Panic Expands With Acquisition of Kingdom of Something
April 13, 2026
ETC director Michael ‘Chappers’ Chapman leans into his background in CG and love of technical illustration to deconstruct the new Lexus R3 electric SUV in obsessive detail while maintaining a sense of aspirational elegance.
Michael ‘Chappers’ Chapman: “I wanted the film to be grounded in the real world: fantastical elements juxtaposed with believability. Most importantly – the RZ needed to remain a tangible, sellable asset. We scoured over 300 locations across Europe to get it right, casting actors who brought an easy elegance, charm.
“Ahead of the shoot, we worked on storyboards, first creating a board-o-matic for timing, and then moving into a world where I’m most comfortable – Pre-viz – to illustrate the intention of each shot.
“The movements needed to feel elegant and the transitions seamless, so we recced the real environment which allowed us to bring it into 3D and test out camera moves accurately pre-shoot. Having a clear plan helped streamline communication with cast and crew on set (and helped my anxiety not spike on my health tracker).
“The challenge was to produce a film that mirrored the craft of the vehicle itself. Effortlessly poised, blending live action and VFX in a totally seamless way.”
“Pre my career in VFX & CG, I did a degree in technical illustration. So, the mention of macro scenes and exploded views are akin to mentioning ice cream to a child in the height of summer.
“The challenge was to produce a film that mirrored the craft of the vehicle itself. Effortlessly poised, blending live action and VFX in a totally seamless way. Just how deconstructed should we go, whilst ensuring it wasn’t visually noisy?
“This led us to the use of parallax. We minimized the perceived animated movement between parts, instead using the movement of the camera to expand and contract the car. Each shot required layering – whether it being live action, full CG, or a bit of both.
“We also worked on set extension, cleanup, CG environment enhancement, as well as beauty work to the car itself, ensuring perfect matches for true authenticity. Finally, we finessed the edit and graded the live action and CG shots together, which helped bring harmony to a really special film.”
Client: Lexus
Marketing Director: Aurelio Garcia
Creative Agency: The & Partnership
Senior Creative: Tom Sillars
CD: Carl Storey, Danyal Dahlavi
Production Agency: Hogarth Worldwide
Producer: Graznieff Moes, Valentina Forno
Junior Producer: Adam Blair
Production/VFX: ETC
Director: Michael ‘Chappers’ Chapman
EP: Vic Lovejoy & Oscar Wendt
Senior Producer: Joe Billington, Saskia Delius
DOP: Matias Penachino
Colorist: Andi Chu
Shoot Supervisor: Callum Austin
VFX Sup: Alex Snookes
3D Lead: Callum Austin
Live Action EP: Sam Katz
Live Action Producer: Mike Facey
Service Company: Grandma
EP: Linas Martinkenas
Producer: Linas AK Pozera
Line Producer: Maria Fabro (23/32 Films)
Producer: Tomek Kozera
1st AD: Michał Piłat
Art Director: Mela Melak
Sound: SINE Sound
