To say that the top two tracks in SHOOT’s fall 2007 chart are simply about sports is to do this notable work an injustice. Yes, our number one entry carries a basketball theme. And filling the number two slot is a constantly moving series of big-time football plays. But both films–and their accompanying tracks–represent so much more.
Click here for SHOOT’s 2007 Fall Spot Tracks Top Ten Chart
Finishing first was episode number one of 11 in a web series (on ww.adidasbasketball.com), which is the centerpiece of adidas’ “Basketball is a Brotherhood” campaign directed by Paul Hunter of bicoastal/international HSI Productions for 180 LA. The webisodes are complemented by a caring, soulful soundtrack out of Beacon Street Studios, Venice, Calif.
Taking the number two position in the fall chart was the Nike spot “Leave Nothing” directed by feature filmmaker Michael Mann via Alturas Films, Venice, Calif., for Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore. This almost poetic look at the game and the unyielding competitive desire of its prime performers was driven in part by sound design from Mit Out Sound, Sausalito, Calif., and a Royal Scottish National Orchestra performance of “Promontory” (composed by Trevor Jones and Dougie MacLean). This rendition is separate from that which was part of the Mann-directed feature The Last of the Mohicans.
“Brotherhood”
Twelve youngsters are headed for an adidas summer basketball camp. What they don’t know is that they are about to live with and learn from several big-time NBA stars, including Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Tracy McGrady, Chauncey Billips, Gilbert Arenas and Dwight Howard. The films are all unscripted as the players show a side of themselves not known to the public; they open up to the kids, sharing their personal stories and mentoring the youngsters on hard work and team play.
You can see the youngsters grow during the series, from starry eyed admirers to at the end playing alongside their NBA heroes and feeling the inspiration to excel–both on and off the court.
Peter Cline, a managing partner and head of production at 180, related, “It may sound cliché, but it was a moving experience for everyone involved–us, the kids, the players. It’s one of the best vibes I’ve ever experienced on a shoot. I’ve never seen athletes understand a message so well and buy into it, and that comes across on film.”
Andrew Feltenstein–who served as a composer on “Brotherhood” along with his Beacon Street colleagues John Nau and Colin Wolfe–explained, “Basically, we approached this like we were scoring a film, coming up with music that complemented the progression you see through the course of the full 11 episodes.”
The track for episode one sets the tone as we see the kids’ faces, which show a little nervousness. The youngsters don’t know quite what to expect as their bus rolls toward camp. Eventually, to their surprise, they meet McGrady, reflecting that this camp will be a lot more than they bargained for.
Vocalist Lady G croons to a playful, fun, soulful beat yet the lyrics from the song, “I Was Gonna Tell You,” have distinct meaning: “Dream big. Keep your head up. Shoot for the stars…The road will be rough, the load will get heavy. [When opportunity knocks,] open that door and greet it friendly….Nobody said it was going to be easy…”
“This isn’t hard core hip-hop,” related Feltenstein. “It’s not hard core gangster rap that you often hear with pro basketball. Instead it’s soft rappin’ accompanied by a live rhythm section. And with the lyrics, the tracks speak for themselves.
“We didn’t want anything that sounded too slick or too produced–that’s not what this series is about,” continued Feltenstein.” It’s more introspective and honest like when Kevin Garnett talks about his childhood and the importance of team, which is expressed in the campaign line ‘We Not Me.'”
Feltenstein turned to Lady G, whom he discovered and first worked with on the Hungry Man web channel series Undercover Cheerleaders (directed by Bryan Buckley). Lady G adds an understated quality, for which 180 LA copywriter Amir Farhang is appreciative.
“Most everything you see from the basketball genre in advertising is hard hip hop or has this definite edge to it,” said Farhang. “Instead the score from Beacon Street changes and progresses throughout the 11 episodes, complementing and helping to advance the story. The music mirrors the journey these kids are taking–Beacon Street saw a condensed movie and wanted to score it. Nothing about the music is cliché. Nothing is what you’d expect to hear in ‘a basketball film.'”
Farhang gravitated towards Beacon Street based on his earlier collaborations with its talent back when he was a creative at Crispin Porter + Bogusky in Miami. This prior work included spots for Volkswagen and perhaps most notably Burger King’s “Stuff of Legends.” The latter was also directed by HSI’s Hunter.
“Andrew and the guys at Beacon Street are amenable, agreeable and collaborative,” assessed Farhang. “They came up with a musical thread to bring the ‘Basketball is a Brotherhood” episodes together.”
Audio post mixer was Dave Wagg of Lime Studios, Santa Monica.
“Leave Nothing”
This Nike tour de force follows two star NFL players as they do their thing in what plays as one continuous sequence–but traversing multiple playing fields against different teams, in different weather and during different times of the day.
The first featured performer is San Diego Chargers defender Shawne Merriman who we see sack a quarterback but he doesn’t stop there. He keeps on pursuing to stop a running back–from a different team in another game at another stadium–in his tracks, and then yet another runner and so on. He takes on and obliterates blockers. Merriman’s continuous relentless pursuit takes us from one game to the next, from day to night.
Then the focus shifts to St. Louis Rams’ running back Steven Jackson, who bounces off an offensive teammate hit by Merriman. We then see Jackson strut his stuff, making incredible moves to elude defenders from different teams, from one field and one game to the next, in sunny and inclement weather, day and night. Finally he’s confronted by a group of big, burly Pittsburgh Steeler defenders who gang tackle Jackson but can’t bring him down. Jackson keeps pumping his legs and eventually breaks through to reach out and put the football over the goal line for a touchdown.
Then supered against a dark backdrop is a simple message, “Leave Nothing,” followed by the Nikefootball.com website address.
Sound designer Ren Klyce of Mit Out Sound said, “Director Michael Mann wanted to have this sense of the athletes breathing throughout but at the same time wanted to convey an emotional journey for Merriman and Jackson. That was the brief—to convey a yearning quality to their relentless pursuit.”
Klyce noted that the earlier alluded to Royal Scottish National Orchestra-performed music played a key role in helping to drive the spot. “The music relates a sense of fleeting hopelessness yet constant, unending striving, which results in ultimate success.”
From a sound design standpoint, Klyce pointed out that a goal was to help create a sense of intimacy from the two heroes. “This in part translated into a loud breathing track, actually several breathing tracks all the way through all at once to underscore the feeling of struggle as these athletes relentlessly continue. That feeling of struggle is heightened somewhat subtly through transitions of atmosphere–from sunny to snowing to raining. It conveys an unending feeling.
“From the very outset,” concluded Klyce, “Michael Mann had his finger on the emotional pulse of what this film should be.”
The audio mixer on “Leave Nothing” was Lime’s Loren Silber.
Click here for SHOOT’s 2007 Fall Spot Tracks Top Ten Chart
