The Brief / Edwardian Group London / ED.G.E. / Saatchi Masius / Iain Crockart

The Brief is a quarterly feature on the LPA Blog that takes a behind the scenes look at what goes into a photoshoot, from brief to final images. This month we bring you a clever campaign for Edwardian Group London's training school ED.G.E. We even include a handy photoshoot glossary! Photographer: Iain Crockart Client: Edwardian Group London Agency: Saatchi Masius Design Director: Joseph Luffman Account Director: Adam Brani Account Manager: Tom Rudge Usage: Recruitment campaign for Edwardian Group London training school (ED.G.E) plus internal posters, website and induction materials.

The Brief

LPA Photographer Iain Crockart was commissioned by Saatchi Masius for a great little campaign for the Edwardian Group London Training school ‘ED.G.E’. Known for photographing 'real people' in real environments but also used to big productions with a shoot crew, Iain was the perfect man for the job.

''Essentially we want to shoot EGL hotel employees (from chefs and porters through to management) with props that help to develop a narrative about key 'behaviours' that EGL want to promote. So an example could be a chef holding a map of Italy, to promote passionate behaviour. The narratives are currently being developed and we'd be interested in sharing the early drafts with you at some point, to get your input on how we can use props and lighting to best support the stories.

We're hoping that we can shoot in around 3/4 weeks time and I'm estimating that we'll need around 2 days.

To get the ball rolling from our side, my colleague Tom Rudge will be in touch to ask about day rates etc and as we move forward we can hopefully book in a kick-off meeting with you.''

Joe Luffman, the Design Director at Saatchi Masius initially told Iain.

The brief also specified the following:

His/Her extracurricular passion is overtly represented via his/her appearance and/or actions which will be in stark contrast to his/her surroundings · The copy on the poster itself will be kept to a minimum and the headline will be prominent · The Host signature will feature to further support the personalised nature of the piece

The Location:

It was eventually decided that Iain would shoot the five scenarios of employees and stakeholders on location at Radisson Hotels (part of Edwardian Group London) in central London. After a technical recce it was also agreed that:

a) The person's role should be appropriate (mostly) for the shoot location, for example the concierge should be shot in the Foyer or Front desk b) The juxtaposition between the shoot location and the passion being visualised should be as dramatic and 'out of place' as possible.

Saatchi Masius were then able to provide us with a full breakdown of each shot, for example:

1) Model One Property: Bloomsbury Position: Team Leader Passion: Tennis Props/costume: Tennis racket, headband, tennis shirt, tennis shorts, tennis ball, wrist bands, Socks, tennis shoes Potential location for shoot: Front desk, Hotel corridor or Restaurant/Bar

2) Model Two Property: MayFair Position: Guest Relations Manager Passion: R n B music Props/costume: Turn table, big headphones, bling bling, dark sunglasses, trilby hat, large tinted glasses, hooped earrings, fur coat, headscarf, vinyl records Potential location for shoot: Spa/Gym or Kitchen

The Styling:

Styling was very important for this shoot. We got LPA Style's Charlie Cave and Rosalind Keep on board to source the props and outfits for the models, although photographer Iain was able to advise on the motorcyclist styling being a keen motorcyclist himself!

"The client gave us full brief on wardrobe to provide for the models. Some things such as motor cross gear was a bit of a hunt, as company colours had to be reflected in the wardrobe. I did have a drama trying to get the fake mud off the motor cross gear, so Claire Louise & I armed with a full bottle of Jiff, spent over an hour on the morning of the second day of the shoot cleaning all the gear in the hotel bathroom, mud carnage! Although we did have fun with the confetti guns for the football shot & the smoke machine & disco lights for the DJ shot."

Charlie Cave

“I spoke to a really helpful woman at Big 5 Ventures earlier who runs motocross days out and courses and they said they can hire out to us a full motocross outfit including the helmet, gloves, armour, boots etc for a price that is within budget. They have 2 colour options in the size we need so it's a case of choosing the preferred option and then I can arrange to reserve it and get it transported. All the outfits are used which is good so not too 'boxfresh' and we can add a bit of mud if necessary which will wash/wipe off easily. Please see all photos below and let me know your thoughts - if possible in the next hour or so so I can reserve.”

Rosalind Keep

We also recruited LPA Hair & Make up artist Claire Louise to work her magic and make the models look authentic. Having worked with Charlie and Rosalind and Iain before, we knew the crew would work well together.

“Just spoke to Claire (hair and make up) and she can provide face paint which can be mixed to any colour for the football shot (she knows about the purple) and also wet mud for the motocross shot - this can be bought from a specialised make up shop (she will pick up on Sat) and should work very well, she is going to have a look at some motocross riders online and check it will give the right effect.”

Rosalind Keep

The Estimate

With the client providing both models and locations the costs were fairly straightforward. We included:

• Shoot fees to reflect the usage and for a two day shoot • Recce fee • Photographic expenses - digi capture, post production and equipment and lighting,

Crew and their expenses:

• First assistant • A wardrobe and props stylist , prep, shoot and returns days plusher expenses and budget for wardrobe and props • A hair and make-up artist.

On top of this we added some logistical costs such as transport and catering, plus miscellaneous, telephone, couriers, insurance etc.

The Preproduction:

Once the costs had been approved we could crack on with the preproduction. Our ‘to do’ list looked something like this:

1) Get purchase order and advance of shoot expenses 2) Confirm dates with Iain and the client. 3) Confirm and brief crew. 4) Confirm wardrobe and props brief plus sizes of 'models' from Saatchi Masius for stylists. 5) Prepare call sheets and send to everyone.

LPA Producer Lauren liaised with the Accounts Team Adam and Tom on the logistics and costs, whilst Iain and Joe collaborated on the creative and some technical sides to the shoot.

There was a fairly tight turnaround on this one with the first shoot day taking place just two week from the estimate being provided.

The Shoot:

And so to the day of the shoot…

"Part of the challenge of shooting this campaign was working around the timescale of a working hotel, ensuring minimal disturbance. However the whole shoot went really well thanks to great art direction and production, with everyone understanding where they were meant to be, and equipment being moved around efficiently. The models were brought together from different hotels of the Radisson hotel group chain, and were photographed in five key, distinct areas of the chosen hotel. It was important that the campaign colour of purple linked the photos throughout, and that the lighting was done correctly to allow for the typography and design to be inserted in the final campaign.

The shot of the Man United supporter waving her scarf was actually two photographs combined together, as we had to shoot a gun with the twinkly paper pieces which made things more complicated! So we had to combine two images of the same location in the end to make sure the twinkly confetti did not obscure the model's face! As a keen motorcyclist myself I was able to advise Charlie on the motorcyclist clothing, although unfortunately my own helmet couldn't be part of the shot not being the right colour!"

Iain Crockart

And here’s the images from the final campaign…

Photoshoot Glossary

Campaign: A series of ads or prices of communication to promote a specific product, service or concept.

Design Director : Head of creative concepts and visual ideas for the shoot. Manager of the creative team at an agency who develops ideas, strategises concepts and assigns projects to team members.

Layout: Mock-up of how the final ad should look

Technical Recce : This is the photographer visiting a location that has been chosen for a shoot to check space, light, and work out what lighting/equipment he needs.

Box Fresh: A term used by stylists to denote clothes that looks brand new , e.g with creases where they have been folded and packaged. It's usually best to avoid 'box fresh clothes' so they look real.

Usage: Where the final ads will be used.

Prep day: Preparation time before shoot begins. For example for stylists to source, hire and buy clothes.

Returns : This terms is referred to mean the days a stylist needs to return unworn, unused wardrobe and clothes to shops or hired props to prop houses

Preproduction : Work done before a shoot to make it happen.

Purchase Order : This is a binding document a photographer should obtain from a client to say they have agreed to the costs and terms of business, it includes the agencies terms so check they are fair and agreeable.

Advance: It is wise to obtain an advance of funds to pay for crew and expenses of shoot that you may need to hire.

Call Sheet: A document detailing all the important details on a shoot, where , when, who plus contact numbers.

Producer: The 'hub' of the shoot , they look after all shoot logistics, making sure everything is on time and in budget.

Accounts Team: Usually made up of an account director, account manager and account handler. They liaise between the client and the creatives and sometimes deal directly with photographer or agent on costs and logistics.