Challenge

Air Wick Fresh New Day Scented Oils fill your home with soft fragrances that won't overpower. To show just how much other scenes overwhelm, Air Wick and Havas envisioned a home literally bursting at the seams with smelly potpourri. Two options presented themselves to us: we could create the entire explosion in CGI, or choose a practical approach. From the get go, we figured a real potpourri explosion would provide us with three key things: realism, time, and flexibility.

Solution

When it comes down to it, when you film something, the quality is free. Air Wick’s emphasis on being natural, also was a pro for choosing an in-camera approach. Before sharing our pitch, we tested potpourri explosions, which we believe was instrumental to our winning the work. Because of the test, we knew the explosions would work on the soundstage in Argentina. We used real potpourri, which became a challenge, as some of the potpourri came still damp, rather than completely dry. It wouldn’t explode at first because it was too heavy. A last minute order of fresh flowers created a lighter load. In the end, the pressure was awesome and blew the potpourri fifty feet across the soundstage.

The time and flexibility that came from an in-camera approach allowed us to get more footage off the cuff. A shot of the living room filled with potpourri wasn’t on our original shot list, but we had time to get it – this was also possible because we had built each room of the New England-style home on the soundstage.  

Each room was its own unique set. The space was heavily art directed, with Wes Anderson-inspired symmetry. We also created a visual connection between the space and the product packaging. While at first we considered building the set at two thirds of the size, this would call for more things to be changed in post.

In the final spot, the explosion is stitched together in a wide shot. Different takes are combined to create one perfectly choreographed explosion that fills the garden in one sequence.

This project was a joy from beginning to end. With the time, flexibility, and realism that live action allowed, we created a fun and entertaining spot.