No chance for re-takes as Augusto New Zealand tried to capture all the effort that goes into being a Kiwi Olympian. As the Rio Games get underway, Augusto had only a day to shoot two of our best for High Performance Sport New Zealand.
The two videos feature rower, Hamish Bond and pole vaulter, Eliza McCartney as they worked up to the Rio Olympics.
Rio will be Bond’s third Olympics where he and crewmate Eric Murray will defend their gold medal winning performance in London, 2012.The pair haven’t been beaten since 2009. 19-year-old McCartney is competing in her first Olympics. Wikipedia has her as the current New Zealand record holder with a vault of 4.80 metres (15ft 8inches).
Augusto general manager, Oliver Sealy says: “We all know that to become one of New Zealand’s Olympic contenders takes a lot of hard work and dedication. But it’s quite often a world that we don’t get to see. They also show the huge amount of effort needed to gain the small, but monumentally significant, improvements in high performance. All facilitated through High Performance Sport NZ’s specialised support team of trainers, coaches and nutritionists.”
“Seeing what the athletes put themselves through was impressive. It’s easy to forget that it’s a full-time job for these guys. With every 9 to 5 stint they push their bodies harder than they did the previous day. But it obviously works. Eliza smashed a personal best while we were on set!”
Conceptualised and produced entirely through Augusto, the 90 second “Margins of Greatness” videos show Bond and McCartney in early morning training sessions and gut-busting gym workouts.
Sealy says both were shot during a single training session with the athletes. The Hamish Bond clip was filmed on location at the Gallagher High Performance Centre in Cambridge.
“The training is so intense that the crew could barely keep up. We had to be ready and waiting as he went from rowing on the water, to refuelling in the kitchen, to his erg session and weights in the gym.
“With Eliza we had a bit more flexibility. We filmed her during a morning training session at the AUT Millennium Institute in Auckland, but were also lucky enough to do a few additional practice jumps with her in the afternoon. You can’t emphasise enough how precious a professional athlete’s time is during training,” he said.
Director, James Anderson: “It was all about trying to get lovely, powerful pictures on the fly. Not an easy job when you are following an Olympic athlete in the middle of a pre-Rio training session. There wasn’t really the opportunity to yell “Cut, let’s go again”.
CREDITS
Production Company & Agency: Augusto
Director: James Anderson
Director of Photography: Olly Harris
Camera Operator: Lance Wordsworth
Sound: Danny Watts
Editors: Mariano Segedin, Kat Blair
Motion: David Frearson
Composer & Audio: Murray Fisher
Creative: Rich Robson and Matt Sellars
Account Manager: Lauren Oxnam
Producer: Rob Malloch
Share this Post
