RM Williams / Commercial
The WORLD AT HER FEET Brief
This is an adaptation of the award-winning commercial for RM Williams produced by agencies Revolve and Special, The man who lived in his boots. The original campaign is exceptional yet male centric and Australian bound. I believe our best-loved boot brand can be pitched internationally through the lens of adventurous rural women.
Concept
I wrote The world at her feet during my solo expat travel across England and Europe. People would stop me in the street and ask, “are they RM Williams boots?” This campaign introduces the product beyond our shoreline, setting RM boots as an internationally recognised brand. The original campaign sells the boots through the larrikin attitude of rural men. The world at her feet encapsulates grit, an appetite for adventure and strength aligning with the brand’s values and the character of rural women. Beginning in humble rural origins, the commercial follows a young woman on an escapade across the world, to represent and inspire women with big hearts and bigger dreams.
The world at her feetThere was a young woman, who dreamed to see the world
To leave all she knew, for the complete unknown
A dreamer with a daring spirit and zealous soul
She wondered what life would be like, outside her home town
For home is made for coming from, for dreams of going to
Waiting for her was an adventure and alone she would go
For fear is fear of failure and one would not allow
A faithful friend, with a familiar feel and sound
Her boots would faithfully carry her across uncertain ground
A renowned outback staple and reminder of home
Storyboard
Opening scene is a wide-angle landscape shot overlooking a farm landscape at dawn.
Music: Cockatoos screeching and background noise
Aerial shot of her in the back of the ute on her way back home after a days work.
VO: She wondered what life would be like, outside her home town
Low-shot from behind, shows her RM boots in the foreground. A London double-decker bus and traffic, crowds the background. The red bus transitions into a red bandana in the next scene.
VO: For fear is fear of failure and one would not allow
Wide-shot depicts a quiet country landscape of the Cotswolds, England.
VO: There was a young woman, who dreamed to see the world
Motion-blur-shot of old rusted post boxes of the different farms in the area as the ute passes by.
VO: For home is made for coming from
From the red bus to a red bandana the shot transitions from London to Pamplona, Spain. Shot from an above angle the scene overlooks a crowd at the festival of San Fermín.
Faithfully trailing every step she roams
Sure footed she’d feel in unfamiliar surrounds
Exploring new places, a tempered click of heels resounds
Feeling lost and out of sorts
Questioning the strange life she wrought
Estranged and melancholy she looked down to see
Her dear friend, RM Williams, below her seat
A relic of tenacity, grit and strength
Smiling, she remembered the world lay at her feet
And so the young woman continued chasing her dreams.
Mid-low shot shows stampede of cattle and dust in the morning light. Sound of cattle lowing and hooves striking.
VO: To leave all she knew, for the complete unknown
Cuts to mid-shot of subject sitting alone in the airport reading a book. Then to a close-up shot of her turning a page (symbolic of the metaphor).
VO: For dreams of going to
Low, close-up shot of her RM boots in the foreground running along the streets of Pamplona. Cuts upwards to the bulls.
VO: A dreamer with a daring spirit and zealous soul
Point-of-view shot, showing the subject’s view of the azure horizon from the plane window.
VO: Waiting for her was an adventure and alone she would go
Extreme close-up shows her face out of breathe as she watches the bulls pass her. Cuts to an extreme close-up of the bull’s head as it runs past.
VO: Faithfully trailing every step she roams.
Close-up shot from the outside of the train depicts subject looking out from the train window, sad.
VO: Questioning the strange life she wrought.
Cuts back to the close-up shot from the exterior of the train. Yet she's smiling to herself this time, as if she is daydreaming.
VO: Smiling, she remembered the world lay at her feet.
Close-up shot introduces the subject driving the work ute. Captures dust flying through the window and the bumps in the road.
VO: A faithful friend, with a familiar feel and sound
Mid-shot depicts RM boots swinging up and over the back of a polo pony as the subject mounts.
VO: Exploring new places, a tempered click of heels resounds
Shot depicts her legs slightly crossed in her RM boots under the tube seat. It shows the worn sole and scratched leather.
VO: Her dear friend, RM Williams, below her seat
Blur-motion transitions to a low-angle, close-up shot of the legs of a horse galloping. Moving up, the camera shows the RM boots spurring the horse on.
Aerial shot of her circling stray cow on a motor bike. The shot captures how fast and dangerous the work can be.
VO: Sure footed she’d feel in unfamiliar surrounds
Switches to a point-of-view shot, camera follows path of a rain drop running down the glass pane, the city scape blurred.
VO: Estranged and melancholy she looked down to see
Cuts to a fast-motion close-up shot of the tube wheels speeding along the track.
VO: And so the young woman continued chasing her dreams.
VO: Her boots would faithfully carry her across uncertain ground
Mid-shot depicts the subject walking from behind along a rainy, dark London street.
VO: A renowned outback staple and reminder of home
Fast-motion-blur captures a tube as it flies to a halt at the platform. Screeching and dimly lit.
VO: Feeling lost and out of sorts
Extreme close-up of the tag and stitching on the boot.
VO: A relic of tenacity, grit and strength
Moving up the subject’s leg the camera shows a mid-angle shot of her looking back at the camera laughing.