Behind the Scenes of C4's Paralympic Offering

James Walker, head of marketing at C4

The new ad for the Rio Paralympics is phenomenal. Obviously it took some inspiration from c4's 2012 offering as it continues the initial superhuman campaign but what actually inspired this year's (more musical) approach? 

The Public Enemy music was such a key part of  the 2012 ad and this time we wanted to do something very different. But everyone was very open-minded as to what direction the creative could take. We knew that we needed an idea that excited and moved people but we also knew that we needed an idea that worked for everyone. I wanted something that grandparents would show their grandchildren. When the music was first played to me, it definitely wasn’t what I was expecting but it felt good straight away. I hadn’t heard the song before but it’s the kind of song that you feel you should know. Hopefully a few people are humming it now!

Was there a certain pressure to continue the Superhumans' previous legacy? And if so, how did you strive to overcome this? 

There definitely was but we tried not to think about that too much. There was also a new team in charge at 4creative in John and Chris who were coming to it completely fresh. The main thing was to build on what we achieved in 2012 but try and do it differently rather than aim to better it. 

Why was Dougal Wilson the right man for the job? 

He’s such a brilliant director and knows how to bring the right kind of emotion to ideas.  He was also such a collaborative director so it was great to work with him and he completely understood what we were trying to achieve.

You've included more than 140 disabled people in this spot. What was it like working with and coordinating this volume of people and what was the casting process like? 

A huge undertaking. The production teams in 4creative and Blink did an amazing job. Months of careful planning went into working out the detail of the shoot. And of course, ensuring the requirements of all the people featured were understood and provided for.

What were the biggest challenges on the job? 

The casting was a huge undertaking as we set ourselves the challenge of representing as many disabled people as possible in the spot across both sport and everyday life. Months of work went into finding people with a huge range of amazing talents – from musicians to pilots and racing drivers.

This year's campaign is much more light-hearted than its predecessor. Why did you feel this was the right approach for 2016  and how did you make sure to strike the balance between fun and serious? 

We wanted to do something different to 2012 but we also wanted to reflect the progress that has been made. The 2012 spot was more defiant and in your face. This time, we wanted to be more joyous and celebratory. It also fits well with Rio!

What effect did you notice the 2012 campaign had on the Paralympic audience and do you think we still need a campaign with the same strong message today?

It had a big effect but there’s always more than can be done. Its four years on and some people will have forgotten about London 2012, so we can always do more to get people engaged again and thinking differently about disability.

Jean Clement Soret, Global Director of Colour Grading, MPC

The grade on this film is as creative as the film’s execution. How important do you think the grade is to the film and what effect do you think it adds?

The punchy and colourful grade complements the photography while the editing adds to the feel good and positive vibe of the spot. Vibrant colours and contrast are the backbone of the grade, consistent strong colour codes and palettes, which help the narrative to move from one scene to another. 

The grade itself is dynamic and verges on hyper-real to achieve a joyful, rich and uplifting feel.  As it’s a fast-cut film, it was important to help the viewer identify with the story in each scene very quickly. The aim was to really enhance the tone as well as emphasising the many individual stories - but also help weave the piece together into one unified film.