A youngster is asked to join a pick-up game of basketball on a hot summer day and this leads to a string of invitations to join other teams spanning different sports in whirlwind across varied locations. The invites on the fly come from famous athletes such as Major League Baseball star Mike Trout, NFL quarterback Andrew Luck, soccer superstar Mia Hamm, beach volleyballer Misty May-Treanor, and NBA big man Anthony Davis.
This young recruit—coveted because all these teams are “short a guy”—then embarks on a whirlwind adventure, playing in one game after another with several of these star athletes, from basketball to long distance running to street stickball, volleyball, soccer, football, lacrosse and back to basketball sans any respite. The spot makes clever use of Nike star athlete endorsers and showcases multiple sports, yet its focus is on the youngster, the grass-roots athlete, to whom viewers can relate. The kid changes his garb and equipment on the fly for each respective sport. The commercial is part of a multimedia campaign driving traffic to the GearUp hub on Nike.com, helping people to gear up for their own sports adventures this summer. The Gear-Up hub also features experts who impart coaching tips and define equipment needs.
Titled “Short a Guy,” the ambitious campaign’s centerpiece commercial was directed by Stacy Wall of bicoastal production house Imperial Woodpecker for Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore., shot by cinematographer Jon Lynch and edited by Rich Orrick of Work, L.A. It’s a hyper energetic piece driven by the frenetic beat of The Trashmen’s “Surfin’ Bird” song, and sound design by Michael Anastasi of music/sound house Barking Owl in West Los Angeles. Audio post mixer was Loren Silber of Lime Studios, Santa Monica, Calif.
Realistic sounds
“When I saw the cut for the latest Nike spot ‘Short a Guy,’ I was excited because it had the nostalgia of a classic Nike commercial set in the modern day,” said Barking Owl’s Anastasi. “First, I went through all of the production audio. It’s important. If somebody was on set and they heard a specific sound, it can stay with them. Subconsciously they fall in love with it. Sifting through the audio allows me to be a sonic ‘fly on the wall.’ I pull out bits that I feel are irreplaceable or are good inspiration for designing new sounds that have an organic authenticity to them. The spot spans many locations and sports. To give each one a solid ‘real life’ foundation, I used tailored Foley effects, field recordings and the production audio. So now I’ve made it feel like you were there.
“The next step,” continued Anastasi, “is enhancing the key moments. You don’t want to just hear a stick hit a ball. This is a Nike commercial. You want the crack to draw you in. What does a boy watching this commercial imagine a Mike Trout swing sounds like?”
This aural dynamic reflects the sense of imagination, the wonderment we feel watching star athletes and in doing so enhances the story. You feel the exhilaration of this youngster, for example, catching a football on the run heaved by quarterback Luck.
Providing creative inspiration and direction were Anastasi’s collaborators at Wieden+Kennedy. “On the initial creative call, Jason [Wieden+Kennedy art director Campbell] asked me to go in the direction of a graphic novel for the quick change scenes,” recalled Anastasi. “He wanted me to keep it feeling fun and not too heavy handed. My mind immediately went to the iconic whooshes and hits of classic Kung Fu movies. I created a variety of sounds to accent and enhance the speed and quickness of the kid changing for each individual sport. At this point [Wieden+Kennedy creative directors] Stu [Brown] and Chris [Groom] came in and we fine tuned the entire spot. I like when creatives come in. I feed off of their energy and their vision. When they are in the room I can change and create sounds right there. This final sound design session allows the mix (which Loren Silber from Lime killed, as usual) to be more about the levels and less about the actual sounds. I am happy with the way the spot turned out.”
Anastasi’s support team at Barking Owl included creative director Kelly Bayett, producer Whitney Fromholtz and partner/CFO Justin Bayett. Silber was backed by Lime’s producer Susie Boyajan.
