For Airbnb's latest ad, New Zealand-based animation shop Cirkus channelled the look of some of the rental platform's most noteworthy listings in dollhouse size. It took six weeks of building before they were ready to run a little train-mounted camera through the adjustable diorama, capturing the progression of pee-wee spaces in a single shot. As with the design of Airbnb's San Francisco office, the company made sure to put the cream of the short-term rental crop on display.
Only the cutest listings influenced the look of tiny Airbnb world: the Thai hobbit holes, historic clock-tower guest suites, and picturesque backyard treehouses. (Bushwick cages need not apply.) Check out the spot below, and use this wishlist to see the spaces that inspired it.
As Co.Create points out, Cirkus producers explain on their blog that the aim was to create something "whimsical, dreamlike, artistic and fantastic, just as traveling can be... We wanted this train ride film to be shot as one long take, with everything happening in-camera without the use of CG imagery."
The moving elements were hand-operated by a team of nine employees, who labored over 85 takes before getting it right. Which won't win Airbnb a Nobel friggin' Peace Prize, but it is pretty impressive.
· Watch Airbnb's Delightfully Handmade, One-Shot Ad [Co.Create]