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Looks to me to be mostly computer generated animation with some live cuts thrown in towards the end. It was fun to watch tho.

LONDON — Shell is shelling out major money, to the tune of some $3.9 million, to film a TV ad for V-Power high-performance gasoline.

The commercial will feature Ferrari Formula 1 cars racing through the streets of London, New York and Sydney, Australia. The oil company has a partnership with Ferrari's F1 team.

Shell is filming on February 17 in London and then moving to the other cities to complete the ad for a March worldwide TV debut. Ferrari's own Formula 1 test drivers will do the driving except in Sydney, where a Ferrari owner will reportedly do the honors.

The company says it's the most expensive advertisement ever made for TV.

What this means to you: You can tell this isn't an American ad — because it's not set to debut on Super Bowl Sunday.

By Kwame Patterson
March 1, 2007 - The Production company Maximum Entertainment brought Ferrari to Times Square in February for a commercial celebrating the 60th anniversary of the legendary performance brand.

After making a stop at the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting for permits and police assistance, commercial film crews drove a red 1967 Formula 1 Ferrari through 7th Ave between 42nd and 49th Streets for what they called the “Vanilla Sky Shot.”

The “Vanilla Sky shot” has been coined by some industry insiders from a scene out of the 2001 movie, where Tom Cruise is completely alone in Times Square. To produce the seemingly-impossible shot, which was not computer enhanced, the MOFTB coordinated the needs of the crew with vehicle and pedestrian traffic during the late night and early morning hours.

The Ferrari shot took place in the early morning hours on a weekend in February, where traffic was diverted to Broadway and intermittently controlled. Bus and safe pedestrian flow was maintained at all times.

The concept of the commercial is the Ferrari sports car-- with the help of special computer effects-- turns corners only to end up in another country. To simulate this “world tour,” shots were also produced in Rome, where the Ferrari drove around the Coliseum, Rio de Janeiro, where it was driven around at Copacabana, Hong Kong, Sydney, Monaco and France.

Ferrari representatives and the commercial’s director Antoine Bardou-Jacquet noted that out of all other shoot locations in the commercial, New York City gave them the best experience.

Producer Jim Czarnecki said New York City was extremely helpful with setting up the shot. “The City is always cooperative,” he said. “The policemen are great to work with and very sensible and smart in balancing the needs of the filmmakers and the community they are filming in.”

As part of the advertising campaign, Ferrari enthusiasts from around the world will be celebrating the 60th anniversary in a global festival backed by long-time technical partner Shell. The commercial should begin airing this month and is slated to run in Europe