Dispatches from Dreamland: Kaye & Fallon Armour Up

I’ve just wrapped working for Tony Kaye on his first American commercial under his new production entity for client Under Armour.

The job, through Fallon Minneapolis, started this summer when I walked into a tape to digital transfer facility in Santa Monica. There was Kaye, eagerly transferring eight giant boxes of tapes from his extensive commercial career to build a new website for his company ABOVE THE SEA.

Three months later Kaye booked me as a camera operator on the job, shooting the campaign for newly appointed Fallon CCO Jeff Kling.

Kling is known for an array of ads over the years including the Dos Equis’ “Most Interesting Man” campaign, Jaguar, Nike, Miller and more. Meanwhile, Under Armour is one of the fastest growing companies in America. Birthed as a college startup 15 years ago, the company has since grown into a massive $1.4 billion competitor to big honcho Nike.

The company’s logo – an interlocking "U" and "A" – is now becoming as recognizable as the Nike swoosh in stores across the country.

A number of cameras including Red Epic, several 5D Mark IIs plus the new high-speed Phantom Miro M320S – the latter offering 1500 fps at 1920x1080 resolution in a compact sized camera – were focused on gifted athletes exercising with passion while garbed in the sport apparel’s gear.

“We leapt at the chance to use Tony on the campaign because anything he chooses to look at through his lens becomes remarkable,” outlines Kling on hiring Kaye. "He has such an arresting style."

The premise of the campaign pushes the virtues of personal freedom and growth:

Intimate moments garnered by Kaye follow a cross-section of professional and amateur athletes whose dexterous skills serve to enlighten the brand identity and outline the importance of exercise, individuality and personal achievement both in sports and in life.

It’s the first job for Kling over at Fallon, who notes: “the longer you think about something the more you realise it’s either the right or wrong decision. It wasn’t long before I knew joining Fallon was the right move."

As athletes worked their magic so did Kaye, bringing them into sharp focus with compelling footage that aims to push the brand into people’s consciousness.

Visceral footage of stunts performed by the athletes should extend Under Armour’s growing presence in the fragmented US sports apparel market. It already owns half of Nike’s share stateside, selling everything from shirts, footwear, shorts and cleats to colorful underwear.

One thing is certain, witnessing outstanding athletes working out on set this week drives home how success in sports is literally 100 per cent perspiration – and Kaye and Fallon capture it all.

Watch this space for footage and news as the production slides into post.