Your Shot: Dare To Be Brasilian
Wieden+Kennedy and Rattling Stick’s Daniel Kleinman whipping a Nike campaign for the globe’s biggest footballing event? ‘Dare To Be Brasilian’ is as excellent and epic as we’ve come to expect from its creators. The 2014 World Cup-supporting campaign takes us into the minds of the best Brazilian players set to strut their stuff next June and July. As befits a World Cup kick-off campaign, the 90-second launch film was no small feat, shot over three countries and with all of the starring players filmed separately. LBB’s Addison Capper spoke with director Daniel Kleinman and W+K São Paulo ECD Icaro Doria.
Icaro Doria
LBB> What was the initial brief from Nike like and what were your initial thoughts when you saw it?
ID> The brief was plain simple: to celebrate what makes Brasilian football special.
Our first reaction was pretty much "it doesn't get any better than this". Football has become too serious and it's about time we celebrate the spontaneity and unique flavours each player can bring to the pitch.
LBB> In the film, we see different worlds being played out inside the players' minds - what did you use to inspire these different worlds and how do they reflect the respective players?
ID> We had an honest chat with the players to learn more or less what goes through their heads when they get into the game. And then we created a universe for each one to try and bring to life their unique style and approach to the same game. Thiago Silva, for example, is a very calm, central defender. He is the captain. The boss. He owns his territory. David Luiz, who's also a defender, has a completely different approach to the game, even though they play the same position. Some universes were inspired by the players' background, others were just their imagination.
LBB> How long did it take from idea to conception?
ID> Three months.
LBB> Why was Daniel Kleinman the perfect man to shoot the film? What did he bring to the final production?
ID> Danny Kleinman is incredible. He knows exactly what he's doing and he is a freaking genius when it comes to handling post production. He was able in his treatment to gives us an idea of what he would do with each universe for each player and was very precise on describing how to execute each segment of the film. He gave us lots of confidence and we were all very pleased with the final result.
LBB> This week we've seen how the Nike brand translates across cultures with 'Play Russian', ‘Let The Run Tell You Why’ in China, and this new Brazil ad - what sort of research do you do and approach do you take to making the brand culturally relevant in different markets?
ID> Nike is a brand that always speaks to the athlete. So, the goal is always to be insightful. The group that works on Nike is usually pretty obsessed with sports and knows what is going on, but mostly, we always keep a tap on kids doing sports and we always want to create something that will be inspiring and insightful to them. And if you are insightful and inspiring to the young athlete, there’s a big chance that you will be culturally relevant wherever you are.
LBB> What else can we look forward to from 'Dare To Be A Brasilian' ahead of next year's World Cup?
ID> Lots of things! 2014 is the big year! We'll keep feeding you guys.
LBB> What were the trickiest parts of this campaign and how did you overcome them?
ID> The logistics of filming several pro athletes are always challenging…
Daniel Kleinman
LBB> What was the initial brief like and what appealed to you about it?
DK> The idea was to bring out the individual characters of the players and feature their differing styles of football whilst showing how they work and bond as a team. It was also to demonstrate the unique flair and skill that is the Brazilian game. What appealed to me was the opportunity to create several short films in one big one, each one very different but conveying a flow of action that carries you along in a logical way. The fantasy element mixed with the real feel of a Brazilian match was a nice challenge as well.
LBB> What was pre-production like for the film?
DK> I like to be very prepared before a job so I had detailed storyboards made. We had to choreograph the football action and rehearse it with doubles of footballers who could play as well as look good. The shoot was in Spain so we needed to find Brazilian style locations and make sure it looked authentic. Planning around the schedules of the professional players was cryptic logistical exercise.
LBB> In the film, we see different worlds being played out inside the players' minds - what did you use to inspire these different worlds and how do they reflect the respective players?
DK> Each world was inspired by knowledge of each athlete’s idiosyncrasies, their style of play and personality. For instance Sliva is defending his territory, much as a member of a proud neighbourhood might, and although Bernard is not a big guy he makes the taller players around him seem slow and ponderous. Neymar plays in a very natural way, he makes his immense skill look easy etc.
LBB> This week we've seen how the Nike brand translates across cultures with 'Play Russian', ‘Let The Run Tell You Why’ in China, and this new Brazil ad - as a director, how much does this influence your research and approach to shooting a commercial?
DK> I think good filmmaking is a universal language; all I care about is that the work is as good as I can make it.
LBB> What was the shoot like as a whole? What were the biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
DK> The shoot was fun but also very tricky. A lot of travelling was involved as none of the players were actually in the same place or even country at the same time. That meant it was tough to create even ordinary football action like one player passing the ball to another. We used green screen techniques, motion control, animation, crowd replication, historic costume and locations, and we shot in three countries, but I enjoy complex filmmaking and am always up for a challenge.
Credits
Title: Dare to Be Brazilian
Duration: 90”
Client: Nike Brazil
Product: Brazil National Team
Year of Production: 2013
Agency: Wieden+Kennedy São Paulo
Executive Creative Directors: Icaro Doria, Guillermo Vega
Creative Directors: Blake Kidder e Patrick Almaguer
Copywriter: Vitor Amos
Art Director: Pedro Izique
Agency Producer: Gabriel Dagostini, Taís Olhiara
Account: Ryan Fisher, Isabel Rudge
Planner: Rodrigo Maroni, Anne Heuer, Vitor Amos
Media: Renata Valio, Fernanda Delamare, Guilherme Calvante, Amanda Coutinho, Alexandre Muramoto
Client Approval: Colin Leary, Barbara Casara
Production Company: Rattling Stick
Director: Daniel Kleinman
Director of Photography: Toby Irwin
Producer: Johnnie Frankel
Editor: Steve Gandolfi
Account - Production Company: Christine Berensten
Illustrator (Cena David Luiz): Rafael Grampá
Audio Facility: Sam Robson and Anthony Moore at Factory Studios
Soundtrack Composing: Equipe Satélite
Soundtrack Production: Equipe Satélite
Account - Audio Production House: Fernanda Costa
Post House: Framestore
VFX Supervisor: William Bartlett
Colourist: Steffan Perry
Digital Production Company: Rattling Stuff
