The issue of whether photographers should work for free is a polarizing one. Some of us feel that we shouldn’t ship thousands of dollars worth of camera and lighting equipment to a location and spend all day shooting just to gain a reward in the form of invisible exposure. . Others find frequent collaboration with like-minded people to create new work is valuable in nurturing a photographer’s creative process.
Many photographers are familiar with the freestyle shot known as a test shot. There is a type of free photo shoot, called a specification ad, that requires more time, money and collaboration than a test shoot. A specification ad is an advertisement or promotional campaign that you create for a brand or product even though you are not hired by the company. You can spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars creating this spec ad. The final images or videos you create are unlikely to be used by the company for an actual campaign. Given these concerns, why would any creator spend time and money creating such a project?
I spoke with the creative film director, Isaac Alvarez of Unplug production about the value of doing a particular ad as a personal project. He begins by addressing how difficult it is for a photographer or filmmaker new to the business. “It’s hard to start making movies or taking photos when you don’t have any work below your belt. People are more likely to hire you when you have something to show them. So creating a special ad, or any project in general for yourself, is the fastest way to get some work into your portfolio so that you have something to showcase to those who are interested. interested people,” he said.
Another benefit of doing a particular commercial is gaining experience in all aspects of producing a large-scale shoot. “Let’s say you treat a special ad the same way you would treat a client’s job. In that case, you’ll gain experience in all the different tasks required to complete that project, from pre-production planning to all the hiccups and curves that come your way in precision production and pairing of all video, audio, color, and effects in post-production. Whether simple or complex, you learn with each new project,” says Isaac.
If you’re a photographer looking to shoot larger shots than you currently have, you need to be skilled at managing areas of the shoot beyond just taking pictures. Even seemingly simple things like serving food for a shoot can be more complicated than initially imagined. Do you know how much it costs to feed a crew of 10? How many tables do you need for the serving trays? Do you have a large trash can to put all your discarded plates when the meal is over? Small issues like these can become big concerns when they happen on a real shot. Imagine how a client can lose confidence in your ability to complete a shoot when breakfast doesn’t go as planned. It is best to gain experience in different aspects of a shoot when the stakes are lower and you are your own client.
It would be impossible to invest your money in creating a spec ad for a particular brand with the expectation that you will get it back when the company hires you to do the actual filming. However, there is still a chance that you could be hired by that company. “If you put in the hard, hard work of your specification ad, post it online and share it, and the company you created the specs ad sees that, they most likely decide to intend to hire you for a real project. There are a number of stories about filmmakers creating special commercials for a company, only to be hired by companies with huge budgets that can land you a nice payday,” said Isaac. . Also, a similar brand might respect what you did for another company and want to hire you for their next campaign. Even if you are not hired by a company as a direct result of your specification ads, the skills you gain in ad production will benefit you as you discuss with clients. about a large-scale shoot.
Recently, Cody Jay’s Jackfruit Media and Rafal Cwiok of Unplug Productions have co-produced a series of Halloween-themed commercials for Liquid Death’s water and carbonated water products. While these canned drinks seem to be mainstream in concept, the branding the company uses is extreme. The company encourages users to “kill your thirst”. When creating a specs ad, Cody and Rafal considered the company’s aesthetic. They decided that a Halloween themed ad would be a good fit for the brand. Cody and Rafal focus on the names of products like Severed Lime and Mango Chainsaw and use props like knives and saws that fit these names. Shooting was done in Cody’s garage to keep costs as low as possible. Three lights were used. One Aperture 600D with a snore that was used as a main light. One Godox SZ150 RGB is bounced off the garage wall to create edge lighting. One Godox SL200 with a snore that was used to light up the fog. The team spent a day learning the lighting setup before shooting the scene. This allows them to focus on the creative aspects rather than the technical concerns on the day of the shoot. “I think it’s important to remember that you don’t have to have a great location to create a product ad. As long as you know how to light, apply makeup and use the right camera settings, you can create some pretty awesome ads, says Cody.
When doing a specification shoot, it’s important to remember that the shoot is designed to draw attention to the product rather than the photographer. If your lighting or technique is so creative that the viewer can’t really see the product or understand what it does, the ad is not effective. “We wanted to make sure that our lighting made the brand name clear and legible, while decorating our designs to accentuate the taste without drawing attention,” says Rafal.
Check out the video, accompanying diagram, and photos to better understand how Cody and Rafal created this specs ad. It’s worth noting that the team is having a lot of fun on this project. If you can find a project of your own that you want to work on while also creating something that you can use for extra work, it could be a project worth pursuing.
