With the concept created by Barney Steel, director of Marshmallow Laser Feast, Button was brought on board to bring the idea to life.
"I was first contacted by event producer Mark Logue who put me together with Barney," says Button. "We sat down and worked out that the best way to do it would be to use lights rather than hundreds of lasers. It was then I knew the Clay Paky Sharpy would be the ideal tool for the job with its fantastic brightness and pure beam."
Set in an old airfield east of Berlin in a dark forest, the commercial sees drivers race a Lamborghini, BMW, Audi and Ford Fiesta, powered by the Castrol EDGE oil, down a corridor of Sharpys.
"I built a trigger system that gave me feedback on the speed of the car and the distance between the car and the next trigger. I then fed this information back into the lighting desk, which actuated the cues," continues Button. "I used the Sharpys just as they were, with a little waterproofing. Their seamless workflow meant we could execute the idea perfectly without technical difficulties slowing us down."
The project took two days to set up and a weekend to shoot, including taking it down in the day and putting it up again at dusk.
"Because we had to move everything out the way each day so that the airfield could be used, it really helped that the Sharpys are so lightweight and portable," says Button. "The advert turned out fantastically and everyone was very pleased."
(Jim Evans)
