The original documentary cut lasted 15 minutes, however the Ad agency (Weiden & Kennedy) along with the Honda marketing team deemed it too long for promotional reasons, so a cut of 10 minutes was made. This in turn showed a much quicker in depth film about the trials and tribulations of making the advert. This final 5 minute cut was the one that Honda used to market on the DVD format and given away free in many of the UK Sunday supplements.
Originally the 'Making Of' feature was 15 mins in duration. Subsequent shorter cuts were made to market the film. This was used to help launch the new advert along with TV and press campaigns.
The advert was shot in a studio just outside Paris, France, in the spring of 2003. A long week with many takes. The documentary captured the entire week and extra work with extensive interviews were then filmed back in Londons' West End shortly afterwards. Whilst the actual TV advert was being cut back in London, the subsequent featurette was also being edited over in Soho, with the aim to launch at the exact same time as the TV commercial.
The advert 'COG' was inspired by the children's board game Mouse Trap, Caractacus Potts' breakfast-making machine in the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and a 1987 Swiss art film by Peter Fischli and David Weiss, Der Lauf der Dinge (The Way Things Go).
Half way through filming the documentary, the agency changed direction and wanted the featurette less serious, so a change was made, and the film concentrated more on the 'out takes' and made a more conscious effort to capture the more comical aspect of the process. Hence the quips and general banter that is present in all the cuts and takes in the finished film.