Written by on Feb 8, 2011. Posted in Production News

Angelic supermodels draw the eye filming on location in Croatia

Lynx deodorant has drawn angels from the sky for its latest commercial, filmed in Split, Croatia. Even Angels Will Fall shows a group of angels falling from the heavens and getting rid of their halos as a local stud sprays himself with Lynx.

The spot’s actually set in Italy, but Croatia was more cost-effective for a four-day shoot. Suza Horvat, a Producer with MJZ, said: “The look was set as an Italian square, and the Croatian coast, with its historical influence from the Italians, means that it was an effective visual choice. We looked from Pula and Rovinj in the coastal region of Istria, through the Dalmatian coast down to Split including the islands off the coast there. We ruled out Dubrovnik as it’s so well known visually. Once we saw the main square in Split and the smaller squares that the alleys lead to it became an obvious choice.”

A three-axis remote crane was used to film, as well as cranes for lifting into the air stunt doubles for the models as they fall from the sky. Filming permits and tourists were the major issues affecting the shoot.

Businesses in Split are mostly locally-owned so the production had to negotiate with a lot of different people to get permission to film. With most of the historical buildings listed you also can’t do much to change the look, but then who’d want to?

The crew shot mostly in the early mornings to avoid holidaymakers. Split’s a popular holiday destination, with thousands of tourists spilling off cruise ships every day to enjoy Croatia’s second biggest city.

Igor Nola, with Mainframe Film Production, said: “We had many challenges. First of all we were shooting during the summer season and we had eight beautiful models from all over Europe on the set – everyone wanted to have a photo with our beautiful angels. But we maintained our closed set wherever possible during the shoot. We had to completely close down several squares in the town and city authorities helped us as much as they could to perform such actions. More or less we managed to re-route tourists and their guides to other city attractions while we filmed in certain places.”

What would they do differently next time? Horvat said: “I would schedule it outside of the season commencing - it would’ve been easier on location permits and general day-to-day shooting logistics as off-season the cruise ships don’t come and that was the biggest hindrance in the sheer numbers of the public. We shot in June, but it would’ve been easier if it was May or September - the weather is still good at those times of year.”

Credits
Client: Unilever
Agency: BBH, London
Producers: Davud Karbassioun, Chris Watling
Production Company: MJZ, London
Producer: Suza Horvat
Production Service Company: Mainframe Film Production, Zagreb
Producer: Igor Nola
Location Managers: Vlaho Krile, Maro Kockovic
Director of Photography: Alex Barber
Director: Rupert Sanders