Entering ‘The Ring’ for Hayabusa’s Athleisure Line Launch

For the launch of its first-ever athleisure line, fight apparel brand Hayabusa decided to team up with Futuristic Films, after seeing its work online. Wanting to take the clothing line in a unique direction, Futuristic Films - described by director/partner Jasper Gray as a “full spectrum production company” - was allowed to lead all aspects of the spot’s creative development and production. This freedom to be involved throughout the process, even doing post production in-house, resulted in a vibrant hero film where athletes enter a surreal, industrial world and overcome their inner obstacles through a striking and symbolic visual narrative.

After receiving the simple brief of “striking visuals and people looking badass doing combat things”,  the Futuristic team focused on creating an abstract and surreal world based around the concept of ‘The Ring’ - using it as a physical visual element and a metaphor to communicate the essence of the combat sport lifestyle and values. 

To achieve this, they used LED lighting to add intense colour and transformed a warehouse into a hyper-moody, dreamlike environment where the athletes performed a series of technical stunts and combat displays - punching through glass, exploding through piles of rocks and shadowboxing between lasers. 

To get an insight into how the spot was created from end-to-end by Futuristic Films, LBB’s Ben Conway caught up with the team: Jasper Gray, director/partner, Christian Silberbauer, head of production, Will Gardner, director of photography, Matt Wade, senior editor and Brittany Horwege, post producer. Also providing his insight from the client side is Philippe Brindamour, creative director at Hayabusa.

LBB> How did this project come about? Why were Futuristic Films the team for the job?

Philippe> From the get-go, it was imperative that this spot be the best we ever made at Hayabusa. This line is super important for the growth of our company as it will propel us into a new market and category. Ultimately, Jasper and Futuristic were right as they understood the vision we had for this project - the story we wanted to tell. Jasper instinctively understood our brand identity and who our audience is. He has a passion for doing things right and never lets ego get in the way of keeping on track with the creative vision for the spot. He has a very dynamic, high-intensity style for this project and this really helped tell the story with the right energy and tension.

LBB> What was your brief like? What did you want to communicate and show in the spot?

Philippe> We wanted to show the product in motion, tell the combat sport lifestyle story in a visual way, and show men and women being equally powerful - and ultimately, create excitement for the apparel line. This campaign continues our brand story about the transformative aspect of combat sport and the fighter’s lifestyle. [Showing] the positive impact on your life and the empowerment and sacrifices that come from fully embracing it.

LBB> How were the athletes chosen? And what were they like to work with on the shoot? 

Philippe> It needed to be as authentic as possible, so we wanted actors that are real fighters. Fighters stand differently and have a different attitude, and that is exactly what we needed to capture - especially since we would need them to shadowbox, do footwork and punch things. We leveraged Hayabusa’s network of brand ambassadors to choose the ideal candidates for this spot and have proper representation. 

The great thing about working with fighters is they are a hardy lot and willing to push things as needed. It is part of the fighter’s lifestyle, you are used to pushing into uncomfortable situations and excelling. 

Jasper> Everyone came from a variety of backgrounds and had different levels of on-camera experience. I’ve worked with a lot of non-actors, and always try to keep an element of play with their actions/on-screen direction. We were able to interview them to weave their personal stories into the narrative script. For example, the mirrors felt fitting for Tasha [Wespi, amateur boxer and coach] as she used training to overcome her own struggle with body image. 

LBB> You had to shoot in the warehouse overnight - what was that process like? 

Jasper> The location itself was pretty tricky to work with. I wanted it so badly, it’s such a unique building in Denver and has so much natural texture. Christian worked for months on negotiations to secure the location. As a director, I was pretty insistent! 

We knew going in that an overnight shoot would be rough and the warehouse location was not ideal. But it’s fun to see when the whole crew is tuned in and excited about what you’re getting - and when they’re pulling together, it’s amazing what you can accomplish. Shout out to the art department, G&E and the camera team. There is an infectious energy when the crew knows when the shots are good. 

Christian> The challenge was basically setting up a full studio in an active warehouse on a limited budget. Things were shifting every time we scouted… the layout kept changing, parts of it were flooded from heavy rain, or there was no power in the space. It was definitely interesting. 

Philippe> The night before the shoot some tests were being run for the laser sequences, and since the athlete was in early that day, we decided to get all his individual shots done the night before. This gave us more buffer to play with on the actual overnight shoot date. It was very fast-paced, high intensity and we were literally racing against the sunrise to get the last shot in the can. The anecdote I took away from this great experience is the following quote: “you see the true quality of a person on set in the last hour of the shoot.” [It’s] so true and representative of the quality of the team at Futuristic. Everyone adapted to complications that arose and turned it into something even greater for the spot.

LBB> The ‘ring’ lights, red lasers, and the lighting generally really sets the tone of the ad - what were the ideas and design behind the lighting? 

Jasper> For the lighting, we had a particular colour palette that added to the surreal feel of the space, and also presented the talent and clothing in a flattering way. 

Will> We tried to differentiate the lighting for each character. The ring light became the epicentre and acted as the ‘homing beacon’ for the characters to assemble as they were finding their way. The ring light was constructed with 12 Astera titan tubes and rigged to a dimmer board so we had full control over the colour and intensity. For the exterior of the building, we put up 10 x 1k tungsten fixtures to provide a nice ambient glow outside. 

We wanted Lanny [Joon, actor and owner of Joon Boxing] to be able to interact with the lasers as if he was battling them. We tracked down a local specialist who primarily works in large concert and festival settings. He was really stoked about the project and invited us down to his underground club not far from our office, so we were able to do some tests before the shoot started. 

Jasper> One of my biggest challenges was stopping during the shoot as we had to keep moving to stay on schedule. There’s an endless amount you can do with lasers like this. I could have shot lasers for another day and just kept getting cool stuff. 

LBB> To add to the lighting  - the colour grade must have been very important. Who did you work with for the grade and what direction did you give them?

Jasper> We collaborated with a colourist, Jonnie Sirotek, whom we have a long standing relationship with. We have developed a lot of film emulation LUTs together in the past, but as we were applying them to his grade, we found it affected too much of our carefully selected palette, so the challenge was to work in the things we liked from the previous LUTs while staying true to the colours we selected on set. Adding the right pop to the wardrobe was important and Jonnie was able to complete the look of our world. Will, our DoP, was heavily also involved in helping to set the looks. 

LBB> There are some really high-impact shots, caught in slow-mo  - punching through glass and smashing through piles of rocks etc. How were these shots executed? 

Jasper> We wanted an element of slow mo to break the pace and add to those specific shots. We brought in the Phantom Miro to capture that, shooting over a thousand frames a second. We really went all-in on some of these shots. Bringing in breakaway glass was a challenge, we were only able to afford three pieces and one broke in transit. Watching the FedEx guy drop it in front of our studio was pretty rough. 

Christian> We knew we’d need to shoot all the stunts practically, so spent a lot of time coming up with creative effects that could be executed quickly but still looked cool and high impact. Things like punching through glass, explosions of dust, and breaking down walls, we wanted that to be real for the athletes. The sets needed to be simple, but feel big on the day. The location played a huge part in being able to pull all of this off as it had its own inherent art direction. So we were able to put a large chunk of our resources into the lighting and stunts, rather than spend a lot of time dressing a space. 

LBB> What was the edit process like? What creative decisions were made in the edit and why?

Jasper> Our editor, Matt, was able to work so much with the music and sound effects along with the edit. Knowing that the piece would be so driven by sound, Matt worked extensively cutting audio and the effects along with picture. This really let these things evolve together and let the pace build dramatically from atmospheric shots to high-action shots in an organic way. 

Matt> It was important to establish location first which is why I went with a slower build up front. One of the bigger things was figuring out how to crosscut between the characters and how you wrap up each of those stories (do you spread them out or do it all at the end?). Sound design was a huge component here, it helped build out the space within the film. This was a unique and fun project with the moodier visuals mixed with high energy fighting/action sequences that I don’t get to work on everyday. 

Brittany> In the finishing process, we were able to accentuate what was captured on camera with subtle VFX, which allows the audience to escape a bit more fully into this world. 

LBB> How did you react to seeing the final product for the first time? What is your favourite shot/sequence from the spot?

Philippe> Oh man, it was great. Seeing it all come together for the first time. I was super excited to see how good it was in its rough draft. Instant relief and pride that it was all coming together as we hoped. There are so many good ones it is hard to choose. My favourite shots are the laser scene with Lanny, Tasha’s punch through the glass in extreme slow motion (epic) and the reveal at the end when the team comes together.

LBB> Anything else you would like to add?

Philippe> I love working with a high caliber team like the one at Futuristic. As a creative director, these are experiences that help me grow and learn. To see and learn from how things are done on set, work with amazing people and forge lasting relationships. Nothing is more important and inspiring than working with people that share the same passion for the craft as you do. It has been an honour to work with the whole team at Futuristic and I look forward to doing it again soon.

Christian> In terms of challenges, this one really had it all. Ambition, budget, weather, schedule, practical effects, a tricky location, and an overnight shoot… but we pulled it off!