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PUMA: LQDCELL Tension ft Madosh Tambwe

Madosh Tambwe pushed through an explosive workout, to put the new LQDCELL TENSION trainers to task - and we captured every sweaty bit of it, for PUMA South Africa.

The Brief

PUMA was releasing a new iteration of the LQD CELL performance gear, namely ‘TENSION’. The perfect MVP to test out these trainers and colourway kit was Madosh Tambwe, a top local rugby player who knows a thing or two about tension. He lives and loves exactly what this new range stands for – leveraging pressure to up your performance.

MMMobsters

  • Creative Director: John Baloyi
  • Photographer: Mpumelelo Macu
  • Photo Assistant: Channay Harvey
  • Videographer: Jason Haji-Joannou
  • Wardrobe Stylist: Mahlatse James
  • Production Assistant: Karl Clements
  • Hair & Makeup: Amy Sprawson
  • Video Editor: Jason Matthews
  • Photo Retoucher: Ashiq Johnson
  • Graphic Design: Dale-Anne Scogings
  • Motion Graphics: Matt Deuse

The MMMob Approach

First we found our footing around this sub-brand’s look and feel. The intensity of it comes from photography, which feels explosive and saturated with competitive tension. The perfect stage for this mood was a gritty urban gym, with beams of natural light and hard shadows.

MMM’s location scouts scoured the city for the perfect setting – Crossfit spaces, a derelict industrial warehouse, a dodgy downtown boxing gym – nothing was quite right. Eventually we found the perfect place. Tucked away in a Soweto minibus taxi compound, was a spartan hall which housed basic gym equipment, and a boxing ring. It was where kids in the community learned to box, and adults worked out. It was the rough and rugged backdrop we needed for this shoot.

For authenticity and vigour, the MMMob got Madosh to get his heart rate up, and break a sweat. From box jumps and jump rope, to planks and squats; the movements were visually interesting and conveyed the intensity we were looking to capture. Our Photographer and Videographer shot diagonally across from one another. This ensured we covered all the angles, and the Winger didn’t have to over-exert himself, doing double the workout.

We called it a day, and it was time for our Post-Prod team to take over. The high-tech hexagonal cells which are used in the soles of the shoes, have been stylised to create a visual language of flip and repeat – creating visually interesting angles, orientations and perspectives. This needed to be applied to all the content. To streamline the process, our Photo Editor did their primary selects, we got them signed off by client, and only then we started with the editing process. Last in line was MMM’s Graphic Designer, who applied custom kaleidoscope cell effects over the imagery. For the video footage, we followed a similar workflow, ensuring the stylised cells complemented the stills.

9:16 Portrait Images

16:9 Wide Images

Square Videos

9×16 Videos

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