Written by new-contact on Jul 7, 2010. Posted in Production News

Centraal Beheer films in Portugal

Dutch insurance company Centraal Beheer has filmed its latest commercial in the Serra da Estrela, a mountainous region of central Portugal. Picnic shows a holidaymaker running and cycling after his car as it rolls down a hill.

The production chose to film in Portugal as costs were cheaper, although the specific location took time to find. Hein Scheffer, a Producer with Czar.nl, said: “We had a hard time finding the right location as we needed very specific features for the story. It had to be steep enough for a car to roll down, there needed to be an off-road area which the car could roll through without wrecking and a straight stretch for the bicycle part and a dramatic curve. All this had to be within reach of one base camp.”

When the production first scouted the location it was under several inches of snow and was covered in thick banks of fog. The temperature rose by 24 degrees within two weeks and the shoot ended up taking place under clear skies.

Frits Keijzer, a Producer with Soulkitchen, said: “We had snow in May, which was a strange situation, but we had reliable reports saying the weather would clear by the time we shot. In the end the production actually put in digital clouds in post-production.”

Two permits were needed to shoot, with one from the local authority and another to allow them to film on the road. The police helped reduce traffic flow and shut down the roads completely for half an hour at a time to allow filming. A camera car was used to pull the so-called ‘hero car’, with a Technocrane mounted on top. For a scene where the holidaymaker leaps from a bike through the window of his car, the bike was attached to the vehicle for safety.

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Credits
Client: Centraal Beheer
Agency: DDB Amsterdam
Creative Directors: Dylan de Backer, Joris Kuijpers
Production Company: Czar.nl
Producer: Hein Scheffer

Production Service Company: Soulkitchen
Producer: Frits Keijzer
Director: Bart Timmer
Director of Photography: Glynn Speeckaert