Nola Director Huge, via CDP RPM Radar, released a moving spot promoting the 2010 and 2012 Paralympics. The :45 spot, which was edited at Nola, showcases Huge's ability to tell the overarching story of a large event through a single brief narrative.
Portrait starts with a montage of a giant, echoing athletic training center: athletes strutting through the halls, a sprawling Olympic-size swimming pool, a pair of trainers poised in concentration, and a ticking timer. The scene then shifts to a swimmer powering through laps, determined, focused, unstoppable. The action varies from slow motion to standard speed, from overhead to side views, from underwater camera shots to first-person point of view, as though a camera is locked into the swimmer's goggles. As the athlete flips and spins powerfully through the laps, a long shot reveals the most remarkable feat of all - the swimmer is doing this incredible routine with no legs.
"I wanted to capture the spirit of the Paralympics through the actions of a single character," noted Huge. "So we told the story of this remarkable swimmer, who has achieved excellence despite his disability. By focusing first on his athleticism and lastly on his handicap, we created a story that draws the viewer in and makes them question some of their assumptions about the Paralympics and the athletes that make the games great."
Antoine Mills cut the film and its complex sequence of action, a daunting task given the number of different angles and film speeds. The scenes also had to be carefully arranged so that the swimmer's disability was not revealed too soon, spoiling the spot's trajectory.
The spot is now airing in Europe.
The Creds:
Client: Paralympics
Spots Title: Portrait (Dirs Cut)
Air Date: January 2010
Agency: CDP RPM Radar
CD: Paul McMillan
Prod Company: Nola Pictures
Director: Huge
EP: Charlie Curran
Editorial: Nola Pictures
Editor: Antoine Mills
EP: Charlie Curran
Telecine: 1000 Volt
Colorist: James Norman
Sound Design: Sound Lounge
Sound Designer: Scott Persson
About Nola Pictures:
Founded in 2005, NYC-based Nola Pictures is a full-service, multi-disciplined media services company with affiliate offices in France, Canada and Chile. Nola features a diverse roster of multi-dimensional directors, designers and producers who have created award-winning content for ad agencies, film and TV studios, and corporate clients.
Nola offers turnkey production solutions from shoot through editorial and post; including animation, design and VFX. Nola's mandate is to provide a supportive creative environment with production flexibility and efficiency for our artists and clients. The Nola team has contributed to projects for brands such as Dell, Pfizer, Budweiser, Givenchy, Viacom, Kraft, Proctor & Gamble, Wyeth, Pro Health, McDonald's, Sundance, Cadillac, Ford, Carolina Herrera, Samsung, Umbro, Nike, ESPN, QNB, Bank of America, UPS, and Jet Blue among others.
