Key Objective of the Brief
To connect GWM’s electric vehicle platform to the raw emotional energy of Richmond’s fan culture — not through a product demo, but through a genuine human moment. The brief asked us to make the Richmond roar louder, and to capture that in a way that felt real rather than manufactured. Brand content that lives or dies on whether people actually feel something watching it. That’s our territory.
What Was the Idea?
“More Roar” — GWM’s electric vehicle powered a vibrating platform at the MCG, giving Richmond fans the chance to literally roar louder. The idea worked because it wasn’t just a stunt. It invited people to be themselves — passionate, loud, completely unselfconscious — and trusted that capturing that authenticallywould do more for the brand than anything scripted could.The series was structured across two shoot days: pre-event content to build anticipation on Instagram, and game day capture to document the activation in full. Four films in total, each with its own purpose and tone.
Twenty-three children were brought in across three staggered groups throughout the day, each group working with their age-appropriate teachers — Luca Dickinson, Jonathan Wood, Lydia Ioannidis and Robert Griffith — who were genuine believers in the product. We drew on the MakeDo team’s own experience to design activities that let each group immerse themselves fully and create their own masterpieces.
What Did The Tropics Bring to It?
We came in with a clear creative structure and the experience to hold it together across two very different shoot environments.The first shoot day was controlled — player promos and a vocal coach masterclass, all shot and delivered ahead of the event for the Instagram lead-up campaign. These needed to feel fun and spontaneous while still serving a clear communication purpose. Getting that balance right early set the tone for everything that followed.
Game day was a different beast. A live activation, a large crowd, a fixed event schedule and no opportunityto go again. Alec McCloskey and Jensen Cope worked simultaneously — Alec directing the wider event and capturing everything else, Jensen focused exclusively on the slow-motion reaction montage, shooting at 200fps to get the close, authentic facial expressions the brief specifically required.
A third operator handled timelapses across the day. Wren Steiner was briefed and checked in throughout for photography.What made it work was the ability to draw real reactions from real people quickly — not directing them into something, but creating the conditions where the genuine moment could happen.
That’s not a technical skill. It’s something that comes from years of working with non-actor talent and understanding how to make people feel at ease in front of a camera.Post-production was led by Stephen Di Gravio and Louise Mullins. Edit started the morning after the shoot. First looks were delivered within 48 hours, with multiple rounds of stakeholder feedback managed cleanly to final delivery.
Was AI Used?
No. All capture, edit and delivery was handled through traditional production craft. On a project built aroundauthentic human reaction, that felt right.
KEY OUTPUTS
4 × hero social videos, portrait format (9:16), optimised for Instagram:
- Video 1: Player promo (pre-event Instagram release)
- Video 2: Vocal coach masterclass (pre-event Instagram release)
- Video 3: Slow-motion fan reaction montage (game day)
- Video 4: Full event supercut (game day)
Key Challenges
Directing large numbers of real, unscripted members of the public across a wide age range — coaxing genuine reactions without making people feel performed or self-conscious.
Coordinating four simultaneous capture roles in a live event environment — two principal cameras, a timelapse operator and a dedicated photographer — all briefed and managed without disrupting the event itself.
Shooting the slow-motion montage at 200fps while maintaining full event coverage on a second camera, with no ability to revisit any moment.
Managing a very tight post-production window with multiple stakeholders providing feedback across agency, client and brand — all delivered cleanly within the agreed timeline.
