MPC collaborates with Mother and MJZ Director Juan Cabral on an ethereal journey to the perfect bed

Created by Mother with award-winning MJZ director Juan Cabral at the helm, the charming film continues Ikea’s ‘The Wonderful Everyday’ campaign. Breath-taking landscapes and vivid realism combine in the film; showcasing Ikea beds suspended thousands of metres above the earth and a girl tumbling through them on her dreamlike journey to the perfect bed.

Juan Cabral’s innovative storytelling approach saw the protagonist and many of the beds hung from cranes and suspended over buildings during the 3-day shoot in Johannesburg. Full of charming moments, including an unexpected star Max the dog, the ad marks a step change in Ikea’s historical advertising. 

PC’s VFX team collaborated with Juan and Mother, creating detailed matte paintings, adding CG beds and embellishments and compositing various elements.

Led by 2D Creative Director Bill McNamara, MPC’s 15-strong team utilized the innovative filming techniques - which captured a great deal of the action in-camera - to then create the VFX and embellish the shots.  In order to build the bed staircase, Ikea beds were filmed against green screen on the ground. 

The following sequence used an 80-foot weighted crane and controlled drop to allow the beautiful actress to literally plummet from the sky – thereby perfectly capturing her emotion as she falls.

A selection of the wide shots were created by filming a skydiver and removing the parachute pack, while many of the shots were filmed against green screen with the sky and various surroundings composited in the studio.

MPC’s Global Creative Director of Colour Grading Jean-Clément Soret completed the grade, establishing a soft, dream-like look. He said "This is a striking visual piece that offered a high level of freedom creatively. Most of the time colourists are asked to help structure a narrative spot, or give unity to a visual piece, and they know quite well what needs to be done. This time was different because it is a "dream" and as in dreams your mind jumps from one thing to another, so we treated each sequence as individual to a certain degree to surprise the audience. Decisions can be quite subjective and a close collaboration with director Juan Cabral was necessary to translate the images he had in mind." 

Behind the Scenes