Mercedes-Benz – ‘The Journey'
The spot Mercedes-Benz – ‘The Journey’ was created as a semester project by Dominko Gudelj (Producer), Andreas Bruns (Director) and Roland Stuprich (Camera) during their studies at the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg. It was realized with the kind support of the Stuttgart based film production company Leithaus, the post production company ACHT and of course Mercedes-Benz.
The spot pictures the dreams and goals that follow us since our childhood and make us strive for something higher. Children rarely settle with the first thing they find. And why should they?
Take those two tots from Frankfurt, who ran away from kindergarten in September 2011 to get to the airport. When getting caught at the main station, they justified their adventure by explaining that they had to head for Mallorca, because the sand at their kindergarten was too bad.
"We had to smile when we heard this story for the first time.“, says Andreas Bruns – Director. A very grateful smile, as it marked the birth of our idea for 'The Journey'. A boy, also striving for “the best or nothing”, eager to his aim in a childlike naïve way. Thereupon Andreas developed the storyline together with his friend and copywriter Gunnar Heuwold.
The challenge was to put a real scenario in the disguise of a fairy-tale world. The audience is presented a real, night-time scenery with all its dangers, into which the little boy wanders during his journey, which however, seen with the eyes of a child, holds something magical, almost peacefully safe. This safety finds its perfection on the backseat of a Mercedes-Benz police car.
"Together with production company Leithaus we presented the project to Anders Sundt Jensen, Head of Marketing Communications at Mercedes-Benz. He was immediately excited about our idea to support young, creative talents. It was this strong support, that made it possible for us to embark on our long journey in March." said Dominko Gudelj – Producer.
The search for the right child and images proved to be the biggest challenge. Only the 18th and last child at the casting, 6-year old Louis, was the perfect fit. He was cute and cheeky at the same time and immediately grasped the essence of story.
Regarding the part of the ‚grumpy police officer with a heart’, we quickly thought of a friend of Leithaus, actor Frank Vockroth (Ritas Welt / Notruf Hafenkante).
Loving the idea of this student project, he did not hesitate to commit to coming on board with us. Aside from being an avowed Mercedes driver in private, Franck Vockroth is well known to the audience as a police officer through his part in the German TV-show ‘Notruf Hafenkante’. With his height of over two meters he is an ideal contrast to the little boy." says Andreas Bruns – Director.
The spot was shot in the beginning of April almost exclusively in Stuttgart and its
vicinity, as well as at the studios of the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg.
"Regarding post production, we were lucky to get supported by ACHT FRANKFURT, who helped us with the final compositing and grading. The music is by Hamburg’s 'The German Wahnsinn Team' and we were blessed to find an amazing singer, Mia Spengler, among our fellow students." says Dominko Gudelj – Producer.
Since January 2012 the students Dominko Gudelj, Andreas Bruns, Djawid Hakimyar and Johannes Kizler represent the new Leithaus Young Guns. That already gives them the facility to work for the open market during their studies. The young team has already won several awards, including Porsche Award, Spotlight and they have been shortlisted for the Young Directors Award at Cannes.
Credits
Author: Andreas Bruns, Gunnar Heuwold
Director: Andreas Bruns
Producer: Dominko Gudelj
DoP: Roland Stuprich
Editor: Philipp Ostermann
Production Design: Cosima Vellenze
Sounddesign: Domink Leube
Music: Philipp Feit, Roman Rossbach
Singer: Mia Spengler
Post Production: Mark Dauth, Valentin Grünberg, Heiko Leitsch
Supported by: Leithaus GmbH Filmproduktion, ACHT FRANKFURT, The German Wahnsinn Team, Mercedes-Benz (Anders Sundt Jensen, Lüder Fromm, Damir Maric)
