“From our earliest conversations with Under Armour’s Creative Director Brian Boring,” began Tracy Chandler, Shilo’s executive producer, “they picked up on our passion for dramatic storytelling, and connected that with the intensity that’s so integral to the brand personality of Under Armour.”
The project’s creative brief began with the goal of promoting the ColdGear product line, which is known for helping athletes perform optimally in cold conditions, while featuring Vonn, an international symbol for strength and extraordinary athletic performance. Seeking the best creative solution for this project, Shilo enlisted the talents of its growing creative arm, We Make It Good, and its creative director, Clayton Vomero, who co-wrote the spot’s script with Stringer.
In their story, Stringer and Vomero built a narrative around a Cold Abuse Simulator, where Vonn tests ColdGear under the world’s harshest conditions. “Ultimately our goal in our Cold Abuse Simulator films is to transport the viewer deeply into the unique experience of the athlete,” explained Shilo’s co-founder and creative director Andre Stringer.
To film the action of Vonn facing the Cold Abuse Simulator as realistically as possible, Shilo’s crew found an authentic factory location in Los Angeles and worked with Vonn for two days, filming her on a jostling rig before a giant apparatus that simulated, to the greatest extent possible, the actual conditions she’d face in racing down a steep ski mountain during a blizzard.
Stringer, Shilo’s associate creative director Noah Conopask, director of photography Martin Ahlgren and their crew went to great lengths to capture Vonn’s performance and their desired atmospheric reality on the set. From there, additional details were added back in Shilo’s studio to heighten the story’s visual drama using seamless visual effects artistry.
As a finishing touch, Shilo’s team also sought to evolve the sonic aspects of this project’s storytelling with original music and sound design, courtesy of Gavin Little of echolab. “We wanted it to be in the same family of other campaigns,” Conopask added, “but always evolving, so that each spot stands on the shoulders of the previous ones in terms of its depth and complexity.”
“We’re especially proud of this project, in that it gave us some amazing opportunities to explore and build upon our relationship with Under Armour as a brand,” concluded Stringer.
About Shilo
Shilo is an Emmy Award-winning creative production company representing a group of filmmakers led by directors Jose Gomez and Andre Stringer. Internationally known for creating original and commissioned work that is powerful, provocative and visually extraordinary, Shilo’s deeply held passions for design-infused storytelling and their innovative applications of live-action, design, and animation techniques deliver breakthrough experiences for screens large and small.
From its studios in New York and La Jolla, California, where recent projects have spanned short films, commercials and music videos, Shilo has the capacity and experience to originate ideas and handle all aspects of production. Shilo published its first book, We Make It Good, in 2007, and also curates the site www.WeMakeItGood.com.
About Under Armour, Inc.
Under Armour(R) (NYSE: UA) is a leading developer, marketer, and distributor of branded performance apparel, footwear, and accessories. The brand’s moisture-wicking synthetic fabrications are engineered in many different designs and styles for wear in nearly every climate to provide a performance alternative to traditional natural fiber products.
The Company’s products are sold worldwide and worn by athletes at all levels, from youth to professional, on playing fields around the globe. The Under Armour global headquarters is in Baltimore, Maryland, with European headquarters in Amsterdam’s Olympic Stadium, and additional offices in Denver, Hong Kong, Toronto, and Guangzhou, China.
CREDITS
Project Title: Under Armour “ColdGear, Lindsey Vonn + Dick’s”
Length: :30
Debut Date: Nov. 6, 2009
Film Location: Filmed on location in Los Angeles.
Client: Under Armour
Senior VP Brand: Steve Battista
Creative Director: Brian Boring
Strategic Marketing Manager: Emily Johnson
Art Director, Interactive: Nathan Shriver
Ideation: We Make It Good
Writers: Andre Stringer, Clayton Vomero
Director: Shilo
Production Company: Shilo
Creative Director: Andre Stringer
Associate Creative Director: Noah Conopask
Lead Artist and CG Supervisor: Tamir Sapir
Director of Photography: Martin Ahlgren
Compositing: Joel Voelker, Miguel Bautista, Tamir Sapir
3D Animation: Erik Lee
3D Lighting and VFX TD: Warren Heimall, Joji Tsuruga, Tamir Sapir
3D Modeling: Youngmin Kim, Jiyoung Yoo
3D Texturing: Jiyoung Yoo, Billy Jang
3D Tracking: Eric Epstein
Storyboard Artist: Fred Fassberger
Matte Painting: Rodeo FX, Helen Kim
Roto Artists: Jihyae Ham, Carlos Rosario, Helen Kim
Editor: Nate Caswell
Assistant Editor: Hedia Maron
Producer: Mariya Shikher
Line Producer: Chris Palladino
Head of Production: Julie Shevach
Executive Producer: Tracy Chandler
Music Company: Echolab
Composer, Sound Designer: Gavin Little
VO Recording and Mix Company: SoundLounge
VO Recording and Final Mix: Peter Buccellato
VO Talent: Debra Bond, Mark Jones
RELATED LINKS
www.shilo.tv
www.underarmour.com
