Emirates Airline Expo 2021 Dubai
“World’s Greatest Show”
Director
Emirates is the Premier Partner and Official Airline of Expo 2020 Dubai, which was delayed due to the Pandemic, and is currently taking place October 1, 2021 – March 31, 2022. Before Covid19, and while the Expo was still under construction, the commercial was conceptualized and filmed in Dubai in time for the original opening date.
Featuring Hollywood’s A-lister actor, Chris Hemsworth, the ad takes a layered approach to storytelling using CGI animations and visuals to illustrate what the Expo event would look like. With seamless transitions and interactions between people and a fantasy world of future possibilities – including re-creations of interactive jungles and forests and the Emirates Mars Mission – the goal was to convey the energizing spirit of innovation, creativity and the drive to create a better future, under the theme of “connecting minds and creating the future.”
Expo 2020 Dubai will be one of the greatest must-see events in the world. “You’re all invited to the world’s greatest show,” Hemsworth says in the commercial.
“The ad video, directed by two-time Oscar-winning director Robert Stromberg is an eccentric transition and interactions between people and a fantasy world of future possibilities, with a recreation of interactive jungles and forests, and a Mars mission.”
Behind-the-Scenes Magic
The World’s Greatest Show.
The commercial was so large that it was filmed in stages and several days on multiple sets. The opening image was shot on location while the Expo was still in the building stages.
Working with Chris Hemsworth was a real pleasure – we had just finished a commercial for Bayut in Dubai – and that made it a lot easier to convince him to take the lead in this one.
Our favorite day was with the baby kangaroo. Who knew that kangaroos are like cats; they need to check out every corner of the room before they will give you their full attention, well, if you call it that. This baby was actually a young adult and raised by humans in London! The kangaroo was so curious and wanted to get close to the cameraman to explore what was going on behind the lens. Even as a young adult the size and strength was a bit intimidating, keeping the kangaroo contained when tethered only by a thin leash took time and patience.
It’s all about the kids.
For the commercial, we enlisted over one hundred kids as background extras, it was quite the experience to manage that many in one place. The musical soundtrack for the campaign, “Pure Imagination” from the movie, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, was reworked, modified and reinterpreted by a 70-piece orchestra featuring a children’s choir. Children play an important role throughout the ad, coming from different cultures and backgrounds, and highlighting the role they will play as tomorrow’s leaders.
The kids were very excited to watch the performers, during filming the performers put on a real show, and easy to capture everyone enjoying the acts. The pure joy in participating in the world’s greatest show was felt on screen as much as being there during the actual filming.
Chris, a true professional in his craft, made the experience even better. He was fantastic with the kids and always prepared on set, it was a privilege to film the EXPO for Emirates Airlines and work with this amazing cast and crew.
From the Stage.
In this video the kids are conducting in the background while the orchestra is playing the theme song “Pure Imagination”.
The stage is massive in size to accommodate all of the performers and the blue screen is used to add visual effects to the final commercial.
Read about making this commercial on the Emirates website, here.