Uber Elevate
SUMMARY
Installation I VR I CGI
We partnered with Uber leading creative & production to help launch a revolutionary new service - Uber Air, for a global campaign and Uber Summit. It was covered by every major news outlet worldwide.
Uber is set to revolutionize urban global transportation once again, this time via aerial mass transit - Uber Air. We had the amazing opportunity to help them launch this through an innovative campaign with included a centerpiece film, experiential VR installation and print stills, as well as social content. Airborne was our hero film.
From the start our goal reveal to the world Uber’s revolutionary vision in a cinematic and breathtaking style. We wanted to create something simple yet striking in order to balance with the complex and brand new nature of the service.
Every frame of our 2d film was meant to be a hero shot – photogenic and cinematic.
Airborne launched at Uber Elevate summit along with the rest of the campaign before taking over the internet. Covers and headlines followed globally from US, UK, France, Germany, Australia, China, Russia, India and beyond on CNN, Fox News, Forbes, Business Insider, Creativity, Shoot, and many other major advertising, tech, automotive and business blogs.
Brand: Uber
Creative: Bipolar Studio
Director: Bipolar Studio
Production & CGI: Bipolar Studio
Color & Finishing: Bipolar Studio
Case Study
HOW WE DID IT
We wanted it all to be incredibly realistic. Initially we thought about shooting in 360° with a helicopter and adding in the rest of the CG elements. But we wanted to have a freedom in the art direction of the look, the lighting of the environment and atmosphere, and the ability to iterate on physics and the flight path. We ultimately decided to create it all in CG - yet entirely photoreal. Yes, this meant recreating San Francisco and San Jose, and all of its activity in full CG!
We rebuilt all of the buildings, filled the streets with moving traffic generated by AI and even pedestrians on the streets - if you spot them. Some of the areas and architecture required lidar scans for rebuilding. The end result is the most detailed digital San Francisco in the world.
For the animation, we built a new system where the flight of the vehicle was not animated but simulated with real physics. We would be able to plug in a number for the speed of the aircraft, its weight, direction, etc and it would do everything else on its own - very similar to what Uber Air will be when it launches.
