This year the Red Bull Elements’ production included a special challenge. Besides the usual deliverables we were to produce a clip following Team Mennen, which is a partner of the event. The expectactions on this particular clip were very high since an important communication campaign would follow, aiming to highlight the partnership of Mennen with Red Bull Elements (in line with Mennen sponsoring outdoor athletes like mountain biker Fabien Barel or trail runner Francois d’Haene recently).

All in all the clip has received very positive comments, and the campaign is being very successful with the 1.5 million views mark already achieved (and counting!). This is a great opportunity to display these sometimes confidential sports to such a big audience. The Red Bull Elements has clearly become a major annual rendez-vous for all these sports.

A lot of planning went into the production of the clip, as I knew that exciting visuals would be key to reach the mainstream audience Mennen is targeting with their communication. Another key factor was the length of the clip as we’d have to fit the entire story, and obvioulsy explain the unusual concept of the race within a 2 min 30/ 2 min 45 package. So we knew that there wouldn’t be much room for shots exceeding 2 to 3 seconds and this aspect was fully taken into account during the shooting. Last but not least, the clip was to convey several other aspects and values: the difficulty of the race, the team spirit and camaraderie, and the open mindset of the top athletes involved, namely Vincent Cavard in rowing, François d’Haene in trail running, Aaron Durogati in paragliding and Jordan Sarrou in mountain biking.

A strenuous pre-shooting was completed thanks to a solid team and the fantastic cooperation of these 4 athletes, to get the very specific shots that we knew would be virtually impossible to get on race day. Then on race day a particular focus was put on Team Mennen obviously, with our production coordinator Val Grollemund monitoring the live GPS tracking on the map and communicating info to our 10 cameramen and helicopter dispatched over kilometers and kilometers of trails around Talloires. After the race and a solid 2nd place finish for Team Mennen it was time to enter the edit room and let editor Hugo Clouzeau display his skills.

Well done to everyone – mission accomplished!