For Michelin’s new film targeting the electric vehicle market, BETC and POP (Prose On Pixels) created a film almost entirely produced using Unreal Engine. A first in France, it marks the rise of a new type of production solution: an innovative strategy to bring a creative idea to life that would have been impossible to produce with the same agility using traditional techniques.
“Because electric cars put tires to the test, manufacturers often create specific tires. Michelin doesn't. Their innovations are so effective that they don't need to adapt to electric vehicles, they are already good to go. As a result, the only thing an electric vehicle needs is a Michelin tire, as it meets the needs of all vehicles, electric or not. A tire should be chosen based on usage, not the type of engine.”
That’s the message of this new film by BETC, produced by POP (Prose On Pixels), and made almost entirely with Unreal Engine. The 45-second sequence features an electric car with the iconic white tires driving through a city, smoothly transforming into several different types of vehicles, each representing the challenges Michelin has tackled in recent years.
Always on the lookout for innovative production solutions, BETC and POP (Prose On Pixels) leveraged Unreal Engine—an engine primarily used in video games—to rethink creative advertising production. This tool allows specialists to generate 3D environments instantly, skipping the intermediate "grey render" phase and avoiding the need to manually sculpt materials. With its licensed models, users can import their own models or choose from the library to build a city, design roads, and see the results in real-time. The director then has total freedom to move vehicles, select camera lenses, and adjust the sun's lighting.
While Unreal Engine allows for some savings in time and resources, such a production still requires specific technical expertise and brings together multiple talents over several weeks.
Beyond the innovative tool, the project’s uniqueness also lies in its remote organization, with a full-remote setup from Paris to New York. This approach ensures access to the best talents without borders, guaranteeing creative excellence while also moving toward a more sustainable production model without travel or on-location logistics.
All of BETC and POP (Prose On Pixels)’s teams were involved: strategic planning for the angle and messaging, creatives for the idea and follow-through, account teams for project management, legal, and producers to streamline communication and maintain timelines, as well as post-production to polish any inherent flaws and ensure an agile delivery of a high-quality film.
With the gap between “concept” and “execution” significantly reduced, BETC and POP (Prose On Pixels) had to work even more collaboratively to achieve the synergy, agility, and responsiveness required. This necessitated a well-honed production method and the strength of an integrated team from creative through to post-production, with talent at the core.
The involvement of a director and technical specialists skilled in Unreal Engine was crucial. Without director Miles Cable, his team, and their expertise in both cinematic language and the real-world physics of vehicle behavior, it would have been impossible to achieve such a realistic and spectacular result.
With this film, BETC and POP (Prose On Pixels) are taking yet another step toward one possible future for creative and advertising production, continuously developing more innovative offerings for their clients.
