adolfo Correa painted directly onto the car's driving sequences, which had previously been produced in 3D, and through this intended imperfection created an artistically sophisticated world that is more emotional than any digitally produced work.

Future-Tech / Computer Art

In the third part of our journey through the world of the smart #3, we wanted to visually communicate the electrified engine and the technological leadership of the car. For this reason, we developed a complex universe of luminous lines and dots, which are reminiscent of purely digital spaces in the way they are arranged. In addition, we integrated the topic of aerodynamics using luminous air flows that are displaced by the car and its speed.

Development of aerodynamic airflows

As the film was primarily intended to communicate the exceptionally good aerodynamic design of the smart #3 to the viewer, an essential part was the development of the air flows around the car. Both the shape and the animation of the lines had to integrate harmoniously into the real environment. For this, a wide range of different options were developed on the basis of countless tests, from very photorealistic visualisations to purely graphic solutions.

Urban graphics

When developing the graphics for use on the buildings and on the road, it was important not to make the shapes and colour palettes too complex and detailed, so that they would not distract too much from the car. For this reason, only a part of the designed graphics was often used for positioning, in order to give the design even more simplicity. During the development process, a large number of designs were created - only a part of them is shown here.

Design development

Storyboard

Credits

Client: smart Europe GmbH, smart Automobile Co., Ltd. Agency: Serviceplan China, Production Studio: Serviceplan Group Make, Director: Florian Stumpe, Executive Producer: Nastuh Abootalebi, Producer: Annette Grieße, Hanna Chornobrovkina Head of CGI: Sebastian Weidner, CGI Artists: Christoph Stuber, Dominik Markota, Martin Matzeder, Michael Diepold, Michael Meier, Nico Plauert, Niklas Schneider, Motion Design: Luis Barros, Peter Balicki, Technical Director: Claudio Hickstein, Editor: Martin Bierbaum, Compositing Artist: Tony Nitschke, Illustration Artist: Adolfo Correa, Storyboard Artist: Eilert Janßen, Music & Sound Design: Michael Fakesch, Special thanks to Alfredo Picardi