Geoff (not his real name*) from Dessein Graphics had been using stock photography for their award winning coffee packaging work. He wanted to take the client to the next level though, yep, commissioned retro photography.
On the face of it this was a great little shoot; Café Corporate had four fresh new blends of the hard stuff and they needed to shift units. Their clients are big business’s food and beverage purchasing officers, demanding buyers. Geoff cooked up a look, well he called it a “strategy”, whereby each of the blends would march forth under the banner of a workplace character of yesteryear. We’d shoot the characters in an appropriate location with old things scattered about, retro props and suchlike. Sounds sweet huh?
“So, Geoff,” says I “what’s the plan on the talent front?” Geoff says the client, his sister and his daughter are going to be the talent. What is the sound of a sinking heart? Can you just play that in your head right now? Bloody hell Geoff.
I wouldn’t have bothered telling this story if it didn’t have a happy ending. Tony, Jess and Annie, yes the actual real life boss of Café Corporate, his daughter and his sister are some of the best talent I’ve worked with, professional or non. One drizzly day last spring we all got ourselves off to our retro location (Associated Shopfitters’ recently vacated 70′s offices in Malaga) and in a disturbingly short period of time walked away with great performances in the roles of The Boss, The Secretary and The Tea Lady. I never really understood where The Captain fit into the scheme. I guess Tony’s lifelong passion for tall ships and the docks got the better of him.
* actually Geoff is his real name, I couldn’t resist though…
Yum! So who was the 4th talent? Or are both the Captain and the Boss Tony? Excellent fx makeup!
Yep, Tony is the Captain and the Boss (and Head Honch and CEO).
Another delightfully entertaining Frith tale! And more fab photography. This would have been a bewdy for the recent photographer talk (not that you want to support clients using relatives as talent!).
Tony and Jess – you look great. Love all the new things happening at Cafe Corporate!
Love the photography, treatment and application. Awesome end result – well done!
Great fx work, jess is a stunner!
Nice package series. Enjoying your email and blog! Your great writing makes it cut through.
Hey thanks for the comments everyone. Credit for the retouching work goes to Geoff at Dessein – he is a master magician punishing the pixels!
Rob, You know we love your work and are the only one we trust to bring our concepts to life, but I have to say – ye of little faith… do you really think we would suggest using clients for the shoot if we didn’t think they would fit? Geoff’s photoshop mastery and vision finish the complete collection. We love it all! The client loves it… and their website just won a gold at the Creativity International Awards (media)… What a great combo of talents. Can’t wait for the next one
You are so on the money; ambitious shoots depend on good forward planning to a large degree but more than anything it’s the talents of the team on the day that make the difference between good and great.
Apart from everyone involved bringing their best to the game the thing I loved about this job was that it was fun!