The Creed is a 2:15 video for Harley-Davidson that encapsulates the “Live by it” theme of its most recent ad campaign by showing a group of dedicated bikers riding around Los Angeles. The film recreates the spirit by using actual bikers who were selected during a careful casting call.
The piece was shot with color stock, but the color was drained out of it so it appears in black-and-white, according to Susanne Preissler, president of Santa Monica-based Independent Media, the production company involved in the shoot. “It’s a stronger piece than if it had been in color, because your eye goes to the action and you can concentrate on the riders,” she said.
The video was directed by Wally Pfister, the acclaimed cinematographer who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography in 2005 for Batman Begins. The Creed was his second directing project.
The piece, which was shot in 35mm, features close ups and mid-range shots of the bikers riding across bridges, through tunnels and along the wide open highways that wind through the hills of Los Angeles. Close-ups feature the riders in all their glory, with their sun glasses, tattoos and seasoned expressions that communicate the “Live by it” theme. “It’s based on the idea that people come to Harley from all kinds of backgrounds and walks of life and what brings them together is they have the same way of looking at the world and what they believe in,” said Jim Nelson, executive creative director at Carmichael Lynch/Minneapolis, the agency behind the campaign.
Nelson also wrote the script, which includes the line, “Some of us believe in the man upstairs and all us believe in sticking it to the man down here.”
The video began running in October and can be seen at the Harley-Davidson website and YouTube. “It’s a separate concept from the TV and print campaign, although print has the same black-and-white feel,” Nelson said.
