Novemba Reign for Bacardi

When Cap Gun Collective directing duo Novemba were tasked with directing a making of for the new Bacardi campaign they decided the best approach was to utilise one of the cast from the main TV commercial. So that's what they did.

The resulting film sees them follow a circus performer called Cesar as he finds, focusses and forges his talents, and the film chimes perfectly with Bacardi's new 'Untameable' mantra.

Below, the Aussie duo - Blair Macdonald and Oliver Clark - explain the premise of the film and how it came together.

What was the brief you received from the agency for the project?

The brief came directly from Bacardi. They were shooting their new global TVC [through BETC London and MJZ's Dante Ariola] in Brazil and wanted some additional content to support it. They wanted a ‘making of’ but wanted it delivered in a way that would excite their audience, so they asked us to pitch them something different. This is the kind of ‘making of’ we’d enjoy watching.

Did you know immediately how you would approach the film?

We’ve done quite a lot of short form documentary work for brands over the past 12 months, and were therefore confident we could tell this story. Rio is a wild, frantic and vibrant city, and we jumped at the opportunity to try and capture that energy on camera. We made a choice to shoot handheld, using zoom lenses and very little high speed. This was to create a live, gritty feel to the film – reflecting the youthful and energetic nature of the brand.

How did you find the subject and did you already know the area/passion you wanted to explore?

The film had to tie in with the main TVC and the core brand message of “Untameable since 1862.” Thus, we used the performers from the TVC as our casting pool and searched for someone whose life embodied the brand point of view.

We’d been in South America a couple of times previously, and had seen circus artists performing on the streets, at traffic lights and corners for money, who had outstanding talents. So when we saw that the Bacardi TVC was utilising these kinds of performers, we knew right away that we would find people whose lives were marked by resilience, passion, and achievement.

It looks like you shot a lot of footage; what were the logistics of the shoot like?

The story starts in Rio and ends in Ouro Preto, which is about seven hours drive north of Rio. Logistically, the main factors we had to consider were: Cesar’s classes at the circus school, the TVC’s shooting schedule, the unpredictable traffic in Rio and our minders constant concern about safety.

For a project like this you have to be flexible, there were factors that cropped up each day which meant we had to re-think things on the fly. For this type of doco work we like to work with a small crew, allowing us to move quickly while also creating a better dynamic with the characters that we are filming. We worked with our usual DP on this, the inimitable Xavi Amoros, who, after many days shooting through the night, proved once again that he cannot be broken.

Had you ever taken on a project like this before?

Earlier this year we made a series of five documentaries, four of which were shot in a foreign language in various cities around the world. So, from a production point of view, the approach was quite similar. We were very comfortable with the process, but the scale and the schedule restrictions of this shoot were larger than we had experience before.

How do you work; do you share responsibilities between you or both work on every aspect of a shoot?

There’s no hard line which divides our responsibilities on a shoot, although we have largely learnt not to natter over each other.

What was the most difficult part of this project?

Working in a foreign country, in a foreign language you don’t speak is always a challenge. Luckily we had some experience shooting in Brazil earlier this year, and had a better understanding of how to manage things both through the production and into post production. The timings were also quite tight throughout the project, we were to deliver the finished piece little more than two weeks after wrapping Rio.

What are you working on next?

We’ve just returned from shoots in LA and France, and are busy with the post production on these projects. Then we’re taking a few weeks off over Christmas and heading back to Australia.