Honda's latest pan-European ad via Wieden + Kennedy London goes to the extreme to show off the rigorous testing of the automaker's vehicles. The brand subjects its cars to temperatures from -30 to 80 degrees Celsius in its U.K. testing facility, so the 30-second spot (directed by RSA's Johnny Hardstaff and with visual effects by MPC) illustrates this by encasing a Honda Civic in ice and then gradually melting it away. Honda is also planning to launch an interactive version of the film, which will allow the user to change the temperature of the ad and watch the environment shift in response.

According to a statement by W+K, the production team watched the car and snow-covered set melt over a five-hour period, filming 200 takes of the process on a motion control rig. The biggest challenge came in the form of stitching together the takes to achieve an in-camera melt/freeze effect.

MPC's team, led by Adam Crocker, developed a technique that enabled them to navigate through hundreds of motion control takes, giving the director and creative team full creative control over the rate at which the car and floor were melting and freezing. MPC's 3D team enhanced the scenes to augment the snow-covered environment, turning a skeleton into a snowman and a cactus into conifers.