Traktor have directed ‘Love at First Flight’ celebrating 25 years of Virgin Atlantic.  The script was conceived by Pip Bishop and Chris Hodgkiss at Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R and produced by Tim Page at RKCR/Y&R and David Stewart at Partizan.  MPC provided post for the job, versions include 90: 60: and 50: and aired in the UK Jan 4th.  

The film takes us back to the glory and fashionable excess of 1980’s England, all set to the pumping 80’s soundtrack of Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s ‘Relax’ and the film indulges us with 80’s nostalgia such as asteroids, ‘Our Price’, flick haircuts and a liberal splash of snow wash denim.  We also see cameo performances from the ‘brick’ mobile phone, the yuppie and ‘Wimpy’.  The fabulously detailed 80s backdrop sets the scene for the main action which is the arrival of red hot ‘Virgin’ flight crew striding through the airport on the way to their debut transatlantic flight. Transatlantic air travel has never been this hot…

J-C Soret, Director of Telecine explains; ‘we needed to make the girls as glamorous as possible, creating a catwalk look whilst retaining an element of 80’s authenticity. The main challenge in the grade was correcting the interior/ exterior colour whilst matching the different areas of the airport. As usual with Traktor a lot of attention to detail was carried out in the grade, enhancing 80’s logos, wardrobe, fashion, accessories, games etc’.

In Flame, MPC’s 2D team, led by Matthew Unwin, were responsible for enhancing Robin Brown’s production design of the airport to mirror the Heathrow of the 80’s. This, like the grade, involved work on hoardings, and shop facades as well as integrating other 80s references.  Trees were integrated into exterior shots again emulating London’s airport at the time.  The dynamic camera move in the final shot follows a 747 travelling the skies, with the Scarlet lady adorning her sides…

The detail is apparent in this brilliant spot, with each viewing unveiling new references to 80s England.