NIKE HELDEN

Short List
TitleNIKE HELDEN
BrandNIKE
Product/ServiceNIKE GERMANY
Category A07. Use of Licensed / Adapted Music
Entrant GRAND CENTRAL RECORDING STUDIOS London, UNITED KINGDOM
Idea Creation WIEDEN+KENNEDY AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS
Production WIEDEN+KENNEDY AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS
Post Production GRAND CENTRAL RECORDING STUDIOS London, UNITED KINGDOM
Credits
Name Company Position
Raja Sehgal GCRS Director of Sound Design
David Bowie David Bowie Music Artist
Hans Zimmer Hans Zimmer Composer
Brian Eno Brian Eno Record Producer

Write a short summary of what happens in the film

Focusing on local communities and athletes in Germany, this 3-minute film ‘Heroes’ introduces a new generation of German athletes who – as individuals and in their teams – work hard to advance society.

Cultural / Context information for the jury

The film features a who’s who of trailblazers in the sporting world and modern German society. From Zeina Nassar, the boxer who changed the rules of boxing so that she and others could wear a hijab in the ring; to Mario Götze who was diagnosed with a career-ending injury but refused to quit. We see the Syrian National Cycling team who are now refugees in Germany and ride for a club in Berlin. We are introduced to Turkiyemspor, a club founded to bring the Turkish and German communities of Berlin together. We meet the Nazari sisters, who walked to Germany from Afghanistan and are the future of German skateboarding. All the people in this film prove that you never, ever do it just for yourself.

Tell the jury about the choice of music track.

There could only be one choice of music for a spot named “Helden” and that is “Helden” aka “Heroes”; David Bowie’s iconic song written and recorded at Hansa Sound, West Berlin in 1977. Bowie recorded the song in German which we have used. Hans Zimmer gave us his interpretation of the original music retaining the original guitar line by Robert Fripp. One key point was to incorporate the athletes into the music, you notice this throughout, eg the basketball athlete’s voice was manipulated to be in time with Bowie’s vocals. I took the music stems, the vocals, the treated dialogue and the sound design and created a final mix that built as the spot grew, enhancing each scene with different elements. The soundtrack we hear is a delicate balance of all these layers of sounds. I am very proud of it. Heroes in the film and legends making the music.