Safety First

A week long remote shoot

Client: Kraft-Heinz

Project: New Brand Imagery & Recipe Assets

Deliverables: 54 Still Images & 2 GIFs over 5 Days of Shooting

I was approached by photographer Emily Hawkes to aid in a bid for a job with Kraft Heinz for their brands, Oscar Mayer and Claussen Pickles. From bidding to shoot, we had a total of 2 weeks to receive an approved budget and complete pre-production for a shoot with 50+ final assets and a week’s worth of shooting. As both the client and agency were based in Chicago and we were still in the midst of a pandemic, the first order of business was to organize the shoot so that agency/client approvals could seamlessly come in live throughout the shoot while also sticking to a strict shot-list and avoiding overtime.

We ended up setting up a Zoom meeting that was scheduled every day from 10AM-7PM with unfettered viewing access to the capture screen of our digital tech’s station. Clients & Agency were invited to drop in at anytime to view the progress and comment on adjustments that needed to be made. A group chat comprised of agency, client, & myself is where images were sent for approval. Detailed schedules and shotlists were sent out prior to the shoot to allow the client to drop in on scheduled times and not have to sit and wait by the chat for approvals.

The bulk of the shots were recipes that needed to be shown in-process with the product (3/4 view) and completed (overhead view). In order to stay on schedule, two sets with two separate cameras were set up so as process images were being shot at one angle, props could set up on the following shot and the overhead completed recipe could be shot with little delay.

As shots were approved, the Agency also had a private server dedicated to them for ratings & review. This allowed them to make selects in real time so that images could be processed out and sent to the retoucher immediately. As 28 assets were to be delivered final retouched within a week of wrapping, this remote access to the agency was critical to prompt delivery. The digital tech and retoucher had access to a Google Drive and a spreadsheet to track shot-by-shot the client selects, notes, and due dates.

Along with a strict shooting timeline I also had to account for the additional time taken up by enforcing social distancing and regular cleanings throughout the day by our Covid Compliance Officer. No overtime hours were accrued during this shoot, and we were even able to wrap a couple of hours early on Day 5 in order to have plenty of time for wrap and cleaning.