Papaya Films’ Dan French directs Be Your Own Champion

The latest project from Papaya Films director Dan French was for the Champion brand. The film tells the story of Sophie, a ballerina who grew up on the streets of South London trying to break away from normal conventions and stereotypes of ballet.

"I wanted to take a highly stylised approach to the visuals. Shooting ballet in a way we aren't used to seeing. From the location to the lighting and lens choices. The idea was to meld together the two worlds of classical ballet and contemporary streetwear in the same way that Sophie brings those elements into her movement.

Sophie was a dream to work with and although we did storyboard for this, on the day it was mainly a case of capturing her movement in the best way possible. Her choreography was improvised and so we knew moments that we wanted to match cut between locations and how the thing would end with a spin but otherwise we let Sophie take the lead. It was a really fun way to shoot and I think this came across in the final film."