One of the great things about the ad we were in was the set. The Stonehenge replica we posed in had to be simple but it was still thoughtful. When we asked about it at the shoot we learned the makers were already gone. But good news! Our contact at the ad agency has gotten us the detailed explanation below from Production Designer Dylan Kahn. This is awesome! Many thanks!

(Markings in brackets in bold are ours and lead to footnotes below.)

Here’s basically how we pulled that thing off ..

I put a few images together that show the process

After I shared a bunch of research images of the real Stonehenge with Megaforce we then went and look at all the Clonehenge stuff together on FB[*] and google we could find.

Once we decided what we wanted to do , I built a 3d model of the pieces to help the set shop and I determined which shapes I liked best and thought would read easiest

From there I had the shapes carved in Beadfoam, the sculptors at vision scenery did that for us …using the reference and model as a guide

We then had those approved by MF for size and scale …

Heres a pic of me and the Alicia our Paint / sculpture foreman in front of them that we shared for size. You can see we numbered and then carved each trilithon as close to the model and real shapes as we could…so they were as close to the real thing as possible.

Knowing that they would be seen by not only the Clonehenge FB group people but more importantly[???] an additional 100 million Super Bowl watchers …

Following approvals from MF i then had them coated in concrete…we used the quick setting stuff that comes in 50lb bags. We troweled that on and kept it as rough as possible.

Once that was dry, I had them put a white wash on some of the stones and then a solid gray each on the others so it looked as though some were not yet dry, as MF wanted the vignette to show the group mixing cement and making them.

All in all they turned out great !

Notes: MF above stands for Megaforce. Wieden is Wieden and Kennedy, the ad agency responsible for making the ad.
Our own footnotes:
[*] Yay!
[???] Say what????

There it is. We wouldn’t be Clonehenge if we weren’t curious to learn how replicas are made. This process was fascinating to us. As to the thinking behind including us in the first place, that of course remains an utter mystery!

Our thanks to Maureen Doyle (for many things!) and Jewel Estephanos for getting us this information. And to everyone who had anything to do with the creation of the ad, especially all of the lovely people we met and were in touch with during the process.

Who knows what will happen with Clonehenge next! But until next time, friends, happy henging!