The Groundbreaking Formula 1 Ad Filmed Entirely in the Virtual World

The latest project by acclaimed Egyptian-American commercial director and visual storyteller Tamer Shaaban is not what it first appears to be. On initial viewing, the promo - inspired by German carmaker Audi ahead of its much-anticipated Formula 1 launch - could easily be mistaken for a slick but ultimately conventional car ad. Yet the project is unique for being designed and filmed entirely in Unreal Engine 5, the game design engine behind several video game properties such as Fortnite, which is freely available to the public. 

Although a departure from his previous work, the project can be seen as a natural progression of his portfolio, as it blends Shaaban’s two great passions: film and technology. Before pursuing a full-time career in film, which has seen him direct award-winning ads for major multinational brands and critically acclaimed documentaries, Shaaban - a graduate in computer science from Georgia Tech - worked in product design at Microsoft. "Having worked in tech and then in film, I’ve seen these two worlds increasingly converge and become inseparable,” Shaaban tells CairoScene. “My goal was to push this new technology to its limits and showcase its potential."

Collaborating with Swedish visualisation artist William Almkvis, Shaaban meticulously crafted every detail of the film, from fine-tuning the physics and lighting to adjusting the sun’s position and placing skid marks on the track. With no prior experience using Unreal Engine, he spent hours on YouTube, watching tutorials to perfect intricate details like the car's suspension and wheel bolting, ensuring the most realistic feel possible.

However, while Shaaban celebrates technology's role in revolutionising filmmaking and streamlining mundane tasks, he is apprehensive about the ongoing AI revolution, having seen colleagues in the industry lose their jobs. “None of what you see here is AI. It was all meticulously handmade,” he asserts proudly. “AI is a wonderful tool, but my fear is that the way it’s being used today often eliminates the need for deep, critical thinking. Instead of broadening our creative horizons, we risk creating a filmmaking industry that lacks creative depth."

Nevertheless for better or for worse, technological advancements such as Unreal Engine are upending the film industry “Traditional film is beginning to collapse and it’s changing drastically. Now, with tools like AI and Unreal Engine, high-production projects are within everyone’s reach. With digital cameras, you still need set designers, costume people, gaffers. But now, you can increasingly do all that by yourself."

In Egypt, where filmmakers face significant challenges such as navigating complex bureaucratic procedures and lacking high-end equipment, the application of this technology is especially innovative. "This project would have been impossible to shoot in real life in Egypt. We lack the infrastructure and equipment. Even if I had access to a Formula 1 track in Dubai, it would have been a logistical nightmare with no margin for error, requiring a vast team, and costing millions of dollars."

Following the buzz generated by this project’s unveiling, Shaaban plans to continue integrating Unreal Engine into his work, further blurring the lines between what’s real and what’s not. “I’m in discussions with a number of companies about working with Unreal Engine, but also blending it with live filming - hybridising the two,” he tells us. “I don’t want to lose the human touch entirely and by seamlessly blending the digital with reality, the two can become indistinguishable.”