The Brief

Adidas is launching their new Deerupt model as part of the Adidas Originals series. Think of a film considering the following:

Product Truth: Undeniably Adidas, disruptive through the simplicity of the grid. Playing with our design DNA, color, and fit to create a radically new silhouette

Consumer Truth: The aesthete appreciates a considered and reduced approach to design, preferring simple and authentic products that make a statement.

Cultural Truth: An iconic brand has the confidence to focus on its own unique DNA, ignoring cultural trends and noise.

Reshape or die

Taking as inspiration the texture of the shoe, the film challenges the perception of the viewer, establishing a narrative relationship between the product and a city that is reshaped at will.

Featuring Yang Mi and Lu Han, we see the city grid being transformed, pumped, rippled, and re-shaped by their movements. Each action redefining the space around them, expanding its limits with each push, forcing it to adapt to them. And not the other way around.

The Challenge(s)

The catch in this series of films, (there’s always a catch), was that we only had 15 minutes to shoot each one of them, since our cast were tier 1 celebs and you know what’s the deal with t1 celebs: you have rehearsed with your crew, a thousand times and you are ready to roll by the second the cast enters the set. This means, they literally get dressed and makeup, walk-in, do their catwalk and walk away.

This not only has a huge impact on how production is planned but also on the idea of the film itself. It must be something that first: is good; and second: is extremely quick and easy to shoot. If you over complicate it, chances are you are going to make a lot of people unhappy.

This kind of project is really challenging, but also fun. Reminds me of my days at uni in the Fine Arts school when we had to produce 40 meaningful collages in one hour. You go to the essentials, the primal connections, the core concept, and try to find and synthesize a visualization of such a concept. No bullshit, no time for explanations, either you make the right connection or you don’t. And you have to produce 40 of those.

At the end is a conceptual work under pressure, which I enjoy, but instead of an Arts teacher, it is Adidas.

And that’s great because unlike my teacher, Adidas pays for it, and gives me slightly more time.

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