We connected with Gandalf and Lucile from SOS in Bel Air to dive deeper into the Charlie Dark Run Series they created for lululemon. From setting goals, to trail training to how music can inspire you to run harder, these videos are a triumph in inspiration meets information. The series of 8 videos (plus a trailer) features Charlie Dark, a writer, DJ, poet and founder of Run Dem Crew. So, if you need some inspiration to get off the couch, or just want to watch some beautiful drone shots of cliffs overlooking the ocean and zen out, check out this striking and stylized series. And to learn more about what it was like to work with Charlie, and how SOS in Bel Air has grown their career since starting on Tongal, read on...
Ingrid Vining: What drew you to this project? Are you or your production team members into running or fitness in general?
SOS in Bel Air: We've always been into sport and have been running with Run Dem (Charlie Dark’s crew) and other running communities for 8 years in France, London, NYC and Tokyo. Coming from the French Alps, we used to do a lot of extreme sports in the mountains. Moving to big cities made it harder so we’ve gone into endurance sports like cycling, running or trail. Basically, any excuse to challenge ourselves, be with friends, out in nature and being able to train in the city.
5 years ago, we produced/directed a documentary about a running club in Tokyo and wanted to push the experience further. We took the time to create it but didn’t plan enough time to promote it. It didn’t get a lot of attention and what’s the point of doing this kind of project if no one sees it?
Having the power and audience of lululemon to share a story in the running culture environment was really exciting for us. We dove into the brand’s universe and discovered that they were very different from other sports brands. We were hooked and decided to pitch.
So many people had injuries, including us, because they were training without a global approach. The good news is that more and more runners are going from a bold-and-extreme approach to training to a bold-and-balanced approach. lululemon is one of the very few brands that can perfectly embrace and support this evolution. We are happy to have collaborated with them to do it and really hope that this series will inspire people to look at training in a different way.
IV: What was it like working with marathon runner Charlie Dark both as on-screen talent and collaborating during the production process?
SOS: He spends his life inspiring people, so it can only be great. Charlie, Tongal and lululemon refined our expert's selection while our main job was to listen, organise and transcribe visually. We learned a lot during the 15 days of the shoot. It’s a long time for someone who is already super busy, but Charlie made it easy to us, always smiling and giving his best in the sunny (snowy), hot (cold) Miami (London). Thanks, man!
The experts helped us a lot too. Sanchia, Charlie Watson, Paul and Jermayne gave us plenty of time to shoot illustrative scenes and Tarl managed to secure a unique location for his episode.
Enhanced with the short timing, this project has been a real team effort that lasted until the very last file delivery. Tongal, lululemon, the experts and us, we all pushed to create something that would be meaningful to the audience and the brand.
Issam, our editor, has started running for the first time while he was doing the rough cut. He stills runs today.
IV: The series is gorgeous! Can you talk about your approach to cinematography and the gear you used to achieve the look?
SOS: Our RED MONSTRO 8K has been used for the whole shoot along with our RED Scarlet-W, plus a bit of RED Gemini and BMPCC4K.
The resolution helped us to get up to 6 different frames in one shot, super helpful. You can see it on the track episode where it was the only camera available. This one was a really fun day where we had hired a rickshaw and a strong guy called Magic to pull it around the track (no bike or motor allowed). I think he did around 20 laps, so 8Km with close to 100kg in the back!
We also used an experimental setup with a Ronin S and a boosted board to create a kind of lightweight dolly. The weather was super cold and we were shooting in the streets so needed something small and fast to set up. It worked really well and we have been using it on two more shoots since then.
IV: Of the 8 episodes, do you have a favorite? And if so, why is it your favorite?
SOS: The Trail Running stands out in our mind, for its content and the excitement on that day. We were supposed to film in the mountains of Peak District and had swapped the location two days before the shoot. When we arrived at the Cliffs of Dover, the sun was out, it was warm and almost felt like spring. The team was super excited. We also had the drone, which made it even more epic. Liam’s energy is phenomenal, he just arrived from China, drove the whole night to join us and killed it the whole day. We started shooting the trail running from 6 am, the interview until 8 pm and then went with Run Dem until 10! Part of our crew was preparing the studio in London, making it look like a lighthouse while we were on the way back. We love when there’s a nice organisation like that. In this episode, you can feel the energy and the excitement of Charlie who discovered trail running for the first time. The content is truly great, we wish we could have made it a 10-minute episode.
Two days after the shoot we discovered that some friends went to the original location and they had to use crampons and ice axes due to snowstorms the night before. Lucky!
IV: You’ve been working steadily on the Tongal platform over the past few years, primarily with the My/Mo Mochi Ice Cream brand and now lululemon. How have you grown creatively in that time and what role has Tongal played in your career?
SOS: There is very unique alchemy when working with Tongal because of its team and the nature of the platform. We think that the distance makes us closer to what we want to do, as creators. The team is positive, clever and goes straight to the point. I guess working with so many talents and production companies teaches you a lot compared to regular agencies. Finally, the strong project structure makes the production process easier to handle. We have been working with other platforms in the past but Tongal is the only one that respects his creators as much as its clients.
Reading it back, this part sounds cheesy as hell, but hey, we really think so, good job Tongal!
For us, this platform is our playground. An opportunity to present some of our ideas and concepts to global brands who looks for them, instead of pitching in the dark. I think that was very visible with My/Mo and we have some crazy good memories with Russel, Quaid and Courtney. The lululemon project is less flashy, but as creative in the end. The approach that we took is bold and we haven’t found many references that blends information and inspiration as we did. There’s another project on the way, for this one we have created an anti-gravity machine. We can’t wait to shoot it!
Our company has grown a lot since the first time we worked with Tongal. It has gone from pitching on almost any project to focusing on the ones creating opportunities to do what we want. We found out that the only projects that you win are the ones you genuinely love.
Being in competition with so many people is also teaching us a lot about the art of pitching, that’s great.
When we think about the first time we discovered the platform, we were looking at the top production team with big eyes. Now we’re happy to be a little bit closer to them.
