"This was an extremely challenging shoot from the technical and logistical side. HELP was just one of the various headlines for the campaign. All in all we needed 19 different letters and symbols to accomplish this. I spent a few days creating our letter and cubicle configurations using schematics and sketches I made.
By using the individual cubes as the building blocks for the letters, I was able to simplify things down to four different cube configurations that were built to create all of the letters and symbols needed. Letters like H, E and L were easy. Letters such as X and W were a different story.
I also had to come up with a budget friendly method for creating these words.
Logistically, we needed a studio space with a 35-40 foot ceiling to achieve a camera perspective that gave us a ‘parallax neutral’ image. The art director, Steve Mitchell from Hunt Adkins, hoped that I would have to hang 40 feet in the air from a flimsy harness. I opted for mounting the camera on the ceiling and operating it remotely!
By shooting various one and two-person cube configurations, I was able to capture enough variations of people and cubes to pull it off. In the end, we shot 50 people with four different cube-desk configurations. We had to create enough variety in the talent so there would be no duplications. I shot the 50 chosen models then changed each of their wardrobe and hair styles 3-4 times.
Retouching by Jellysquare brought the whole thing together. I worked closely with them on each step so we could simplify the production and post work. Each person at his or her cube and the individual sitting across from them is one shot with numerous layers to create the final image.
This was a very mathematical shoot. Paying very close attention to detail. The cubicle configurations had to be shot perfectly so they could be retouched into a legible word.
In the end it all worked because of the great efforts of the agency and entire crew. Hats off to Sally Mars, my producer, for a another great production!!"
All able bodies were needed. Curtis is in the image as well! Above he is photographing himself. Take a look, he is the man standing on the left side of the image. Where's Curtis?...He is the image a few times.
