The Sweet Shop director Joel Harmsworth unleashes the latest beast from McLaren GT
The McLaren 650S GT3 is a beast of a machine. From 2015 it will compete at the highest end of the GT championships around the globe, and its imminent release has caused a huge amount of excitement in the GT racing world. Fully integrated creative agency VCCP and global production company The Sweet Shop have collaborated on a launch film deftly showcasing the powerful, imposing 650S GT3 and hinting at the almost primeval instinct to hunt that lies beneath the hood.
The eerie and foreboding film sees an unseen presence initially stalking the 650S GT3 through a dense and dark forested track, only for the tables to turn and the hunter to become the hunted. Director Joel Harmsworth steers the action, wrapping the initial fleeting glimpses of the car in a visual language borrowed from horror films, before stepping into a muscular demonstration of the car’s performance and leaving the viewer in no doubt who will win this chase.
Harmsworth said, “The 650S GT3 is an absolute beast and working with VCCP has been a real creative collaboration in bringing its animalistic nature to life. I can’t wait for McLaren fans to see the 650S GT3 in action.”
Harmsworth stepped into directing in 2012 with a series of beautiful films for cycling brand Rapha, perfectly capturing the incredible landscapes of Australia and the pain and devotion of professional road cyclists. Since then he’s developed rapidly, creating a varied body of commercial work, from an observed, naturalistic documentary campaign for Ford to a cinematic, muscular and sweeping ad for the Australian Navy. Running through his work is the attention to aesthetic detail, framing and composition you’d expect for a photographer and designer, and Joel’s background in these disciplines has underpinned his directing.