I’ve been browsing some of the recent Nikefootball videos, and I’ve come across a few of the ‘The Perfect Kick’ campaigns for the Total 90 Laser shoe. This one, which was released this Summer in July, features Spanish Liverpool striker Fernando Torres demonstrating the different shooting techniques for regular, curling, volley and half-volley shots.
In the words of Rasmus Frandsen, Art Director: “We chose Fernando Torres because he’s sort of an all-around striker and he’s not known for doing just a pass or just a wrist strike, but he can do practically everything. So in a sense he is the perfect striker (…) We’re exploring it with different camera angles both to show in detail what it looks like on the actual boot on impact, but also to show the whole body movement that goes into a kick.”
The videos were filmed using digital high-speed shooting (1000 frames per second!!!). For the non-geeks among you, that’s a lot of frames per second: for comparison movies in movie theatres run at 24 frames per second, which is more than enough for the human eye, but not nearly enough when you want to film slow-motion videos of athletes in action. 
Stefan Weiss, Cinematographer declared: “The most difficult part in digital high-speed shooting is the lighting: just because it is digital doesn’t mean that you don’t neeed any light anymore. Scenes like these are very difficult to light, even for six cameras because normally you need one light for each camera, while what we did here was get a fine light for all 6 cameras, which is quite tricky.”
The Spanish striker enjoyed the moment of being selected as a Nike posterboy: “I’m happy to be part of this awesome campaign. The footballers wearing Nike are the best in the world, and it’s an honor for me to have been chosen to be one of them. I hope everything goes well and to participate in many more.”
Links for the all 4 videos can be found below, as well as the the ‘Making Of’ which is quite interesting.
- The Perfect Kick: Strike
- The Perfect Kick: Curler
- The Perfect Kick: Half-Volley
- The Perfect Kick: The Volley
It’s all starting tomorrow: the 5th edition of the 
In addition to reigning European and World Champions Spain, the biggest favorites of the tournament are Italy, Russia, and Portugal. “All the eyes are on us” says Venancio Lopez, recently appointed Spain coach after the 15-year reign of Javier Lozano. “We have responsibilities, it will not be easy to win“.
In addition to Italy, the other contenders Portugal and Russia have valid claims to the title as well, counting respectively on Ricardinho / Alex and Russian-naturalized Brazilians Cirilo and Pelé Junior.
The UEFA European Futsal Championship was first held in Granada, Spain in 1999 with Russia running out the first winners in a dramatic final against the hosts. The match finished 3-3 before Russia prevailed in a shoot-out, Konstantin Eremenko converting the winning spot-kick. Spain would make up for that disappointment by winning the Championship in 2001 in Moscow, defeating hosts Russia in the last four before seeing off Ukraine in the final.
“Glasgow will be a very hot environment for us Saturday, but as a group we are fully aware of what’s at stake. All those who have been called up, even those with less experience, know how to approach the game, as well as the risks and responsibilities associated with it. Scotland is a strong team, especially at home, and the fact they have stopped their home league games in light of this match, shows they too will be putting everything on the table for 90 minutes.” said Toni. “Will I be decisive? Maybe, I would like to be the man of the match, but my job will only be to make myself available to Donadoni and the group, just as any other player who will step down on the field. We’ll be playing for 2 years’ worth of effort in a period of 90 minutes. Domenech says we’ll be playing for a draw? Starting the game with that mentality will only mean trouble for us, we are a square and tough team, I don’t even want to think about the possibility of not making it to Euro 2008″.
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