I was looking for blog post ideas when I found this behind the scenes images from a recent shoot. That day we had a small crew and it was all hands on deck, to say it was hectic would be an understatement. My initial idea for this post was to write a technical description of what I did that day to transform a small waiting room with plexiglass windows on three walls into what the script called for, a night time scene in the main character’s bedroom. Place black duvetyne here, a practical light source there and have an intern operating a home made dimmer to make it look like the flickering from a tv. That’s basically it, doesn’t matter how much you want to romanticize the process, it is one part know-how and two parts hard work, something that would excite only the most technically oriented among us.

I happen to be one of those technically oriented, process-loving gear heads who enjoy reading about lighting ratios and diagrams, but the story in these images is about something so much bigger than that. It is about teamwork, determination, and love of our craft. On that Saturday morning a small, tight knit crew set out to tell a meaningful story that would serve as a PSA to raise awareness about HPV and to encourage young men to get vaccinated. Understaffed? Yep, working with limited resources? You bet! but we managed to create a final product that we can feel proud of, and that is what I love the most about the visual storytelling process, we work together to bring an idea to life and in so doing we become so much more than the sum of our parts.

Working with a small crew and minimal equipment makes me step up my game, it may suck a little bit during the shoot, but it’s all worth it once I get to see the final cut. It’s all about telling that story.