Motion and VFX artist Michael Skoz walks Stash fans thru how director Calvin Kretzing, strategy lead Andrea Rosati, and the creative team at UK automotive brand Lotus created the marque’s new manifesto film inspired by their Theory 1 concept car.

Michael Skoz: “Three characteristics define the Lotus theory: digital, natural, and analogue. In the video, the concept car Theory 1 is featured which will be the first look at how this new design theory will be applied to Lotus’ future vehicles.

“Our number one objective was to give each DNA characteristic its own appearance and feeling, using specific semantic cues, symbols, and color schemes.
 

“The biggest challenge we faced was philosophical rather than technical. We were constantly questioning if the film does justice to the brand and its ambitions to revive itself.”

 
“With the Digital character being represented by the geometric patterns that organically span across the UI, the Natural being expressed by antique statues and reactive surface materials, and the Analogue being showcased by the mechanical and pure nature of every Lotus car, be it historic or contemporary.

“The biggest challenge we faced was philosophical rather than technical. We were constantly questioning if the film does justice to the brand and its ambitions to revive itself.

“In countless revisions with the creative leadership team, we ultimately crafted this collage that came together as a combination of CG and live footage, captured during the process of developing and building the physical model of the Theory 1 car.”
 
 

 
Client: Lotus
CD: Ben Payne
Creative Strategy: Andrea Rosati, Sam Philpott
Head of Visual Communication: John Bulmer
EP: Claire Braithwaite
CG Manager: Rob Heath
CGI Artists: Gurdeep Panesar, Michael Skoz
VFX/FX Artist: Michael Skoz
Motion Design Artist: Michael Skoz, Vladislav Solojov
Director/Live DOP/Editor: Calvin Kretzing
Editor: Batuhan Seki
Color: Didirik Brathen

Sound: Wojciech Frycz
VO: Calvin Kretzing