In the moment of exhilarating tension, a bright Adriatic blue Genesis G70 drifted under the trailer of a semi-truck. Doing a reverse 180-degree turn, nonetheless. What silver-screen trickery is this?
It is no sleight of special effects, but actual real-life footage featured in a G70 ad, jointly planned with Hyundai and produced by Donut Media, a popular U.S. YouTube channel with more than 2 million subscribers. The title is, The Art of the Stunt, Starring the Genesis G70. The 3-part ad is filmed around the theme of a high-speed chase with a healthy dose of stunt driving. It is a show-and-tell of the amazing performance capable by G70 which took home numerous Car of the Year Awards last year.
Watch the Genesis G70 stunt videoWatch Episode 1Watch Episode 2Watch Episode 3 
The Genesis team planned an ad featuring a chase scene
Donut Media uploaded a behind-the-scenes video on their YouTube channel sharing stories from the G70 ad production. The first of the three G70 stunt videos begins with James Pumphrey, the face of Donut Media and a well-known comedic actor, reminiscing of younger days watching The Fast and the Furious for the first time.
This semi-truck trailer trick was an homage to The Fast and the Furious
In an epic chase scene in the Fast and the Furious, a protagonist out-maneuvers the pursuing vehicles by driving under the trailer of a semi-truck in the next lane. When the movie opened, the stunt was so well executed and mind-blowing that young James dreamt of becoming a stunt driver, or at least try the mad maneuver himself one awesome day.
20 years since that day, Genesis stepped in and helped him cross it off his bucket list. The Genesis team wanted Donut Media to produce the G70 ad, and Donut Media accepted the proposal.
James initially suggested that the G70 be featured on a ride-test series on Donut Media's YouTube channel, but the Genesis team requested something extraordinary, something epic in scale. That is, something that involves burnt rubber and stunt-driving. James' long-held dream was about to come true.
Tanner Foust is a stunt driver whose name is synonymous to blockbuster chase scenes
The first step was to find the driver actually capable of pulling off the stunt. Luckily, the members of Donut Media had the right connections to get in touch with Tanner Foust and get him on board. (Tanner did all the driving, and the ad showing James behind the wheel was spliced in later for the final cut.)
Tanner Faust is the co-host of Top Gear U.S., and his filmography includes Need for Speed ,Iron Man 2,Born Ultimatum, and other blockbusters with intense chase scenes. Faust is also a two-time Formula D drift champion, and most of all a veteran behind the wheel who eats and sleeps stunts.
Robert Nagle is stunt driver and coordinator with work on nearly 60 films and television series
Production needed a specialist to oversee every aspect of the stunt driving project Finding the right person was quite straight forward, because there can only be one best. Robert Nagle came on board, bringing his industry-leading knowledge and expertise in stunt coordination. Robert is widely recognized and respected for his work in Spiderman, Black Panther, the Dark Knight Rises, John Wick: Chapter Two, and four of the Fast and the Furious films.
Stunt coordination is crucial in every way, to be responsible for judging whether a certain scene is physically possible, develop a convincing scene, and communicate it accurately and effectively to not only the stunt driver, but also other staff involved.
Ben Conrad, the go-to creative lead on countless Hollywood VFX took the megaphone
Ben Conrad, who took the helm as director, is James' mentor and the de facto leader of Donut Media. Conrad helmed several short-films featuring automobiles, including Monster Recoil 2 and Monster Recoil 3, which were about off-road trucks. He was also the creative lead for VFX on Avengers Assemble, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Venom. The automobile stunt dream team line-up was complete.
The G70 stunt was done where The Dark Knight and Terminator scenes were filmed
Location choice was obvious to the veterans who had done this countless times; they knew what place would work best for the Genesis G70 ad. Ben Conrad reeled in on the Fourth Avenue downtown where traffic is relatively light, connecting into Grand Lower. For reference, the location is the place for Hollywood chase-scenes, already featured in the Terminator, the Dark Knight, and the Italian Job, just to name a few blockbusters.
The shooting team also spared no effort to acquire equipment for maximum production value. Various specialized equipment and rigs were brought in for the stunts. The biscuit rig is used to film characters inside the vehicle. The suction cup rig is used to video specific parts of the car, such as the spinning wheels. Drone-mounted cameras add a strong sense of on-location realism. The Russian arm is a staple in any road scene, offering free and stable movement for dynamic on-the-road footages. The team spared no equipment in bringing the action-filled scene to film. Off the record, James made a big fuss about the Russian arm looking like a German tank.
The 180-degree rotating drift under the semi-truck trailer was far riskier than it appears
Even the best gear and teammates doesn't nullify the risks involved in driving on a street and timing a spin-turn under the trailer of a semi-truck with only 6.7-meter clearance left-to-right? The G70 is no small car; it measures 4.6-meters head to tail, and it had to do a 180-degree drifting turn through a space less than 5-meters wide. The success of the turning maneuver depended entirely on the driver's well-honed intuition as well as hand-eye-foot coordination; turning the steering wheel and feet pumping the pedals.
Faust was making on-the-go calculations and adjustments in the blink of an eye
Tanner accelerated in reverse, building up speed as he checked the side mirror to eye the gap under the trailer where the G70 would slide under. As the G70 passed a threshold, Tanner pulled the steering wheel one half-turn into to initiate spin. When the G70 is roughly parallel to the trailer, tanner hit the brakes to shift the G70s weight to the rear wheels and whip the front around. Through the maneuver, Tanner was able to immediately lose whoever had been chasing him. It seems quite straight forward in text, but the video execution was so fantastic that it was just unbelievable.
Considering that the only adjustment to real-life conditions in the ad was the slightly raised trailer floor to allow for G70's clearance height, Tanner Faust's driving was real-life stunt action executed with guts and skill.
The Genesis G70 has won many auto awards
The V6 3.3L twin turbo engine on the chase scene’s Genesis G70 puts out a maximum 365 hp (North American standards, SAE) of luxury sports performance. The fact that the G70 is a rear-wheel drive makes it all the more ideal for dynamic stunt driving.
The G70 brings the brawn with the highest safety rating (TSP+) from the IIHS (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety). That is to say, the stunt video team had to remove and turn off all the safety features in the G70 to allow for the dangerous (but necessary!) 180-degree turn.
This included turning off the ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) which provides traction control and prevents spin-outs and the VSM (Vehicle Stability Management) which preempts any unstable behavior in vehicle operation. The team even arbitrarily removed the wheel-speed sensor, showing just how dedicated they were to their craft.
Donut Media's stunt team removed G70's wheel-speed sensor to achieve this shot
This scene from the third episode gives you a hint as to why the team removed the wheel-speed sensor. In the ad, the G70 does a 180-degree spin to get away from the chase while moving in reverse at 35 mph (about 56 kph). Most automakers limit reverse speeds for safety using the wheel-speed sensor, but the team removed it to achieve dynamic speeds as part of their epic getaway scene.
As a result, the G70 successfully executed the 180-degree drift-turn in the midst of the cutthroat chase, showing off the charm only a rear-wheel-drive sports sedan can.
The blockbuster G70 ad video was made possible by the hard work of manyDonut Media's behind-the-scenes video is also in three parts, just like the ad itself. The first episode revolves around the stunt driver, while the second tells the story of the stunt coordinator overseeing the stunt action. The third and final episode features the story of the director who oversaw the ad production itself, as well as stories from the behind-the-scenes in a very immersive way.
In it, James expressed his great respect for the staff involved, thanking everyone and pointing out that it takes a lot of hard work to make an automobile ad that has amazing stunts.
If you own a G70 yourself, the videos might inspire a certain urge within you. Maybe you're imagining an epic donut in that one empty lot you saw on the way to the office. James knows this better than anyone else, and clearly tells you at the beginning of each video: "Please, Don’t try this at home". You might be a skilled driver, but you're no Tanner Faust. So please, don't try this at home, or anywhere at all.
Photos are screen captures from the three G70 stunt videos on the Donut Media YouTube channel
Behind-the-scenes of Donut Media's Genesis G70 stunt shootsWatch Episode 1Watch Episode 2Watch Episode 3 
