Volvo Is the Narrative Vehicle Driving The Goldman Brothers’ Flashy New Music Video

It’s always fun when brands start experimenting with content that people might want to consume, as opposed to stuff made to interrupt what they’re actually looking for.

Following in the footsteps of brands like Morton Salt, Volvo has thrown its weight behind “Call My Name,” a music video for The Goldman Brothers. Directed by Tal Zagreba of Great Guns, the work features Israeli star Yuval Scharf of McMafia behind the wheel of a Volvo V40.

Scharf is distraught. If you didn’t infer that from her face, which alternates between heartbreak and rage, it’s clear enough when her boyfriend calls her … and she throws the phone out the window. Is she reeling from a betrayal, or is this aggression borne of years of stale fights?

This question is never answered. But by the time one arrives at this emotional tipping-point, it probably doesn’t matter.

“We wanted to achieve something really out of the box and epic for Volvo,” Zagreba explains. “In this film, the vehicle and the characters are equally integral and interconnected with the narrative—and the animation enriches this connection. I wanted the car to function as the narrator as it takes the lead character through the stages of a breakup.” 

As Scharf drives, a series of man-shaped silhouettes appears alongside her window. Flipbook-style, they coalesce into an animated version of the boyfriend, who pursues her. Things rapidly get very “Take On Me,” with animation and reality combining to form an elaborate breakup fantasy plays over the arid landscape.

Things grow more violent for the boyfriend—fireballs falling from the sky and the like—and Scharf’s mood begins to improve. It all culminates in a wicked donut that sends the man flying; at that moment, the pursuer becomes the pursued. He frantically seeks escape in the hills as giant hands try crushing him, and lands on a cliff face … only to discover it’s the breast of a giant stone woman, who flicks him away with unscrupulous ease.

The film was shot, partly by drone, over two days in the wilderness between Jerusalem and Jericho in Nabi Musa, Israel. Animation was provided by Robert Moreno, with whom Zagreba has worked in the past.

“We were filming in 50-degree [Celcius] heat, in the hottest place in the country,” Zagreba reveals. “The temperature got so hot that the drone almost overheated! But we overcame it and the landscape was perfect for the backdrop of the film.” 

While a heartbroken Scharf finds catharsis in her imagination, however, the film ends back in reality: The man is no longer a cartoon. He’s real, and sitting in the passenger seat. The rift between them yawns wide, but the drama that tears it asunder is yet to come.

“From pitching the initial concept, right through to post-production, Volvo trusted us to create the film completely as we saw fit,” says Zagreba. “They didn’t see anything we shot until the finished product—which totally blew them away. It was so rewarding for us to initiate this idea ourselves and be given the trust and freedom to realize a final film that was so true to the original idea, and with such few limitations on creative direction.”

“Call My Name” will be shared across Volvo’s global digital media, music and social channels, beginning tomorrow.

CREDITS
Client: Volvo
Product: V40
Title: Call My Name
Written & Directed by Tal Zagreba
Music: The Goldman Brothers
Director of Animation: Robert Moreno
Executive Producer: Lior Miller
Co-Production Company: Great Guns
Co-producers: Laura Gregory / Sheridan Thomas
Cast:
Yuval Scharf (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2965644/)
Lior Golan
Cinematographer: Daniel Miller
Aerial Videography: DRONZ
Assistant Director: Boaz Pesenzon
Focus Puller: Eytan Ben-Arieh
Key Grip: Liad Berger
Best Boy Grip: Daniel Kalozski
Art & Props: Anat Glazer
Make Up: Noa Levi
Hair: Sara Ashanti
Editor: Robert Moreno
Post Supervisor: Robert Moreno
2D Animation: Robert Moreno, Alon Richter
Matte Painting: Anna Strebkov
Compositing & VFX: Robert Moreno
Color Grading: Robert Moreno

Angela Natividad

@luckthelady

Angela Natividad is a frequent contributor to Adweek's creativity blog, AdFreak. She is also the author of Generation Creation and co-founder of Hurrah, an esports agency. She lives in Paris and when she isn't writing, she can be found picking food off your plate.