2020 changed our daily life. What was obvious, changed fast in few days, sometimes in hours. What was normal to plan, in these cases up on the mountain, became complicated and almost impossible. Also to shooting a campaign became way more different.
The following is one of the solutions applied to the new rules we have to deal with. If we can't go to the mountain, let the mountain come to us.
New spaces, a different rhythm, simple on one hand, difficult to realize on the other one. What nature build and create in years, we had to re-built in a studio. What nature gave you for free (thinking about the light and the reflection), we had to recreate on our own. Brief with this concept involved Stefano, the Architect, to re-think the concept of the original project.
The short brief made us able to push our fantasy: we worked on the perception of cold. Inspired by artist Thomas Demand, who created a Spanish cave at Fondazione Prada, we developed our version of the ice cave. We built a natural geometry of stalactites and stalagmites with a simple polyethylene film, supported by invisible lines and frames, creating the cave. With the finest expertly shaped light we obtain the right suggestion and mood.
Stefano Bertoni Architect
Thinking about an Ice Cave, the first words you think are cold, blue, and silent. Getting the shoot in a studio instead of a real ice cave made my head thinking about what I saw during my journeys around the mountains of the world. Everywhere the light got blue-cyan reflection, sometimes deep spaces, and the proportion of the ice play a big role during the shooting.
The three elements, cold blue and silent, mixed up in my head for getting the perfect balance in the final image. Plus, get the right result for the out-wear, I mean the right color.
Pondering about obtaining the right mood, I started to build the light set-up in my head. It’s possible I thought! Two Scoro 3200S with 2 Pulso G each, two Siros S, and a Siros L was the choice. One Scoro 3200S on the back filtered blue-cyan for the main backlight. One Siros S filtered blue for the main top cold light.
The other Siros S and Siros L bounced on each side for the lateral light.
The second Scoro 3200S in the front: one PulsoG with a softbox and the other one fixed on a Para88 reflected.
All the set up connected to the RFS 2.2
All the sides of the Ice Cave were illuminated with heads with standard and P70 reflectors, sometimes bounced on pannels, a very smooth light for a good atmosphere.
The target was to get the front light perfectly balanced to get the outfit with the right color, without missing the cave mood. The Para88 was the key to make the shooting possible, getting the right light on the subject, with the perfect softness on both dark and bright colors, without polluting the backdrop. The softbox worked perfectly just to fill the shadows on the models.
As the set was very light and delicate, thinking about a big guy (me) or an assistant running around the set to fix the power of the lights or climb on a 7 meters high ladder to set a Siros was not the best solution.
I decided to work with the BronControl app all the shooting long.
Be able to change the power on a light, work on a single light at once, and get everything under control in my hands was very helpful and the winning choice.
I'm very satisfied with the final result because the models were neutral colors dressed as you can see in the photos, and the texture is still recognizable without color influence.
I have to say, one more time, Bron made the difference and made me able to play with the elements in the clearest way possible.
Client: Colmar
Photo: @alothebigone
Production: Trunk Studio @instatrunk
Set Design: @giuliadeitinger @stefanobertoni
Makeup: @deliamakeup_
Service: @framefoto.srl
Director: @iacopo
DOP: @marcopiropirondini
alessandrobelluscio.com
