September 2015 represents the beginning of a collaboration with the ASM Clermont Auvergne Rugby Club.

In Clermont-Ferrand, rugby is like a religion. And every weekend, the whole region is supporting the 15 ASM rugby players. This is why we were particularly honoured to work with the club for this new rugby season.

Jean-Charles first did the photographs for the Club’s organization chart (photographs also used on game’s posters and for the global communication of the club). A work divided in two parts so as a second shoot dedicated to international players took place in November as soon as they came back from the World Cup.

An organization chart is not as simple as it seems: players have a very few time so there is a small margin of error. We set up a movable studio within the stadium to not disturb players’ schedule. Then we worked with Phase One iq 180 and Hassleblad lenses (h5x): our favourite combo. It was also necessary to know how to guide players to rapidly vary poses.

Cindy Pibeaud, make-up artist specialized in special effects, made scars on players’ cheeks using fake blood and fake sweat. We wanted to reproduce a post-match atmosphere! (Excepted for Thomas Domingo who had a real black eye this day)

Our second collaboration with the club, also planned for September is the presentation video of their brand-new training center.

Inspired from the world’s most sophisticated training centers, designers took the best ideas from several sports to build those 3000 square meters dedicated to athletic training.

The structure has been designed so as every athlete (wherever he is) can see his partners training by his sides. Gather every activities in the same building is also a real time saving and it also optimizes performance.

The video capture a typical day from the breakfast to the nightfall. We had a great pleasure producing this video with the staff and the ASM’s rugby players. We hope that this brand-new center will help the team to win many other titles!