Images Copyright © 2005 Michael Victor. All rights reserved.

Product: Puma "Legend"
The Client: Michael Victor - Director

Cinematic Treatment: We shot this spot in a huge open gym space. We wanted a feeling of abstract isolation and chose to tell the story with Clairmont Swing and Shift lenses. Because we were shooting Super 35mm, we were naturally vignetting around the edges a little quicker on the wider lenses. As a result I used less extreme planes of focus shifts on the wider shots, but really pushed the extremes with the longer lenses.

Pulling focus is very difficult for an assistant on this format, so I was designing shots by tracking focus by placing the subject in the plane of focus as I operated, rather than having my assistant follow focus. This medium for me is very charming but demands a great deal of concentration and additional setup time to design interesting moving shots. Time was a precious luxury we didn't have much of on this spot, but I am very pleased with the results we achieved within our eight-hour window.

I know swing and tilts have been a little overused in the past, but when used appropriately, they bring with them much personality as their own aesthetic.

My lighting was based on recreating a natural soft ambient fill light to the gym's space. This sounds basic, however I needed my soft natural fill light to be at an exposure of T 5.6/8 to accommodate our T2.8 lenses shooting at 36 FPS with a 45-degree shutter. I recreated this lighting setup by bouncing HMI's into 8x8 grifflon. Because the back walls were over 50 feet away, I could merely let the excess light fall off into mid-ground space without having to cut excess spill too much.

We wet the floors so we were often designing shots with the use of reflections and utilizing a lot of negative space in our compositions. We shot this spot within 8 hours.

CREW:

Director - Michael Victor
Creative - Jeff Heath, Y&R
Producer - Heather Victor
DP - Daron Keet
Colorist - Bob Curreri, The Syndicate
Editor - Michael Victor
Special Effects - Jason Eskew/Josh Hurst, Liquid Logixx
Sound Design - Andy Snaverly, Bendy
1st AD - Brad Birkeland
Gaffer - Dave Chung
1st AC - Wade Whitley
2nd AC - Lorenzo
Key grip - Mark Evans
Electrician - Crystal Ramin
Camera Rental - The Camera House and Clairmont Camera
Camera - Arri 435 - S [Super 35mm]
Lenses - Clairmont Swing And Tilt 20, 35, 55, 90mm F 2.8.
Dolly - Fisher 11
Film stock - Kodak 5246 - 250daylight
Lab - Fotokem
Lighting/Grips package - Wooden Nickel

PUMA "Legend" Shot List

PUMA- WIDE ENTRANCE/EXIT SHOTS (DON'T NEED JOHNNY FOR THESE)
MED ENTRANCE/EXITS OLD MAN SHOTS- LOOK DIRECTLY INTO CAMERA
LONG ENTERS, WALKS TO BENCH SHOT/ EXITS
CU LOOKS AROUND SUSPICIOUSLY
OVERHEAD SITS ON BENCH, OPENS BAG, TAKES OUT SHOES.
CU ON FEET TAKING OFF OLD SHOES
CU ON HAND TIES SHOES, MORPH TO ATHLETE
MED SHOT ON BENCH, GREEN SCREEN OLD MAN/ATHLETE MORPH, ATHLETE STANDS AND ROARS!
ATHLETE RUNS/ BOTH DIRECTONS
CU SHOES RUNNING
ATHLETE PUNCHES PUNCHING BAG
GET THE ATHLETE DOING PUSH UPS!