An Electric Campaign
Philip Edsel
Director
Conor Mcgregor | Reebok Zig Kinetica
We knew from the beginning that Conor McGregor was going to be the face of this new global campaign, and because he was in the middle of training for his rumored return to the octagon, we would need to be in Dublin to create it. He had a tight timeline for the shoot – with only a few hours for all assets to be created – before returning to his training schedule. Challenge accepted.
The focus of this campaign was creating a set centerpiece that felt epic, captured Conor’s athleticism, and visually represented the idea of electric energy. It also had to be lit and shot for photo and video simultaneously. Working with talented set designer Tyler Jensen, we created a render based off of some of my sketched ideas, and landed on a geometric ramp, with a glowing wall of accent color. Now to actually build the damn thing.
Pre-pro
Dublin is conveniently 6 hours ahead of Austin, TX. For a few weeks, every morning John started at 2 AM to work with our KICK ASS local producer Paddy. From prop sourcing to location options, every piece of this shoot was happening quick. Tyler Jensen was a huge help in bringing the ramp concept to life with renders for us all to work off of. Sharing Conor with the TVC crew who had completely different creative needs, we were all working around the clock to put all of the pieces together (and all within 4 hours)!
This shoot seemed like the perfect time to work with the brand new Sony A7rIV for the photos. High speed shutter and massive resolution was everything Reebok needed for the print Ads they would be making with these images.
With our studio painted, crew in place and final boards approved – we were tails up to Dublin for the shoot.
Shoot day
The shoot day started with product work. We built a miniature version of the main set to showcase the Zig shoe. Glowing, gradient walls that the shoe could be suspended within. Shot by shot we pinned the shoe into every pose we could think of. We had an incredible props team on hand to perfectly match every vision.
After lunch, the team was all awaiting Conor’s arrival. Not missing a beat – he was prompt and full of energy ready to shoot. We turned the music on and for nearly two hours did not stop. Shot after shot, video and photo, Conor’s stamina is no joke. He was in shoot mode the entire time and down to try anything. I had him start with shadow boxing and as he loosened up we started to experiment with the ramp. This photo says it all – I am thankful for his accuracy and precision.
Grateful for this opportunity to shoot for Reebok with Conor and the team. Shoot me a message if you stop by a Reebok store or see the work in the wild. Excited to finally have this work out in the world!
850-545-8374
hello@backstory.us
Austin, TX
