Written by new-contact on Oct 11, 2013. Posted in Production News

MediaMonks Films makes raincloud in Barcelona filming for Geox footwear

Dutch production company MediaMonks Films shot on location in Barcelona for a wet test for Geox Amphibiox footwear. The campaign involved drenching a brave test subject with artificial rainclouds as he explored the city, to test how the shoes cope with wet-weather conditions.

Barcelona was chosen pretty quickly as a filming location, partly because of the city’s reputation for good weather, but also because its mix of modern and historic architecture was a major appeal.

“The city’s natural flair was very apt for the shoot with its versatile, old-school buildings that co-exist with more modern development like the loft conversion we used for our explorer,” explains Alex Gonzalez of Palma Pictures, who line-produced the shoot.

A series of rain cloud rigs were designed and built in Amsterdam. They needed to be small and mobile enough to be carried on someone’s back and also mounted on a car.

“The biggest challenge,” comments Jelani Isaacs of servicing company Brenninkmeijer & Isaacs, “was to have enough water available throughout the day to supply the cloud. This resulted in having both big water tanks that we could drive around and push around, and having Alex and her crew arranging water points through the city for us to reload.”

Palma Pictures arranged access to water fountains and hydrants throughout the city as the rain rigs were drinking 80 litres every ten minutes. The sheer amount of water meant the team had to consider drainage options too, especially when they filmed their explorer Tom taking a trip on a city tour bus.

In the end, however, filming permits were a bigger challenge. The actual permitting process in Barcelona was quick, but the team found they were turned away from using the rain rigs in some of the more iconic parts of the inner city because of a couple of visiting Hollywood features, including Sean Penn’s action movie The Gunman.

“We had to change a few locations at the last minute,” says the shoot’s co-director Rogier Schalken: “I was really impressed at how fast the local producers were able to arrange all this in time.”

“Barcelona and Palma Pictures were great and very helpful - no challenge was too big for them,” Isaacs concludes: “Barcelona as a city is fantastically photographic and therefore allows for many great views and locations.”

Credits:
Client: Geox
Agency: SMFB, Oslo
Production Company: MediaMonks Films, The Netherlands
Producer: Sytske Rijkens
Head of Operations: Wesley ter Haar
Production Service Company: Brenninkmeijer & Isaacs
Executive Producer: Jelani Isaacs
Line Production Company: Palma Pictures, Barcelona
Line Producer: Alex Gonzalez
Special Propmaker: Erik Voors
Director of Photography: Menno Mans
Directors: Tom Rijpert and Rogier Schalken

To find out more about the Geox Amphibiox campaign click here.