An Astronaut Discovers a New World in Hyundai's IONIQ 6 Spot

Prepare yourself for an outer-worldly experience from director Mackenzie Sheppard, with his typical, eccentric flair: ‘The Awakening’ -- Hyundai’s new launch film for their latest EV line, follows an astronaut who discovers a new world — the IONIQ 6.

The film begins as an epic space movie, keeping viewers in suspense. What seem like intergalactic objects flying by our hero are actually the IONIQ’s charging port and digital sideview mirror. The space explorer drifts through the interior of the car, revealing the IONIQ’s sleek new feature design. As the spot crescendos, the astronaut collides and links together with the car’s key-fob. Turns out the astronaut is a lost keychain that’s been reunited with its key! Finally, the exterior is shown with the claim: ‘Awaken your world’.

Mackenzie’s approach to shooting as much in camera as possible involved many technical challenges, such as creating a vast sense of scale in the car. Using a 3D model of the vehicle in Unreal Engine, Mackenzie pre-visualised shots himself. This was an essential step in planning how to rig the camera for the desired perspectives since none of the elements of the car (i.e. seats and doors) were allowed to be removed for shooting. 

The film was produced by BONAPARTE in collaboration with creative agency INNOCEAN Berlin. Serviced by Twentyfour Seven in Warsaw. The stunning visual effects were created by bEpic, while the wizards at DELI handled post and online.