RED BULL TV

HUMAN TOWERS OF CATALONIA

NEIL ROBERTSHAW ·

Content: Short documentary feature

Commissioned by: RED BULL TV

Objective: To explain the origins of human tower building (castells) in content to be aired in the build-up to RED BULL TV’s live coverage of the Concurs de Castells event in Tarragona,Spain – the climax to the human tower building season.

Approach: Human tower building, now awarded special heritage status by UNESCO, originated in the town of Valls, Catalonia, where two teams meet every summer in front of the town hall on the feast of Sant Joan, determined to assemble higher, more complicated structures than the other.

Assisted by the Catalan speakers in Munderbar’s Barcelona office, creative director Jordi Lucas carefully researched the memberships of both teams to cast the individuals who best embodied the fervour of the cross-town rivalry in the week before the festival.

To maximise appeal to RED BULL TV’s audience, the narrative focused on two engaging young people from opposing sides, Laia and Xavi, whose relationship is complicated by the antipathy between the teams.

Through them, the two team captains and Laia’s mother – the first ever female team captain, we learn about the traditions and ethos of castells and a little of the communities from which the compelling spectacle derives.

DOP Pol Orpinell shot the heart-in-mouth tower building sequences from multiple vantage points, including a crane on the town hall balcony. Two other cameras covered the action from the ground, not least the moment when one of the towers collapsed, fortunately without serious injury to any of the participants.