B:

Congratulations on creating an entertaining mini-series that builds anticipation for what promises to be a new era in automotive history.

H:

Basically, this film is about pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. Hence the title, The Extra Mile. Mercedes-Benz has a long history of creating record breaking vehicles. And the EQXX is one of them. But it’s more that just a one-hit-wonder concept car — for sure it’s what Mercedes-Benz call a “Rekordwagen” but what really makes this car a game-changer is that it is also a production vehicle designed to change the way we drive.

B:

You’re not happy with the way we drive now?

H:

Honestly, it’s not good enough. As a society and economy we need to do better. And fast. As a commercials director, a lot of the films I make address the problem of sustainability in some sort of form. We have to take care of the future today, and changing the way we get from A to B is a big part of that. Even most EVs are not bulletproof, in terms of their environmental credentials. But this vehicle design is something else. Mercedes-Benz have really pushed the design of the EQXX to the absolute limit.

B:

So the EQXX is not actually in the film, right?

H:

Exactly! It’s funny, this was the first car film I made, but I didn’t ever get to point our camera at the finished product! At the time of shooting it was still a work in progress, and therefore top secret. The challenge was to create a film about the whole process within only five shooting days. So we got to see some pre-visualisations and models and so on. We had unprecedented access to the design labs, the aerodynamic labs, the wind tunnel and, of course, to the people who designed the EQXX. The whole team was thrilled by the confidence and trust placed in us as film-making partners. To get an inside view at Mercedes-Benz at such an intimate level was a real privilege.

B:

Wow, so what was it like to enter into the Mercedes-Benz world?

H:

It was unreal, the scale is just incredible. If anyone has the resources to change the way we drive, it’s got to be Mercedes-Benz. Their factory in Stuttgart-Sindelfingen has the size of a town. Mercedes-Benz employs 273,000 people worldwide. There’s such a huge number of facilities, warehouses, factory floors, not to mention the Mercedes-Benz museum that showcases their 130 year legacy. And of course everything is top secret and security is tight. I talked briefly to the CEO and he said even he hasn’t been inside some of these rooms. You can feel there is a functioning system behind it’s vastness. It feels like being inside a giant machine that is difficult for an individual alone to understand. Sometimes we would be waiting outside a locked door. Sometimes we would have to change to another room. It’s not a film studio, and we were making a documentary, so part of the challenge was to find room between all the moving parts. But that was also part of the fun of it.

B:

Sounds like it’s more than just a car factory…

H:

Without a doubt. I mean, I was never really into cars as a subject before, but this project just opened my eyes into a new world. Before, a car was just something to get me from A to B. Now, I’m looking at the way light shimmers across the bodywork, or I’m looking at the aerodynamics that were designed by a real person somewhere in a design lab. The processes that Mercedes-Benz go through to create a new vehicle reminded me a lot of filmmaking.

B:

What are the parallels?

H:

There are so many similarities at every stage. When we write a script, it is redrafted countless times, before we can move to the shooting stage. And it’s the same when designing a new car. As (the chief designer) said in the first episode “we did hundreds of drawings…. hundreds!” Filmmakers constantly calibrate the script during the shoot, because often practice doesn’t match the theory. With the EQXX we see in episode two how the realities of aerodynamic physics does not always match with the designer’s aesthetic expectations. And so sometimes you have to come to a compromise, but sometimes it can also lead to novel solutions. In part three we see how the EQXX maximises the use of innovation to achieve its technological and aesthetic goals. It’s about the right mix of aerodynamics and technology. And in film it’s always the skilful interplay of camerawork, sound design and editing that creates a beautiful film.

B:

Well, I think you achieved that with The Extra Mile. Thanks for sharing youR thoughts.

H:

No problemo, thank you.