Suzuki Life

< News

26 May 2025

Suzuki NZ Partners with Local Animator to Create World-First Stop-Motion Car Film

In a bold move that blends grassroots creativity with global ambition, Suzuki New Zealand teamed up with Auckland-based stop motion wizard Adam Rowland to produce what may be a world first.

The star? The ever-popular Suzuki Swift. The medium? Pure stop-motion - handcrafted, frame-by-frame, using practical effects, no CGI, and a full-sized vehicle filmed entirely inside a studio.

“We’re always looking for unexpected ways to show off the personality and performance of the Swift,” says Suzuki NZ Marketing Manager, Fiona Bridgford. “When Adam came to us with this wild idea of animating a real car using stop-motion, we were immediately intrigued. It felt playful, unique - and very Suzuki.”

The result is a high-energy, cinematic short film where the Swift goes on a little adventure, zipping and racing across a variety of hand-built sets, as if it’s alive.

Meticulously planned, the animation took over 4,000 carefully curated photographs, all layered together into the final stop-motion masterpiece. The Swift was jacked up and down more than 700 times to simulate jumps, leans, and weight shifts - all while travelling nearly 1 kilometre through a studio no wider than 12 metres.

The dedicated crew of eight racked up a combined 500 kilometres on foot, shuffling back and forth from the safe zone to the set to reposition props, move the car, and finesse every detail. That’s more than the distance from Auckland to Wellington - all inside the Photogear studio in Mt Wellington!

Of course, none of this cinematic magic would land without the right eye behind the lens. Enter Pete Whittaker, Director of Photography from Howler, who brought the visual storytelling to life with lighting that elevated the entire production.

The project was developed by Adam Rowland's stop-motion studio Awkward Animations, New Zealand’s only dedicated commercial stop-motion outfit. With a background in high-level corporate roles, Adam traded spreadsheets for storyboards and has been making waves with imaginative campaigns that fuse nostalgia, craftsmanship, and visual flair.

“This isn’t your typical car advertising,” Suzuki NZ notes. “It’s quirky. It’s a little unexpected. It has the charm of animation with the thrill of live action - and it reflects the kind of fun energy we associate with the Swift.

This kind of campaign stands out. It invites you into a world where the car isn’t just a product - it’s a character. And we love that it’s been hand-crafted right here in New Zealand by local creatives.”

With the Swift now immortalized in stop-motion, Suzuki NZ may have just helped drive car advertising into a bold new dimension - one lovingly built, frame by frame.

Swift Animation 2.JPG

Credits:

Swift Animation.jpg