Focus is hard to come by in today’s world. Everything is competing for our attention. Blinking lights, pop-ups, loud noises…life is a sensory assault. Now imagine you’re a world class athlete? Everyone wants your time. Paradoxically, the reason they want you is the very thing they’re keeping you from…performance. And that performance goes beyond the 60 minutes we see them competing.
For every minute of competition, there are hundreds of minutes of prep. Each of these athletes was born with abilities ordinary people like us can only dream of. But what distinguishes them from the others is their ability to tune out the noise. Music is the best way to do that. And there’s no better way to listen to music than on PowerBeats Pro.
The Beats “B” on the headphones become a safeguard against the sensorial barbarians at the gate. One click cocoons you in your favorite track, shielding against the noise of the ego strokers, outside haters, and inner demons. Innovation comes from the PowerBeats Pro is the fixed focal point throughout. The world turns upside down, in every direction, but there’s one constant to set your focus. PowerBeats Pro is the visual anchor serving as our gateway to the athletes’ internal journey.
The visual device is dynamic and eye-catching, but the what I find most appealing is how it captures intimate moments with world class athletes.
It’s an apt visual representation of the focus Beats provide the listener.
INTENT & TONE
This is a Beats anthem. That means we expect to see polished images of high-profile athletes in training using their Beats headphones like a training partner. PowerBeats Pro give us a chance to do something new. I want to introduce some texture and an element of chaos into this world. Athletes understand chaos. Your concept visually parallels what the product does for the athlete: it stabilizes them. PowerBeats Pro accompany athletes through the drama of training. We want to capture the struggle in their expression as the story unfolds. As a bonus, we can do this while showcasing the product.
When you have so many noteworthy superstars, it’s tempting to simply put them in front of the camera and roll. This is not about grabbing content of these stars endorsing Beats so much as it’s an intentional film on which every superstar collaborates. It’s a journey into their headspace in the thick of training.
The sprawling cast may prove an obstacle to keeping the story focused. The main athletes are our biggest stars (Tier 1 in your deck). They drive the story and are featured in the product demos. Auxiliary athletes (Tier 2 and 3) will also appear to fill in the gaps. Each athlete will have a narrative told in four shots or less. Even if these actions seem enigmatic to the viewer, the athlete will know what’s going on and will play the moment accordingly.
These athletes aren’t spokespeople hocking a product. They are collaborators using the product to help us tell a story. That story lets us into their interior lives instead of banging out generic coverage.
The goal is to make a film that takes us inside their headspace. This is a chance to take the viewer as close to inside the minds of a superstar as they will ever get. We’re merely glimpsing the athlete’s psyche, but the intensity of a world class athlete in training should be enough to make each viewer appreciate the athlete as a human being.
FOCUS ON THE POWERBEATS
Anchoring PowerBeats Pro is a brilliant technique. Once we get into the athlete’s headspace, the camera locks us in on the product and the ears they cover. The Beats become the focal point for the world to revolve around. This center punch fixation will smoothly transition from athlete to athlete. The nature of this framing keeps the focus on the athlete’s profile. We sense who they are and their concentration on the task at hand without being given a full picture of what that task is. We’re more concerned with the athlete’s interior emotion than the results of that action. These are close-ups, in profile, no wider than the bust and no tighter than the nose to base of the skull.
PowerBeats Pro will be fixed in the middle of each shot as we cover the ebb and flow of training. Along the way, we encounter challenges, setbacks, regroupings and the cusp of triumph. The narrative is more emotional than literal. What I love about this device is the grit. This angel on the shoulder perspective is intimate as it is intense, unique as it is otherworldly.
CAMERAWORK
One of the questions pertained to camera movement: should the camera be static or roving? While certain exercises could work on sticks (pull-ups/rowing), my gut instinct is to avoid the tripod. Even when the camera is not attached to the athlete via rig, be it Steadicam or handheld, keeping the image mobile allows the backgrounds to breathe, ever so subtly, even as the camera is fixed on the athletes’ faces. That “breathing” effect between the foreground and background can snowball into frenetic swings as the edit builds momentum.
The power of Beats as a focal point lies in what we don’t show. The visual device doesn’t always reveal what exercises the athletes are doing, we don’t even really know where we are sometimes, but the one constant is the emotional drama reflected in the athlete’s faces. There’s an inherent tension in the disorienting perspective of the camera. That tension drives the drama of the spot.
That opens up how we shoot this. Some vignettes can be lensed traditionally by a camera operator on an Alexa or Steadicam to stay on our athletes’ expressions, shooting wider than we need and zooming in to track the ear in post. Other vignettes require us to construct a doggy cam rig that we can attach to the athlete. Now, that doesn’t mean we’re going to strap a 50-pound camera onto a world class athlete and ask them to do somersaults. These would be Sony 7s or consumer smartphone cameras. Even with our rigs, the image is going to move. I’ve already started testing different formats and rigs with my DP to see what kind of artifacting they produce. The idea is for the rig to fit comfortably on the athlete so that they can perform their actions naturally.
In fact, each athlete’s sport will determine the rigging based upon movement needs. One rig does not fit all. Some athletes are rigged from the waist. Others are rigged from their helmet. In other instances (characters running like Odell Beckham, Jr.) the camera operator simply stays parallel to the athlete’s profile. Regardless of the rig we assign an athlete, stabilization will unify the multi-format footage in a single, cohesive style. And that style is uniquely suited to the reveal athlete’s inner emotions.
BREATHER
The first two acts of this script are relentless. After the initial set-up with Simone, we will be locked on the Beats “b” as the world distorts around us. Boxing gloves and barbells will dart into frame. Effort will be on full display. Like any exercise, you reach a breaking point where you simply can’t sustain the pace any longer. A moment of defeat that lets you hit the reset button. Here in the story, the artifacting, the motion blur and pixilation will become more prevalent as the athlete’s effort grows more intense. When Miho’s grip slips and she falls backwards, the world will stand still. Once the Beats slip off her ear, the music gives way to the outside world and we cut wide. The spell is broken.
The center punch image of the product is gone. Context is provided as we see a wide of Miho dangling off a climbing wall, taking a breath. She’s exhausted, but finding her second wind, already learning from her mistake. These moments appear natural with looser, handheld framing. The athletes feel small in their space, part of the universe instead of its Center. Free from the constraints of the tracking aesthetic, the viewer and the athlete breathe deeply. It’s a brief moment between failure and regrouping.
We glimpse the humanity in these superhumans. It’s a brief return to the world they’re using Beats to tune out. The temptation to stop is palpable. That’s what a normal person would do. Not our superathletes. They get back to work. The music starts. The mechanism locks in, more devoted than ever before. From here on out, the execution is crisper and cleaner than ever.
INTO THE MECHANISM
Mundane. Reality. Objective. The world begins under the harsh fluorescents of the gym where Simone Biles trains. She’s upping her game from Olympic gold medalist to undisputed greatest of all time. The frame is wide. Distractions are everywhere. In a continuous shot, we see a close-up of hands slapping together. That inspires the camera to wrap around the athlete, moving past her shoulder and to her right ear as she slips on PowerBeats Pro. The camera follows behind her head to the left ear and accompanying profile. At this point, we finally reveal we are looking at Simone Biles. As we widen out, she clicks the Beats button, activating the song and locking the camera in place on her left profile. With the push of a button, the distractions disappear.
The music obliterates them, breathing life into the camera, taking us into her headspace. Her eyes focus, inspired by the sound. The camera locks into position, fixing its position to the side of her head. The world has moved from objective to subjective. Here, we will remain over a dozen or so athletes. The framing will not stay the exact same, but the Beats will stay near the center of each frame sharing the focus with the expression on their faces. The athletes will grow tighter in the frame so gradually that it’s almost imperceptible. As the framing tightens and the lens becomes longer, the background will become softer and more abstract, providing a more direct connection to the athlete.
Focusing on the product (PowerBeats Pro over ears) takes us inside the athlete’s psyche. Any lateral movement throws the background askew. The emotional journey is conveyed without context. The exercise is revealed as elements appear obliquely in frame. Barbells dart in and out of frame. If we mesh the sizzle reel aesthetic with the script, the fun of this spot comes from how we reveal the context of these exercises. What they’re doing doesn’t matter as much as conveying their mindset while they do it.
SOUND AND MUSIC
We can’t talk about Beats without mentioning sound. Both the quality of the track itself, designed to replicate the Beats experience, and the soundscape we’re tuning out need to be considered. Nothing transports you to a person’s headspace like sound. Our external moments possess a fly on the wall realism. There is a sense of objectivity. Even though the room is empty, distracting noises abound. The humming AC. The hollow echo of wooden springboards. The dull drumbeat of the canvas. The drinking fountain buzzing in the corner. We hear these moments before and after the music. In the case of Miho, we’ll hear the soft, tinny semblance of the anthem song through the Beats. The ambience of individual locations is a breath of fresh air.
But the majority of the film is spent experiencing the athlete’s internal drama subjectively. To capture that impression, I suggest using a binaural mic. It’s a microphone designed to capture “3D audio”. They help the camera hear like human ears hear. Everything becomes subjective and experiential. It’s worth using a binaural mic to record the exercise and environments as we film.
ANTHEM :60
A gym. The humming fluorescents, black sky in the space’s only window and the custodian sweeping the floor let us know it’s night. THUD. The canvas reverberates.
A lone occupant kneels on the mat and training space. A cloud of chalk rises as she takes a knee. We see her from behind, following her in a single take as she shakes her head clearly recovering from a stumble. Her muscles twitch as she pushes herself to her feet, springboard creaking. She gently thumps the vault with her fist.
In a wide, we track the Gymnast and her lonely footfalls as she heads back to the starting line. She composes herself as the camera pushes toward her. The camera settles into a profile close-up as her hand moves into frame, slipping POWERBEATS PRO over her right ear. Once on, the camera seemingly slides from one shoulder to the next, settling on the PBP slipping over her left ear. It’s here that we finally glimpse the gymnast’s face… This is SIMONE BILES, Olympic champion. Ready, Simone activates the B Button on the PBP headphone.
Instantly, the mundane soundscape gives way to the pulsing rhythm of our hero track. We lock into this profile as Simone rolls her head side to side atop her shoulders, the background blurring as she instructs Siri to “Turn it up.”
The music floods the soundtrack altogether. Simone comes alive, bouncing from one foot to the other——cutting on action as the track launches into…
A locked off close-up on the left profile as light strobes over the face of LEBRON JAMES. He passes under the tunnels beneath Staples Center. PBP over his ears as his forehead glistens, LBJ already has a sweat going.
Cut to bright, shiny daylight. The pace has picked up as we track along the side profile of NEYMAR JR. relaxed and focus with his PBP insulating him from the noise. His hands windmill into the frame, towards the lens as he stretches out on the pitch. The brightly colored seats at PSG are interspersed with the blur of fans holding out their phone to get video on the international football prodigy.
Cut to the side profile of ALEX MORGAN listening to the PBP, hair up as she warms up inside a domed practice facility. She moves against the sea of white as she jogs ahead.
The soft light takes us to KATIE LEDECKY’s side profile as she wears the PBP. A swim cap covers the top of her head focused on the pool. Morning light reflects off the pool’s surface, dancing over her face as Katie’s arms windmill overhead. She leaps, practicing her move off the blocks. On the downswing, we cut—
To ANTHONY JOSHUA wearing a beanie to keep his head warm. The PBP peek out below the beanie, warming his ears. Locked on his side profile, his head bobs. His breath spews out of his nostrils and onto the frigid London morning. His eyes look down, lacing up his sneakers offscreen. As his head bobs forward, we cut to—
SERENA WILLIAMS marching ahead, then pacing back the other direction in an indoor court. She focuses straight ahead, PBP over ear in the center of the frame as the world blends around her. She’s clearly ramping up…
Cut to MIHO NONAKA in profile with a climbing rope dangling in front of her nose. Her hair hangs down over her ears. Suspended, her hands come into frame, elbow pointing towards the frame as she puts her hair up in a ponytail. This simple action reveals the PBP over her ear. Once set, she grips the rope before her face and lifts upward.
Cut to LETICIA BUFONI with a helmet strapped atop her head. She waits, looking down clearly atop a half-pipe even though all we see is the profile close-up on her face and the PBP glowing on her left ear. Compelled by the track, Leticia pushes off on the beat. The angle shifts as she pivots down the pipe.
The tempo quickens. The prelude is past. The action matches LEBRON’s side profile as he dips with his vertical climbing exercise. The PBP throbs beneath his headband. His trap muscles flex, mouthguard dangling from his teeth as he raises himself to the next level. The background blurs as we rise above a sun-drenched window.
ODELL BECKHAM JR. runs as his knees pop into frame. The background blurs behind him, a sea of green amid the PBP steady in the center beneath OBJ’s blonde fade.
ALEX MORGAN leaps through the air and lands on a plyometric box, face grimacing as she exerts herself. The camera stays on her PBP over ears as she leaps back to terra firma.
Back to SERENA moving laterally, popping up as she climbs box steps.
We return to the side profile of ANTHONY JOSHUA and the PBP over the ears. Gone is the beanie and the breath hanging in the air. He’s in the ring now. His gloves tap together, filling the dead space in front of his nose. Before we can blink, his left hand disappears in a jab off camera. The impact ripples through the deltoid until his lats absorb the blow.
A soccer ball rolls off the head of EDEN HAZARD as his eyes track it to the ground. With the turf stretching out into the empty bleachers, blurring behind him, the ball pops back into frame. Eden manages to dribble the ball with the top of his head, matching the beat. Suddenly, he hits the brakes.
The track hits another gear, challenging our athletes.
Sweat drips from LEBRON’s straining face as his eyes fix straight ahead. His massive tattooed shoulders roll, hands curled around a barbell as it falls into frame.
Next, we meet BEN SIMMONS in side profile. His head moves with a ball fake, dribble hand rising into frame to sell it. Simmons crosses right. As he does, the camera SLIDES away from the PBP over his left ear, out and around the back of his neck until he locking in on the PBP on the right side. It’s a breathtaking 180 degree shift with the camera rushing past Simmons’s pivot.
On the other side, we see the right profile of golfer JUSTIN THOMAS. His cap pulled low over his eyes, the PBP is an extension of his concentration as the titanium driver streaks into frame and rests on his shoulder. His eyes remain steady, watching the ball disappear 400 yards down the fairway.
The position of the club is replaced by a tennis racket. A flowing mop of hair shifts to reveal the B on the PBP over ALEX ZVEREV’s ear as he crushes a backhand. At the moment of impact, the image around Zverev distorts, artifacts flying at the edge of the frame.
That distortion carries over to ALEX MORGAN, a sheen of sweat over her face as she pulls an elastic band to her shoulder. Her breath is shorter now. Everything beyond the PBPs and Alex’s steely blue eyes tremble the way adrenaline makes your hands shake after an all-out sprint.
Cut to LEBRON, shoulders rolled forward as he finishes chest passing a medicine ball. The King’s headband is drenched in sweat, rolling over the PBPs and flying off him as he catches the medicine ball. His anguished face lets us know he’s on his final reps. The sweat flies further as the background swims, LeBron’s shoulders contort as he twists his body sideways.
Cut to JAMES HARDEN with the PBP over his ear, facing a pull up bar. His bearded chin moves over the bar, then manages to switch up, placing the bar across the nape of his neck.
Massive Judoka TEDDY RINER glistens with sweat, PBP over his ear as he cleans and presses 225 lbs. It goes up as easy as a bare barbell. The press matches the beat.
Off the motion of the bar, we cut to a side profile of LINDSEY VONN dipping into a squat with a barbell across her shoulders. Suddenly, she leaps onto a box, single leg trembling as sticks the landing. The background is a frenetic blur.
Sweat pours off DRAYMOND GREEN, PBP lighting up as he stands on the pedals of a stationary bike like climbing the Alps. The PBP now occupies more of the frame. With a shout we can’t hear, he moves quickly to keep up with the ever-increasing pace.
OBJ sprints down the sidelines, moving so rapidly the sweat beads streak over the PBP like rain over a speeding Porsche. The background shakes, struggling to keep up with him. Without warning, OBJ cuts at 90 degrees.
This matches Rugby star OWEN FARRELL as he weaves in and out of the goal posts on a Rugby pitch. His breath is short like he’s been at this drill for 4 minutes and won’t stop till we reach 5. The background is a tempest now, almost jostled by the ever-progressing track.
The pace is so breakneck now the editor can’t even keep up with it.
Back to SERENA, a jump rope hypnotically orbiting her face. She crisscrosses, lips pursed to exhale quickly.
Cut to surfer KANOA IGARASHI, backlit against the sunset reflecting off the Pacific. He’s sprinting along the shore balancing a surfboard atop his head, hair around the ears and temple damp with sweat as his bangs flop off his forehead.
He’s replaced in the frame by decathlete KEVIN MAYER sprinting down a runway, then uncoiling his legs in an epic long jump. His eyes open wide as he rushes to land. Sand flies into frame.
Back to NEYMAR’s side profile, staying with him as he goes head over heels to bicycle kick a ball off camera. Neymar now lay on the grass, the camera sideways with the green of the grass flanking Neymar and his PBPs and the blue sky flanking the other.
Return to ANTHONY JOSHUA throwing a punch combo, gloves centimeters from a brick wall. His head swivels, just barely dodging the double ended bag as it whips toward him. The music crescendos as Anthony sizes up the bag on the backswing and connects. The whole frame blurs like we just got socked in the nose.
Rope dangling before her face, MIHO reaches for the next hold. She loses her grip. The world whooshes as she finds herself weightless, then SNAP. Her body is jerked to a stop.
Cut to a wide shot as Miho rotates, dangling beneath a climbing wall. Cut to an overhead shot watching Miho tethered to the ceiling. The world hums as the nylon rope slowly cranks. The track is now heard from outside the headphones, at a distance. Her hand comes into frame, tapping the B on her ear. The track stops. We linger in silence for a second. Then, Miho draws in a deep breath, knowing what needs to be done.
Cut to OWEN FARRELL, hands on his knees, deeply winded. He pulls his rugby shorts down to the knees, hands trembling. He leans against the goalpost, working to catch his breath. Before he can, Farrell shoves off the post, raising his hands over his heads, breath slowing. Jaw clenched, Owen pours a bottle filled with ice water over his face. Ice falls around the PBPs over his ears.
Back to LETICIA BUFONI in a wide. Sitting at the edge of the half-pipe, Leticia is framed by the U shape as other skaters dive in. She wraps an Ace bandage around her ribs, wincing as her abs tighten. Wheels and trucks cluck, cluck beyond her as she draws in a breath and scoops up her board for another run.
Back to MIHO, in a right profile. Rejuvenated, Miho presses the B on her PBPs and the TRACK explodes. The camera locks in, mounting to the side of Miho as the pace resumes.
ALEX MORGAN is upside down, exhausted but determined as she works through an inverted sit-up. The World Cup title won’t defend itself next summer.
JAMES HARDEN leaps with an impressive stride, arena seats blurring behind him.
At the Skate Park, AYUMU HIRANO is hyper-focused as he executes a 720 spin ten feet above the half pipe. Midway through the trick, we cut to a wide-eyed LETICIA finishing off the trick, against the big blue sky. Her hair hooks behind her ear, showing off the PowerBeats Pro.
Cut to SHAUN WHITE catching air off the halfpipe, snowcapped foothills spinning along with him.
Cut to KEVIN ROLLAND bouncing on a trampoline as he throws himself into a one of a kind twist flip. The camera stays with the PBPs on his ear as match cut to—
OBJ who turns his head back to track a football, stretching out to pull in an errant pass with one hand.
The music builds to a near frenzy as we return to SIMONE BILES, right where we last saw her, at the starting line of the vault. In a profile close-up, SIMONE exhales, then explodes like a world class sprinter. She hits the vault and the camera stays with her, background blurring as her head and the PBPs are steady as can be. It’s the most impressive perspective ever captured of a vault.
Then suddenly, all movement stops. Simone sticks the landing. Her face lights up in that megawatt smile as she throws her arms to the sky, to punctuate her accomplishment for the judges. She doesn’t hold the pose long. She unleashes an adrenaline filled scream of joy, ecstatic at pulling off a maneuver that’s never been done before.
The track fades away as the super appears: NOTHING TO STOP YOU.
The PowerBeats Pro headphones float in mid-air, defying gravity.
The super reads: POWERBEATS PRO: TOTALLY WIRELESS. Off to the Beats TITLE CARD and we’re out.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
As a filmmaker, I’m somewhat obsessed with portraying the interior life through sight and sound. The opportunity to take a viewer inside the headspace of a superstar athlete is one I don’t take lightly. This is a chance to make a film that’s innovative and inspires imitations for years to come.
I’d love to be a part of it.
Thank you for thinking of me.
-Henry
Patrick McConville 