About

Erik Johann Van Wyk

Erik Johann
Van Wyk

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Porsche

Look after things

A classic Porsche, a helicopter and an open road. What is not to love? This is such a beautifully simple idea. We shot this in the South African desert. The actress, Jenna Upton, does all her own driving. Manual. At speed. With a helicopter buzzing her. Lovely.

Southwest Airlines

Moving Forward

Who says 10 second ads can’t be smart and designed. These were designed to stand out, and punch up the tone and concept. Shot around Los Angeles, this was a one point perspective framing tribute to Stanley Kubrick. Anamorphic lenses on 35mm film with the most beautifully designed tracking.

Coca Cola

Brrr!!!

Shot in Zanzibar on 35mm film. This was a remote control shaking rig we built to shake people from a distance when the time was right. Super fun. We also used 2 parrots, one had it’s feathers, the other had already molted. We spun a toilet brush stuffed with some random feathers to create the effect of shedding and comped all three. The parrots just had to be themselves.

Allegro

Dog

Shot in Warsaw with London talent, this was more difficult than I thought it would be. Kids and dogs. Thanks to actor Finlay Robertson for managing these moments like a genius.

Honda

Let it Shine

CG lights look like CG lights. So if you are going to do a massive amount of lights and shoot it on anamorphic lenses and 35mm film, do the actual lights for real. And for goodness sake time your sequence to a real sunrise. This was an art installation on another scale.

Allegro

Lemonade

We found these two brilliant young stars on a discarded casting for a tv show. A friend sent it to us after our casting was signed off, but we managed to get them on board. Funny how the best people sometimes don’t go to advertising castings. We shot this in the coastal forest of Gdansk on the Baltic sea.

Santam Insurance

What could go wrong?

Helicopters, bushpigs, skyscrapers and the uncanny valley. I love giving super solid concepts like these scale. This was fun.

McDonald’s

Believe in Magic

Shot in Slovenia this was an exercise in everything. Kids, dogs, rain. Casting was long and we cast in 5 countries, but we found what the story needed. She was very funny. Not your average McDonald’s script. Edited in Germany, graded at Framestore London, post production finish in Cape Town.

Citroën

Frog

Shot in Barcelona for France, this was a CG dream from the original Framestore in London. Shot on 35mm film with anamorphic lenses over some long nights. Still love this film grade.

Heineken

In the City

Heineken wants to do the very first Formula E racing ad. Today. All over the world. So you get a race car, cool people and you go for it. Edited, graded and sound designed in London.

NMSI

Sound Barrier

All in-camera models of planes, cockpit and people shot on the correct retro film stock of the day in the Nevada winter sun, all combined with re-augmented original footage with permission. It doesn’t get more technical and real than this. Wonderful.

NMSI

Touch down

So what do you do if NASA refuses to licence their footage to an ad? You make your own. In a gigantic studio in Burbank, California with a fake lander, moon and capsule. Mmmm, makes one wonder.

Canon

Photo Tag

Shot in Kings Hill Forest outside London on 35mm film in icy winter. These people were a blast. Unrelated, but interesting: ‘According to Google Trends, search traffic for non-phone digital cameras started ramping up around winter 2022 as is currently at a 5 year high.’ – The Verge
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Lovers & Fighters

Nicola Louw

[email protected]

WhatsApp +44 7870 636445

Website

A bit about me.

I’ve been directing commercials all over the world for a while now, and quite honestly, the best part of the job is that no two projects are the same. We invent fresh looks, fresh approaches and even fresh tech for some concepts. I’ve been very fortunate to be part of a remarkably diverse body of award-winning work, from epic cinematic achievements for cars and seamlessly layered post-production to stories driven by kids – each piece with its own unique cinematic design as per the core idea. As an ex-agency creative director it is crucial for me to align pure entertainment for the viewer with the idea for the brand, it very much drives my thinking throughout the process. I am constantly in awe of the creativity of the people I work with, some of whom are in the most celebrated agencies in the world like Wieden+Kennedy, BBH and BBDO. Growing up my family lived in many cities – London, Oslo, Geneva, Stuttgart, Singapore, Boston, Portland, New York, Minneapolis, Barcelona, Palma, Johannesburg, and Cape Town – and I draw heavily from the influences of all these places. I studied art, robotics engineering, economics, photography and screenwriting, and drummed for art school bands. Music is a major personal creative driving force. I am currently based between Cape Town and London with my wife and little boy.
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