MPC Help Re-imagine Jackie Stewarts Story for Heineken

Set to a cover of David Bowie’s ‘Heroes;’ MPC collaborated with Independent Director Gary Freedman and Publicis Milan to re-imagine scenes from Jackie Stewart’s life.

The ad, based on footage from Roman Polanski’s ‘Weekend of a Champion’ gives a glimpse into the historic world of the Monaco Grand Prix, through the eyes of world champion Jackie Stewart. This reimagined tale highlights Stewart’s decision to drive rather than drink.

To create the new footage, the MPC VFX team matched elements of stock footage from a variety of films, adding face and head replacements to the perfectly timed and choreographed shoot and integrated them into new backgrounds.

VFX Supervisor Adam Crocker comments “It was a creatively challenging shoot due to the level of detail required to reenact and blend the scenes. The multiple plates and the sheer amount of complex stitching required intricate VFX. But it was all good fun!” 

Global Creative Director of Colour Grading Jean-Clément Soret worked closely with Director Gary Freedman to get the look of the film just right. As it combined multiple layers, it was important the grade tied the film together, yet still gave the individual eras their distinctive looks.

The original footage from Polanski’s film also determined the look of the ad so the new shoot footage was degraded to match. This was done by adding grain, lots of noise and softening the image. Soret comments, “There was a fine balance between an artistic and technical approach. I wanted to be true to the colours of the particular era with each distinctive look, yet also make the film flow perfectly together”.