Was it real? Wasn’t it real? Did you really throw a car from a plane? A year after it was released many viewers still can’t tell if it was in-camera or not.

To achieve such dramatic visuals we committed to going further than ever before to recreate this terrifying stunt. 200ft cranes suspended the real car high in the air and used bespoke rigs to accurately recreate the car’s descent through the air. The driver was inside the entire time. And the car’s real journey through the clouds was mapped precisely by a team of elite skydivers.

Sport at large had become a bit predictable, with many sports being dominated by a few athletes and teams.

In our pre-campaign research, it was clear that fans were desperate for something new and different. However, Formula E was seen as a sustainable alternative to Formula 1, rather than a motorsport ripping up the rulebook.

Being a sustainable alternative to Formula 1 came with two problems:

1. If we were compared against Formula 1’s standards, we couldn’t win (especially without the visceral sound of F1 engines).

2. In the minds of motorsport fans, sustainable sport equals ‘safe’ sport. The antithesis of the drama and jeopardy they craved.

That’s why this season had to be different. The engineers inspired us with their constant innovation of the championship car - removing the rear brakes to make way for more energy, whilst reaching top speeds of 200 mph.

The unapologetic nature of these feats compelled us to celebrate the fearlessness of Formula - from the innovation to the racing to the presence they created in a petrol-dominated category.

So we created a statement of intent; Formula E is the motorsport which will never stop pushing forward.

In other words, ‘Progress is Unstoppable’.

The film opens on a white bird in a cage. We cut to a driver sitting on a bench, he then moves with cool conviction to the driver’s seat as we start to see his surroundings revealing themselves as the inside of a plane. The huge cargo doors open, leaving the audience with one question, is he going to do what we think he is?

The driver accelerates out of the plane with fierce determination. We see the driver pushing himself, his car and the sport to the limit as the car plummets with conviction and grace.

The velocity of the car reaching its peak, the driver ejects to safety. The car continues through the air, the camera focusing on the technical and artistic engineering as it accelerates to the ground - at the last moment we cut back to our birds set free and the title ‘Progress is unstoppable’.

Leading up to the ninth season of Formula E, motorsport fans either didn’t know FE, or saw it as the ‘electric version of F1’.

Therefore, the comms objective was simple - create more awareness of Formula E in a way that creates distinction from its rivals.

Is it real? Isn’t it real? Many viewers still can’t tell how it was done.

After detailed investigations we discovered it was impossible to insure a Formula E car being thrown from a cargo plane at 21,000ft, so instead we set about creating the most in-camera, not-in-camera, stunt ever.

Working with the Formula E aerodynamic team we accurately modelled how the car would behave falling through the air.

We then designed giant rigs to ‘corkscrew’, ‘spin’, and ‘tumble’ the full-size car around, 200ft from the ground.

The parachute ejection was filmed for real by aerial skydivers and a helicopter. A team of skydivers, led by world wingsuit champion, Julian Boulle, then filmed the action for real falling from the sky using headcams and the latest 360 camera, mapping the entire sky.

Finally, the car was dropped for real, plunging from a crane and filmed simultaneously from 10 different cameras.