The Mill on Making the Most of 360 Film

Over the recent international break, Nike launched a campaign through Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam for the Turkish national football team that saw fans taken into the locker room of their heroes to hear a passionate half-time team talk led by captain, Arda Turan.

Below, The Mill's creative director, Adam Grint, reveals how the company took the idea further with the agency and Somesuch by implementing the use of 360 film, as well as why he thinks there's a lot to be excited about in terms of developing the medium.

At what stage of the project were you brought in to collaborate with the agency on the Nike Turkey project?

We were brought in when the creative idea behind this project was germinating at Wieden+Kennedy, enabling us to work hand in hand with them to develop a core idea that exploited the medium to its fullest.

The creative team immediately identified the idea as an opportunity to use 360 film; was your instinct the same and do you think the job has to be right for this type of format?

Yes. The action in the scene and the geography of the space both pointed towards this being ripe for a 360 experience. It’s a contained space - the U-shape layout of the locker room seating naturally lends itself to 360. We always wanted the experience to feel intimate - to place the fan somewhere they would not normally have access to and for the viewer to feel part of that team. There’s simply no better way of achieving this than with this method.  

The creative thought process behind developing for this medium is quite different than for traditional 2D film work. We are still developing the language for it, but it’s so important that ideas are developed bespoke for this medium - ideas that really harness the strength of the technology, rather than trying to wedge a rectangular traditional film idea into a circular 360 hole.

Tell us a bit about the production process from your point of view, and how you approached the technical aspects?

The key to a successful 360 shoot is planning. Because there are no cuts, you have to generate structure to the scene through other methods - choreography, sound and lighting are key tools.

We mapped out the whole set in 3D and did some scale mock-ups and simple previz frames, which gave the director and agency some idea of framing and movement within the scene.  We also worked within the limitations of the camera rig, imposing some restrictions on where the players were allowed to walk or stand so as not to cause too many stitching headaches down the line. But we were also conscious to give as much freedom to the players as possible so as not to adversely affect performance.

On set we were able to provide a live feed of various viewing angles to Bob Harlow (the director from Somesuch) - we used witness cameras to capture a top 3/4 view of the scene, plus we had the 360 scene navigable on an iPad so the director was able to test the scene in 360 live on set.

What was the biggest challenge and why do you think it’s important for creatives at the Mill and elsewhere to push themselves to create this type of content?

Until we nail live action capture by a single camera we will be stuck with stitching multiple cameras together to create our 360 sphere. And with that introduces a raft of technical hurdles, which in turn impose creative limitations. Our job is to create brilliant work within those constraints but once the shackles are off we will be technically, and consequently creatively, liberated.

We have a potent tool at our disposal; one that can stimulate the brain to react to the idea you’re trying to encapsulate more powerfully than any other medium. The footprints have not yet been laid in the sand. The opportunity to create truly original work really is there, and if that doesn’t get a creative excited, I’m not sure what will!

How do you think this particular campaign can enhance the fan experience?

All other media is through someone else’s lens. What this experience does is place you in the scene, as if you were really there, and allows you to make your own mind up; to react to the intimacy of that moment in your own way, rather than a piece of editorial that has it’s own agenda which you consume.

It’s allowing you into the inner circle - the half time huddle is of course something that takes place behind closed doors, away from the prying eyes of the outside world. You not only bear witness to it, but very much feel part of that exclusive moment, as an equal to the other players in the room.

What about working with the players; are they generally interested to help create this type of footage, do you think?

Arda Turan was very co-operative and was genuinely into the 360 idea - his enthusiasm is pretty infections so we were lucky to have a strong driver that pulled everyone into the idea. There is some novelty to creating this type of material right now that helps, but the script, being about their backgrounds coming from the streets and rising to fame helped source sincere passion in the performance too.

Do you predict that working with this type of technology will get easier with more work that is created? How do you envisage the creative to develop?

The tech getting easier and more accessible is an inevitability. As each of those barriers is removed, another door is opened to what is creatively possible. I think the most interesting creative ideas will not be using the tech as a trampoline to an idea – instead I think in time, once the frothy top has fizzled down on 360 and VR, we will see ideas developed for this medium with the same subtlety and craft as the best work in traditional filmmaking. And allied with that, we will borrow elements from gaming, experiential art and theatre to really craft VR experiences that stimulate all the senses.