Fun Fact:
Because we went overboard with scheduling, efficiency, and our effort, we actually got done just over two hours early! Now, THAT’S what we call team work!

The Process

“First and foremost, we simultaneously launched two steps in the pre-planning process; Casting and location scouting. Where could we go that would accurately represent the vibe, colors, and ‘feel’ of the images, and who could we cast that would do the same?”

For all of our casting needs, we went through Backstage. We use backstage to post production casting calls, which Little Big Playroom was invited as a collaborator, so they could have input on the casting decision.

Since we had done previous productions with LBP before, we also reached out to the previous talent pool who we enjoyed working with, and felt embodied the brand. For this particular shoot, we were casting younger kids, as well as adults to be in the shots as their “parents.”

As for the location, we were looking through numerous houses through VRBO and AirBNB, while filtering through this set of criteria:

• The home MUST have 3-5 bedrooms
• It MUST have a modern look to it, with built in (or the potential of adding) coastal/boho elements
• It MUST have a space large enough to harbor a backdrop studio
• It MUST be in a central location that is convenient for the majority of the local talent

The bedroom requirement was because we knew we didn’t want every single product to be featured in the exact same setup. Where’s the variety? If we had at least 3 useable rooms, we knew we could do minor set changes as needed to keep it fresh.

The modern look requirement was because of the vision for the client’s brand

The backdrop space requirement was because we were doing white backdrop photography, and needed a space where the flashes and the equipment wouldn’t get in the way of the other 3 sets.

And finally, the convenience factor was so we could get all of our talent on site without paying for hotels/rooming fees.

The location we found flawlessly checked-off all of our criteria. It has multiple living spaces and bedrooms we could use for shooting, a large garage that we could do the photography in, it was centrally in Tampa, AND it was super modern!

So great, now we have our location, and our talent are currently being chosen. No,w let’s go shopping!

Ross, Marshalls, Amazon, Walmart, and many other stores were our friends during this shoot. We went shopping and bought set pieces, props, and decorations we could use in the house. I even bought a baby crib. That was expensive…

Shopping took just under one full day, and we had everything we needed to fully furnish the house.

Yeah, the house looks great.. But who do we need there during the shoot?

Here’s the crew breakdown:

This was a tight schedule, and we only had budget for a single day. Should we have gone over and ran into the next day, we would havebeen double our budget, and gone into the negative. Therefore, we needed more people on-site to ensure we got everything.

2 Photographers were on site, one for the lifestyle images, and one for the white backdrop images. That way, while we were taking lifestyle shots, another could be on the white backdrop.

2 videographers, one of which was me, were present as well. We were very limited on time with each product, as we had 14 to do in one day. I was on handheld tighter shots, and the other videographer was on gimbal taking wider establishing shots.

2 assistants were on-site. 12 of the ‘products’ were ball pits, but we technically only had 2 of the ball pit foam pieces, and had to change the covers out each time we finished up a product. If the media folks would have had to worry about that, I’m not sure we would have been able to get done. At just 30 minutes per product (in which we HAD to fit White backdrop photos, lifestyle photos, and lifestyle video), we couldn’t afford to be switching tasks from media to changing. So, these assistants came in handy. While we were shooting away, they were able to change covers/products, do set changes, maintain hospitality throughout the day, etc.

1 BTS photographer and 1 BTS videographer were present for a great chunk of the day. This is mostly for internal purposes, but we like to share BTS with our clients to show them what it was like, and bring them there with us digitally!

Lastly, 1 final assistant was with us. Her sole job was to have a schedule in her hand the WHOLE time, and be constantly on our back, giving us time checks, and making sure everything was running on time and smoothly.

Great, we’ve booked our location, casted our actors, and booked our professionals. What’s next?

Well, now we have to plan the day.

Before our shoot, we were able to do a full breakdown of each product, how much time we had per product, and who would be doing what at what times. This schedule was TIGHT! And, I believe it’s the only reason we were able to accomplish as much as we did.

This production schedule outlined exactly, on 15-minute sections, who was to be doing what and where. It took hours to create…

That’s it for pre-production! Aside from some shot lists, which we didn’t worry too much about since we weren’t creating any storyline-based videos, there’s not much else to do!

The evening prior to the shoot, we made a last minute IKEA run to get some curtains that we wanted for the house, since the existing curtains didn’t match.

Now, let’s shoot!

On site, we had so many laughs. Honestly, we all went extremely smooth, and we were pretty much ahead of schedule the whole time.

Built into the middle of our shoot, we had a 1 hour lunch break. During this time, I took some of the media from our cards, and put together some images and videos to show the client on a quick check-in call. This call would determine if the client believed we were going in the right direction, and if any changes were needed. Thankfully, we were right on point, and we could continue as normal without any re-dos!

As the day finally came to a close (2 hours early, might I add!) We were exhausted. It truly was a hustle day! Now, it’s time to post-produce.