I’m excited to share my first collaboration with Director, Desmond Faison. Desmond is one of the wonderful connections that I made in May of 2023 after speaking on a panel discussing Tech Scouts with the fellows of the Commercial Directing Diversity Program (CDDP) as part of their workshop series. In addition to sparking a friendship with Desmond, that panel lead to my appearing on Jordan Brady’s great filmmaking podcast.
Even though Desmond is firmly on Team Tupac and I’ve always been a Biggie guy, we haven’t let archaic East vs. West hip-hop battles prevent us from many good times over the years.
The Sidewalk Problem
Desmond wanted a documentary aesthetic and leaned so hard into realism that you’re watching an actual Børn employee and her genuine friend in the commercial. To support that vision, we kept things very streamlined with crew and equipment to help our stars feel comfortable in front of the camera. He initially preferred a minimal silhouette for camera: Canon R5 mk II on a DJI Ronin RS4 Pro.
Aside from being a talented writer and director, Desmond is very skilled behind the camera. He often shoots his own work, which perhaps explains why it’s taken so long for us to find the right opportunity to collaborate. It’s great to work with a director with technical knowledge as it often makes my life easier because expectations are more realistic as they understand what can easily be accomplished with particular gear. Desmond owns an R5 so he knew what to expect photographically. He envisioned two operators simultaneously capturing our two subjects walking along the picturesque streets of Glendora, CA. I wanted to agree with Desmond’s assessment that both operators could share the sidewalk, but I pushed for an earlier tech scout than normal so I could put my mind at ease sooner than later. I also wanted to sign off on his preferred house location ASAP as the photos left me underwhelmed.
On the CDDP panel, I insisted that the sweet spot for a tech scout is around 7 days before a shoot as it allows key creative decisions to pivot if necessary, but it’s not so far ahead of schedule that key members could have their availability change. One of the other panelists insisted that tech scouts should be a maximum of 2 days before the shoot and I debated him hard on that.
We chose April 27th (10 days before the shoot), bright and early to get a sense of the location around our desired shoot time. I had never been to Glendora Village and instantly found its picturesque landscape works as the perfect stand-in for Any Town, USA. From the cute shops of the serene main street (Glendora Ave) to the hand pruned Ficus trees with their vibrant green cones, the Village photographed wonderfully.
Unfortunately, I determined that the sidewalks weren’t wide enough to accommodate both operators without tripping over each other and fighting for angles. In general, I prefer working with just one camera, but this would’ve been a great instance to have two.
The Sidewalk Solution
I proposed two paths: 1. Hire a steadicam operator, 1st AC, and upgrade our camera package. 2. Rent a DJI Ronin 4D that I would operate. In both scenarios, it would be optimal to upgrade from the R5 to a camera more capable of capturing the deep contrast ratios we’d encounter in late Spring/early Summer with limited grip gear. After recently watching Adolescence, I believed the 4D could solve our stability and sensor shortcomings. It would also appear very strange optically and financially to mount a prosumer mirrorless camera on an expensive steadicam.
After much debate, we hired James Marin, SOC to run Steadicam. It seemed the safest way to get great moves in limited time. I’ve been warned that the Ronin 4D has a relatively steep learning curve even for operators like myself with lots of gimbal experience. I was up for the challenge, but in the end, everyone was thrilled we could pivot so drastically. I recruited Carl Nenzén Lovén to pull focus and he did a wonderful job as usual.
On the bright side, I enthusiastically signed off on Desmond’s preferred location. The photos did it a great disservice and I couldn’t wait to return and film there. I take pride in saying this: I didn’t use a single light all day. Yes, it helped us stay on schedule since we took much longer to film the first half of our day, but it’s also important to know when to accept the fact that there’s nothing wrong with using natural light. Restraint is such a key concept in filmmaking. Just because I loaded my car with a bunch of lights, doesn’t mean they would enhance the image.
For the opening shot of Julia on her laptop in the kitchen, the light from the nearby window couldn’t be improved. I flirted with doing nothing for McKenzie’s shot on the patio, but the 4’x4′ bounce card placed about 10′ away gave her a little extra exposure and contouring that went a long way. I snuck in a bounce card whenever possible throughout the day, but often times we had to just let my ARRI Alexa 35 and Zeiss Super Speeds work their magic on talent. My 4′ MYTWorks slider gave some great smooth motion to the opening of the spot.
The Static Afternoon
I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again: time is our biggest enemy on set. Perhaps the schedule was too optimistic, but we found ourselves in a wonderful groove just as lunch approached at 11:45am. Unfortunately, we still had a lot to accomplish but only had steadicam booked for 6 hours and his schedule wouldn’t allow any flexibility. As a result, several of those shots had to be reimagined on tripod.
We would’ve loved to have more of the film in walk and talks given the fact that it’s a shoe commercial, but I think the pan and tilts work well. One of those static scenes took place under a canopy and I really love the framing. While the shot above never made the final cut, its impact is long lasting. I have long flirted with getting a hi-hat even though my tripod legs have the uncanny ability to get very low on their own. Unfortunately, this set-up was that very rare occasion that absolutely needed a hi-hat or a sandbag and it was the final straw that sent me to Facebook Marketplace to buy one. I feel silly for waiting so long as it was absolutely crucial for several set-ups on a recent horror short as well.
Freed from working as B Camera Op by my side on the sidewalk, we tasked Alex Ajayi with grabbing cut aways, behind the scenes of us working, and shooting exclusive content for social media. Two of his shots made it into the primary commercial, but most of his work is featured on the other deliverables.
Finishing Touches
When I watched a draft of the BTS video, I was insulted to discover that I only made a brief appearance. Thankfully they subsequently added a couple of shots of me collaborating with Desmond. Who said the squeaky wheel doesn’t get the grease?
Mixing the Alexa 35 footage with Alex’s R5 shots presented some minor issues in post. In addition to a frame rate issue in DaVinci Resolve with the slow-motion shots, the Canon Log footage wasn’t nearly as robust as the high density encoded ARRIRAW clips. That being said, the clips cut together relatively well and I’m really happy with what our colorist, Joel Ides was able to accomplish with the footage.
There are a few moments where Julia and McKenzie go from full sun to full shade and we had to decide just how much shadow recovery felt right. We didn’t want it to look too HDR or unbelievable, but this is a commercial, so leaving it too contrasty could be problematic. I think we made a good compromise even though I’m generally more interested in keeping the shadows dark.
Crew
Desmond Faison — Director
Rippin Sindher — Producer
Kealani Kitaura — Producer
Jamal Trulove — Transpo Coordinator
Dustin Pearlman — Director of Photography
James Marin, SOC — Steadicam Operator
Alex Ajayi — B Camera Op / BTS
Carl Nenzén Lovén — 1st AC
Brandon Sequeira — Sound Mixer
Jordan Stringfield — Key Grip
Brittany Lessard — Hair / Make-up
Crystal Platas— Editor
Joel Ides — Colorist
Cast
Julia Musgrove
McKenzie Tolliver