Grit X Pro – Key Highlights
In the beat of the run
Story of the perfect trail running companion.
01 Project overview
Our freshest film series for Polar’s new product was filmed in the north-western tip of Finnish Lapland. Mallatunturi is a rugged and challenging location that highlight the product’s quality. We wanted to combine the two to make an informative set of films with beautiful visuals.
Category/Industry: Sport & Leisure
Services: Concept design, scriptwriting, film production
Year: 2022
02 Challenge
Polar wanted us to produce product videos and photos of their new Grit X Pro watch for their YouTube channel and Support pages. Trail running was the chosen activity to showcase the primary features of the watch. The main video needed to be moderate in length and should be very easy to absorb, almost like a tutorial. The running had to look real while the location should have the feel of majestic wilderness. One of the visual problems was getting quality close-ups of the small watch display during a workout.
Apart from the main video, we produced separate edits to showcase the following features:
Track back and Back To Start
New Outdoor Watch Faces
Route And Elevation Profiles
03 Strategy
The customer provided the voice-over copy and defined the features that should be highlighted in the video. We needed to find the right location, talent and visual style. We chose Jaakko Posti as the lead photographer, as his style and approach to photography were just right for this project.
For the sake of authenticity, we chose seasoned trail runner Joni Seppä as the talent and decided on Kilpisjärvi for the location.
04 Creative Solution
There, we zeroed in on Malla Strict Nature Reserve and scouted the location based on previous experiences in the region.
We decided to rely mostly on hand-held camera work, giving a sense of urgency and speed, while also utilising FPV drones and our Inspire rig to get aerial footage for establishing shots and infographics. Our camera operator Ilmari also built a custom camera rig for this production, allowing us to capture close-up images of the watch display while Joni was running.
The end result includes the voice-over, close-ups of the watch display and impressive shots of trail running through the stunning landscapes.
05 Implementation
Key highlights video + in-depth videos on:
Track back and Back To Start
New Outdoor Watch Faces
Route And Elevation Profiles
06 IMPACT
The videos have over 76 000 views on YouTube with over 650 likes without dislikes, so the videos have performed very well within their genre. The videos are Polar’s most-viewed tutorials and have also sparked great discussions and interaction on YouTube.
TEAM
Producer: Maria Gullsten
Director: Toni Kauppila
DOP: Ilmari Mannermaa
1st AC: Joonas Schwanck
Production Manager: Jan Blomberg
Production Assistant: Markus Kumpula
Editor: Joonas Mattila
Grade: Jussi Rovanperä
Sound Design: Heikki Illikainen
Voice-over: Scott McDonald / Dictum.fi
Photographer: Jaakko Posti
Cast: Joni Seppä