Airbnb's New Handmade Ad, Shot in One Take Is A Wonderful Ride

When we travel, the world around us gets smaller. Friendships are made on the fly, landscapes are explored, and new experiences are found around every corner. And when you stay in an Airbnb listing, this small world feeling is amplified immeasurably. We've created a fantastic handmade world that dramatizes the feeling you get while traveling with Airbnb. It's an expansive world, yet truly personal. As the train travels through this world, the viewer gets to experience what is Airbnb and how Airbnb enables you to Belong Anywhere.

Below: A behind the scenes look at the process of creating 'Welcome to Airbnb'. The film was shot through a small camera mounted on the model train in a single, 60-second take. All external movements are mechanical, not animated or done in post-production. All the different transitions that were hand operated had to be incredibly coordinated. It was a well-orchestrated effort to ensure that the 9 people who did several jobs at once were able to either fold things up before, or tilt things over and rotate things to ensure the one perfect take.

The commercial was created by TBWA Singapore and filmed in an Aukland warehouse, 30 people spent five weeks and 2,400 hours creating the 85-square-meter set. Rarely do we enjoy watching a spot that's :60 plus seconds, but this is one that we wished kept going just a bit more.

Credits:
Ad Agency: TBWA, Singapore
Production Company: Cirkus
Director: Christian Greet
Art Director: Norman Yeend