The crew was on location shooting a series of commercials for Honda's CR-V through Santa Monica agency Rubin Postaer & Associates.

"Generally Honda prefers that we stay in the country," says VP associate creative director Curt Johnson, "but in this case we went to New Zealand because one of our spots required snow and we needed it shot by September 20th."

Although dialog was minimal, Joiner cast principals in the United States before heading to New Zealand. "Typically, for shoots abroad I like to cast either in New York or LA before we go," says the director. "That way if we get to the location and can't find people we like, we have the option of flying in the principals we need. On this particular shoot, we brought in three people for the speaking roles."

In addition to his DP Bob Richardson, Joiner traveled with an AD, first AC, key grip, producer and production manager. Remaining crewmembers, including the second AC and best boy grip, were picked up locally. Production services were handled by Katie Smith out of Cherokee Films.

The concept driving the 23-day shoot was to spoof recent commercials for SUVs depicting their drivers in extreme situations. "It's a response to the ads that say if you're rough and tough, here's a car for you," explains Joiner. "It pokes fun at how obscure those spots have become.'"

"We're pointing out the fact that people don't actually do all of the things in the commercials," adds Johnson, "so we have someone doing something fairly radical and then something goes wrong. The dirt boarder falls into a volcanic crater, a kayaker goes off a waterfall, and the polar bear swimmers discover the water is much colder than they anticipated."

The crew endured freezing temperatures as they traveled from one remote locale to another via raft, helicopter and even snowcat. Johnson counted 14 different types of transportation. They carried a lot of equipment with them as feature productions had rendered the camera house bare.

When Richardson requested a hard gel for one of the shots, the production had one flown in from Los Angeles. "A gel that normally costs $200 ended up being $3000 because it had to be airlifted," notes Joiner. Such expenses were likely offset by the rate of exchange: $1 US=$2.38 NZ.

Aerial shots were key in capturing world-renowned dirt boarder Akoni Kami as he dove out of a helicopter and rode down the side of Mount Tarawera, a dormant volcano near the town of Rotorua.

"It looked like a 007 movie because we were in a helicopter going from one side of the volcano to the other," comments Joiner. "We had three or four helicopters slinging equipment with nets below them. The surface of the volcano was pretty loose like gravel so Akoni had to make adjustments to his board. Then we made a plywood ramp that was tucked behind these ridges of the mountain going into the volcano."

"Kayaker" was also filmed on New Zealand's North Island at Marakopa Falls. As in "Dirt Boarder," the kayaker doesn't hesitate before leaping into action. Only this time the adventurer barely survives the perilous ride over the enormous waterfall.

Lake Alta, near Queenstown was the location for "Polar Bear Club." Dressed in Speedos the size of fig leaves, locals plow through the snow into the icy lake water.

In each spot, the camera pulls back to reveal sensible CR-V owners surveying the carnage. They remark on the obvious stupidity of the individuals involved, load up their CR-Vs and continue on their way. The Honda SUV is intended for those who enjoy outdoor life, just not to the extreme.

"It's appealing to what people really do as opposed to the fantasy," says Joiner a month after the shoot pointing to the tagline, "Designed for your adventures in reality."

CREDITS:

Agency: Rubin Postaer & Associates

Executive VP, Director of Creative Services: Larry Postaer

Senior VP, Creative Directors: Joe Baratelli and David Smith

VP, Associate Creative Director: Curt Johnson

Associate Creative Director: Todd Carey

Sr. VP, Executive Producer: Gary Paticoff

Producer: Helen Park

Production House: Tool of North America

Director: Erich Joiner

DP: Bob Richardson

Editorial: Terminal

Editor: Mark Goodman

Sound Design: Stimmung

Sound Editor: Reinhard Denke