Member Article

Manchester’s Koala creates new Global ad for Police and The Batman

Manchester-based video production agency, Koala, has delved into the world of Gotham City to create the new ad for Police - featuring four limited edition Batman watches.

The company was commissioned by International Luxury Group in collaboration with Warner Bros to showcase the new Police watches, ahead of The Batman’s release on the 4th of March with Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader.

Koala’s Creative Director, and director of the ad, James Rees said: “This was a real dream project to work on. To be alongside The Batman, Warner Bros and Police was a huge honour and privilege.

“The Batman film franchise means so much to so many people around the world. The fans are incredibly protective of its integrity. We saw from the initial launch of the film’s trailer how much it means to people. We had to treat it with respect, and we’re extremely proud of the outcome.”

Astra Ingram from International Luxury Group said, “The Koala team are highly efficient, professional, creative and committed to providing to an outstanding end result.

They’ve been able to match the uniqueness of the limited-edition watches with the look and feel of the film. We are delighted with the finished Police X The Batman trailer.“

The 57 second ad features action from the film, spliced with footage shot on location in Birmingham, alongside intricate exploded views of the watches themselves. You can expect fire, motorbikes, nightclub scenes, and Batman himself in full chase mode.

James said: “The ad itself is very visceral and it’s full of action and suspense. It really takes you on a journey.

“The real challenge for us was to hit the goals and objectives of both Police and Warner Bros. It was essential to align with the movie as much as possible. We had to consider this in everything - from the visuals to the scene setting and even the talent.

Unique to this ad are the constructed views of the watches themselves, exploding and reassembling throughout. Something that was an extremely intricate and time-consuming process.

“When we started production, there was only one set of the watches in existence”, said James. “So, we used the engineering plans for the watches; as well as the final prototypes to completely 3D model each entire watch.

“We went into the smallest detail of each element of the watches. We wanted to make sure if we ended up needing a shot very close to a specific metal symbol from one of the watches that we could do it.”

While they had full access to the watches, just like the rest of us James and the Koala team haven’t yet had the opportunity to see the final film itself as it isn’t released until March. But they were granted access to use assets from the trailer.

James said: “Warner Bros gave us access to all available trailer assets and we were able to use all elements of this as long as we could demonstrate how it worked for this particular partnership”

To create the dark and instantly recognisable Gotham underworld, with its particular colour palette and dystopian vibe, a three week long hunt for the right location led James and the Koala team to the back of Birmingham’s jewellery quarter and to the same location chosen by Steven Spielberg for his 2018 film, Ready Player One.

“Batman as a franchise has a specific look. It’s very dark and very edgy. And from the trailer we knew the style and colour tones we needed to replicate,” said James.

“We were looking for the architectural mix that would enable us to do indicative shots of Gotham. Once you have these great settings with archways, exposed brick and factory backdrops, it’s about how you can turn into something that feels Gotham-esque. We created and dressed the nightclub used for the club scenes in an old Victorian factory, for example.

“We also had to close off the streets around the location to shoot the motorbike shots, get everything we needed across two days of setting up and shooting. It was a fast turnaround, but we’re incredibly proud of the final edit.”

The Batman film is set to be released on 4th March with the four limited edition Police watches available to buy now

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Francesca Gaffey .