CR7 – Cristiano Ronaldo – Designed To Move You

Director Dave East asked the MMMob to join him in creating the launch campaign for denim brand CR7 Cristiano Ronaldo. It was a mini fashion film, filled with edgy action.

The Brief

Usually clients or agencies come to the MMMob to get a job done. This time around, it was one of our long-standing collaborators, Dave East, who got in touch. He is a young and gifted South African Film Director, Photographer and Cinematographer living abroad, making a name for himself in London. He pitched a Creative Treatment for the global launch of Cristiano Ronaldo’s new denim brand, CR7 – and got it.

The winning idea? Cristiano Ronaldo, clad in CR7, dons a VR Headset. Instantly, he is transported to various scenarios featuring people on the move, wearing the edgy denim wear. The production would be made up of two phases. First stop, Madrid, where the soccer star’s performance would be filmed in a darkened setting, with lights and mirrors giving it a futuristic feel. Dave would do the directing, and a London team would take care of the rest.

The second phase would be shot in Cape Town, capturing BMXing, Skateboarding, Breakdancing and more, across various locations. That’s where the MMMob needed to fit in. We were brought on board to handle the Pre-Production, and Production-Execution of the Cape Town phase.

Commissioner

Uniti Apparel for CR7 Cristiano Renaldo

MMMobsters

Director: David J East
DOP: Fabian Vettiger
Focus Puller: Jake Levy
Gaffer: Rob Wisniewski
Best Boy: Steph van der Merwe
Spark: John Ndakama
Hair & Makeup: Lisa Bailey
Wardrobe Stylist: Armand Dicker

The MMMob Approach

Mobile Media Mob’s approach to this type of Production Service project, is tried and tested. It all starts with a thorough, comprehensive briefing by the client, followed by us sharing our extensive planning and prep, every step of the way. The secret to success, is the chain of command. We keep clear, direct communication with the Client, and our Exec Team relays the relevant instructions to the local talent, closely managing the processes, and staying on top of all the intricacies.

The first step was securing the client’s buy-in, on locations. Our local team scouted for ideal settings, and sent Photos, Video Clips and Geolinks for approval. This allowed us to bed down the locations, before the client arrived in SA.

The client wanted a cast who felt authentic – people who had a ‘real feel’. At the same time, the on-screen talent needed to be skilled in one of the areas of movement – BMXing, Parkour, Breakdancing or Skateboarding. We found the characters, then beamed Photos and Video snippets of our favourites, over to our clients for their final selection.

The budget and timeframes were limited, so the people behind the scenes were selected based on our previous collaborations. We cherry-picked a crew who worked hard, and knew each other well. We chose a DOP who we’d worked with before, and who was tight with Dave. The Stylist had the edgy, futuristic look the storyboard was after. We enlisted a Hair and Makeup Artist, who was a veteran in the fashion space. And the rest of the team complimented them in experience, and rapport.

The Client and David touched down in Cape Town midweek, and after two internal Pre-Production Meetings with them (to cover all aspects of the project), we checked out the locations. Friday was a full day of wardrobe curation, and fittings for each cast member, plus a runthrough of all the scenarios, to iron out any potential issues.

Saturday and Sunday were shoot days, 10 hours daily. Our Production Schedules, Movement Orders and Call-Times, were strategically structured according to specific times of the day and night, and where the locations were situated.

At midday on Saturday, we hit the ground running. First up, the Skateboarders doing their thing in the cavernous underpass of the Green Point Stadium FanWalk. Next up, the B-Boy sequence was shot in a Sports Hall in Langa. And then back to the CBD after dark, to shoot the BMX’er in action in an empty car-park, along with a few street scenes around Long Street, and the CTICC.

Sunday’s shoot started bright and early, at Roodebloem Studio, where we captured a Parkour Athlete going all out, as well as abstract cutaways of denim being handled by various hands. We then hit the road, relocating to the Taal Monument in Paarl, to capture a Hero Couple exploring the sculptural landmark. Spontaneously, we had an unexpected cast join the campaign. Armand (MMM’s Stylist), caught the client’s eye onset, and was asked to make a cameo.

When we wrapped on set, footage was handed over to an independent CPT Video Editor, and graded by a top LA based expert.