Qantas creates 100-year time lapse in new safety video

Qantas' new safety video celebrates 100 years of its history and features the '80s mullet and '70s moustaches right through to '40s flying boats and '20s propeller aircraft. The safety briefing is delivered by current Qantas crew in carefully recreated historical settings, including onboard aircraft and in airport terminals. Alastair Fysh, the grandson of Qantas co-founder Sir Hudson Fysh, also made a cameo appearance.

The video features iconic aircraft, fashion and aviation milestones to create a 100-year time lapse from the 1920s to present day. Some of the scenes were recreated in real life, others such as the original Avro 504 and the 1930s De Havilland 86, were bought back to life using computer generated imagery. The video will screen onboard all Qantas international and domestic flights from 1 March. Brand + Story, Positive Ape, White Chocolate and stylist Melissa Rutherford were involved in the video.

The production team at Positive Ape spent months researching information from the national archives, aviation museums. In total, the team took more than 12 months spent more than 12 months on development and pre-production, and the video was filmed over three weeks across seven destinations - Longreach, Rose Bay, HARS Museum at Wollongong, Melbourne, Brisbane Airport and the pink lakes of Hutt Lagoon in Western Australia.

It also used photographs and artefacts from the extensive Qantas Heritage collection to perfect the details of each scene, from original life jackets to the wall panels from retired aircraft that were retrieved from the Mojave Desert. Various crew uniforms from throughout the decades were sourced from Qantas’s own collection and retired Qantas crew. The clothing for extras came from a combination of personal wardrobes and op shops in regional communities.

With a soundtrack featuring Australian jazz legend James Morrison playing numerous brass instruments, the video is set to instrumental versions of the song "I Still Call Australia Home" by Peter Allen and tailored to the musical style of each era.

Qantas group CEO Alan Joyce said safety videos are an important tool to communicate vital safety messages to travellers. “This safety video is a look back at the different styles of aircraft, service and uniforms that have been part of our long history. And it calls out the contribution Qantas and its people have made to aviation, like the invention of the slide raft, as well as the national carrier’s role in connecting Australia to the world,” Joyce said.