Written by new-contact on Apr 4, 2012. Posted in Production News

Park Pictures recreates 1930s Europe for Audi on location in Slovenia

Park Pictures in London has recreated 1930s Europe in Slovenia in its new commercial for Audi. The Swan shows a classic Audi Union struggling with an image problem in the 1930s to the tune of The Ugly Duckling, before turning into a sleeker modern-day vehicle and becoming a swan.

Park Pictures scouted Eastern Europe and considered Czech Republic, before opting instead for Slovenia. The town that features in the spot is called Skofja Loka and is just 20 minutes from the capital Ljubljana.

The Ugly Duckling car no longer exists and therefore we had to rebuild it from scratch in five weeks, only using stock photographs from the time.

Stephen Brierley, Executive Producer

Rok Ban was Line Producer for Bas Production: “[The locations] fitted the story the way the Director was seeing it. There were many other locations that we liked but they didn't fit in to the schedule. We were not briefed to look for any particular look or look-a-like.

“Locations should look alpine and since Slovenia shares part of the Alps that definitely helped. The film is not set in Slovenia, but on the other hand I don't think it is a problem if you read it as Slovenia.”

Skofja Loka has been around since medieval times so it wasn’t too difficult to give it a 1930s look. Set dressing was relatively minor with signage changes and shop windows needing alteration, while gravel was laid on the ground. Fake snow was also used as the town thawed earlier than had been hoped for. One of the bigger challenges was actually finding a classic Audi Union car.

Stephen Brierley was Executive Producer for Park Pictures: “The Ugly Duckling car no longer exists and therefore we had to rebuild it from scratch in five weeks, only using stock photographs from the time. The model was completed ahead of schedule by Prague model maker Martin Pec.”

Credits
Client: Audi
Agency: BBH, London
Creative Directors: Nick Kidney, Matt Doman, Ian Heartfield
Agency Producer: Ruben Mercadal
Production Company: Park Pictures, London
Executive Producer: Stephen Brierley
Producer: Jeremy Barnes
Production Service Company: Bas Production, Ljubljana
Executive Producer: Rok Ban
Director of Photography: Jan Velicky
Director: Joachim Back