BMW Milestones 7-Series Film

• Paul Street’s Milestones Film for BMW China
• From upper left: 502 (1952-1964) |E23 (1977-1986) | E32 (1987-1994) | E38 (1995-2001) | E66 (2002-2008) | F01 (2009 – )
• Streetlight Films known for car adverts and special film segments for Top Gear

By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG via Street Films

YOU have to admire Paul Street’s craft.

The British film maker is best known for more commercial works through his production company, Streetlight Films. His company produced Top Gear‘s best segment – you know, the one that featured Jeremy Clarkson at the helm of a Ford first chased by a Vette through a mall and then in a completely disconnected scene – taking part in a mock invasion by landing on a beach with British marines.

You can see why BMW would’ve wanted to enlist such talent to present the new 7-Series to the burgeoning Chinese market. What follows is one fluid sequence of circular motion. We see BMW design theory change through the years; a reflection of each decade.

Tell me, were the late 90s really that boring? And the 80s that loud?

Our point of view is looking at the passage of time from streetside; like watching the action of a clock’s arms pass swiftly along its face from the slim view granted from a profile perspective. This promotional film, for Chinese eyes only, apparently, is whirrling magic.

Perhaps with time, we’ll be able to point to the flaws in such overt use of computer animation. But for now, Milestones work rather nicely.