Cinematic Trucking Ad Parallels the Lives of Two Wildly Different Twins
Great Guns director Federico Mazzarisi has debuted a cinematic new advert for vehicle manufacturer IVECO, telling the story of two brothers who reunite on the road after following two different paths in life.
Creatively devised by Ogilvy Italia and inspired by real life stories from the trucking community, the advert shows that no matter what happens between two people, there is always room for love and respect. Blending humanity and empathy with a cinematic style, Federico utilises the imagery of road-trip movies and independent British filmmaking to create a sense of poetry between the dual narratives.
The ad follows two brothers (played by the same actor) reflect on their lives as they drive their trucks along an empty road. Both have had entirely different experiences in life, having met a fork in the road that separated them for many years. One narrative reflects a world of wrestling, tattoos, and food trucks. The other, serene kayaking, woodworking, and more healthy eating. The camera flips between these two lives before returning to the present day, as a second truck pulls up next to the first brother – driven by his estranged sibling. They notice each other, share a knowing look, and continue along the road together.
To truly capture this sense of humanity in the advert, Federico worked with production company Section80 and spoke to real life truckers about their experiences on the road. Having heard one driver explain that they learned more values from the roads he travelled than any book he read, Federico combined the power and beauty of these values with his own childhood experiences of living in a small Italian town with a strong trucking community.
Federico Mazzarisi comments: “I really loved building the backstories of the two characters, hinting at a family drama in their teenage years. The agency gave me the freedom to really align the narrative with the stories we’d gathered from real truckers, so there were loads of different scenarios we could work from. I wanted to make them unique and unexpected, so we created a narrative structure that allowed the film to have ups and downs – alternating dramatic moments with funny, unexpected additions.”
Not only are there two narratives in the advert, but two different time periods. To reinforce this distinction, Federico established a filmic style unique to each. For the opening and closing scenes set in the present day, Federico created clear, linear sequences that focused on the acting of the two characters. Once viewers are transported to the brothers’ memories, however, the notion of the ‘two sides of the same coin’ becomes apparent, as the camera flips between one brother to the next. This was achieved by rotating the camera during each scenario using a Steadicam and 360 rotation rig – also reinforcing the sense of a stream of consciousness from the brothers.
The campaign was shot in July, following the easing of lockdown in Italy. Having created the YDA award-winning short film ‘Learning From the Wind’ in lockdown, Federico was acutely aware of how to work within restrictions and the rules of social distancing.
