TOYOTA GAZOO Racing's latest TV commercial tries to portray the "wild side" of cars. We share the video along with a sneak peek at the trial-and-error process behind its production.
“What kind of cars do you like?” When Akio Toyoda, aka Morizo, was asked that question, the video of his response created quite a stir.
Akio Toyoda
Can I be honest? In truth, I like cars that smell of gasoline, get poor mileage, and make a lot of noise—cars that show their wild side.
Akio summed up his favorite aspects, including the smell and the noise, as the “wild side” of cars.
What is the wildness that Akio seeks in his cars? The video “WILD MOMENT,” which attempts to capture this essence, is now playing on TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s YouTube channel.
Alongside its release, we wanted to share a behind-the-scenes making-of video.
It opens with these words from Takeshi Nozoe, the creative director who conceived Wild Moment.
(As previously featured on Toyota Times, Nozoe also worked on the GR86 film, THE FR)
Takeshi Nozoe
To capture the wild side of GR cars, we shot them in super slow-motion in extreme closeup, bringing the camera right into their racing environments, as you would film wildlife or natural phenomena.
From speaking with Morizo, we set out to encapsulate the driver’s sensations as closely as possible, capturing those moments when they feel the car is like a living creature.
The commercial stars four cars and four drivers.
[GR Yaris Rally1 & Takamoto Katsuta]
[GR Supra (Nur#90) & Masahiro Sasaki]
[GR010 Hybrid & Kamui Kobayashi]
[GR Dakar Hilux T1+ & Giniel de Villiers]
As the video shows, when it came to conveying the wild side that Morizo seeks, these drivers took the task very seriously while also having a lot of fun.
What moments best reveal a car’s savage spirit? Watch to see the various driving and filming techniques trialed by the team behind the scenes.
In fact, the shoot involved not four but five drivers. The other was Takamoto’s father, Norihiko Katsuta, who was given a special task by his son: “To get this shot, the camera needs to be as close as possible…”
