Agency M&C Saatchi Abel set out to showcase the “Luxury of Choice” with the new RX 450h+, a HEPV (Hybrid Electric Petrol Vehicle) that allows the driver the choice of which driving mode depending on his or her situation.
I was asked to pitch for the campaign in September of 2023 and was awarded the job. My amazing team from And. immediately began pre-production. Filming commenced on November 19th 2023 and we filmed for 2 days in total. The first day in studio at Panavision South Africa studios here in Johannesburg, and the second day we filmed on location in Johannesburg CBD. The shoot went incredibly smooth, with our only hiccup being the uncertainty of Loadsheddin in Johannesburg for the night shoots. We relied on the street lights on the M1 highway, and as per usual South African custom, the lights were off even though the loadshedding schedule for that part of the city was not meant to be on. Fortunately just before we had to scrap the shot and move to plan B (Yes, I had 3 alternative locations planned just incase loadshedding was an issue) the lights suddenly turned on and we were able to get the shot.
We had to block the entire highway for the shot, and I cannot thank Anton Nel and his location team for organising with Metropolitan police to ensure the smooth shutdown and safety of the crew and drivers alike. We had a rolling soft lockdown which would have a few lead vehicles who would entire the highway first and begin blocking the 4 lanes. We would then get the all clear and the hero vehicle and camera vehicle would enter the highway. We would shoot for 30-45 seconds driving at 60kph along the highway and then immediately get off at the next offramp which was just over 1km away from where we had entered and the blockade of the highway started. Once we had reached our exit point, we would call all clear on the highway and the metropolitan police would then allow traffic back through.
It was so well coordinated and ran smoothly. So, again, a big thank you to the location team and metro police.
The biggest challenge was having to deal with the inconsistent load shedding schedule in Johannesburg CBD. The locations we needed to use relied heavily on the schedule remaining constant. We planned around said schedule to ensure we had the lights we needed for the Highway scenes and the Tunnel scenes.
During my location scouting, I often found the tunnel lights would be off, even though the loadshedding schedule for that area was not in affect. Same with the Highway. I would drive out alone at 10pm at night (the time we scheduled to shoot) to check and the lights would be off. I would then go again the next night and again, they would be off. It was just a random chance of whether they would be on or not.
So the solution I had, was to have back up locations nearby, and thus needed to plan with my location host and JMPD coordinator for said backups. Plans where drawn out for the routes needed to be taken, what roads to block, where to move the crew etc. It is a nightmare planning for one location, now imagine having 3 backups for each location. It took a lot of time and planning and I am thankful for the patience of Anton Nell and his team for supporting me and understanding the difficulty of the task at hand.
Pitching these backups to the agency and client were a little stressful but thankfully they supported the ideas and were on board.
Fortunately, come the night of shoot, both locations were online as they should have been. A massive weight off my shoulders as the backup locations were no where near as awesome as the original ones we selected.
I had an incredible experience working with Lexus, MC&Saatchi and my team at And. Thanks to everyone involved, you were all amazing.
Feel free to watch a little behind the scenes video below.