Today we made our way up the Peak not to stop by at the famous tourist attraction, but a tour down Peak Road, known to be the most expensive street in the world. We brought along a lot of equipment from our mirrorless and video cameras to drones - to shoot in this ultra exclusive and private property.
The famous crocodile
This morning, we started our e-commerce shoot early at the offices of Lacoste. We had to adapt our lighting setup, given the unexpected shorter height of their showroom ceiling . It is always interesting to have an early peek at some of their upcoming products.
Newly Opened!
Hong Kong is certainly one location where you can expect to see all kinds of luxury hotels, from the famous Conrad, and Four Seasons to grand properties like K11 Artus. We were kindly invited to The Hari, the newly opened boutique hotel located in Wanchai, to shoot promotional material in their spacious suite!
It takes two to tango
While 2020 has been a difficult year for many so far, one positive is it has allowed more time for ourselves, and to focus on other projects and passions. We’ve used this time to pour our energy into developing our first short film. Here are a few shots from behind the lens of the camera.
Looking into the future
Tucked into a hidden corner of an unassuming industrial building, we arrived at the labs of the famous Hanson Robotics, headed by David Hanson. Our featured model today is Sophia - Hanson’s own developed AI humanoid robot, and surely the first we have shot this year!
2 Day Shoot at Tai Kwun
Today we’ve visited Tai Kwun, a former central police station-turned heritage site and cultural art site. Working with our partners to develop the branding and advertising material, we’ve shot across multiple locations, and even enlisted the help of staff and the students of St Anthony’s school. It’s a lot of planning and directing going on today but we’ll get there!
Lets start trading
Today we have found ourselves in the middle of the financial hub of Hong Kong, inside exchange square where we’re tasked with shooting the ceremony of a company listing. To make sure we’ve covered our bases, so we can shoot as much footage we need, we’ve used static setup of an FS7 rig and a more mobile A7R3/Ronin-S rig.
A little walk outdoors
Woking on a literal pet project with our Ronin-S, Panasonic GH5. and Sony FS7 Camera, we have gotten help today in the form of a Steadicam, complete with its own set of cases and cart. Its a very big, serious piece of equipment to manage, requiring our very own operator, Dion and his futuristic looking harness support.
Going Green!
Something a little different than your average project, this was our first in 2019 that involved shooting green screen. This was a exciting little project to film alongside our VIP speaker. The lightings setup was the trickiest part to tackle but the most important, so that we can to get a consistent and balanced feel to make the post-green screen work process seamless.
Back to the Studio: Dorina SS20
We are back at the Studio once again with Dorina covering their lineup for SS20. In a large volume shoot such as this, working in a limited space setup does have its limits to how we can shoot. But thanks to a few handy step ladders and even our backdrop, but it allows us to try anything and everything to get a great shot.
A trip through time
We had a fun video shoot with perhaps one of the most renowned toy manufacturers in the business: Mattel. Today we filmed a variety of staff interviews, getting an insight of each individual’s childhood memories and experiences with toys. We even had some handy toy props ready, which we passed to the staff to play with and re-live their inner child.
Open University Hong Kong: Recce
For our on-going collaboration with the Open University of Hong Kong in the coming months, we will be making multiple visits to their main campuses. Today, you see the progress on our recce, where we’re testing our take-off/landing zones for our Inspire 2 Drone and capturing some preliminary shots. The weather wasn’t ideal today, but does give us a great indication of the angles and framing we can use.
Dorina: Going overseas
Following our Lisbon shoot last year, the bar has been raised once again and we find ourselves landing in Cape Town, South Africa! Here is a sneak peak on one of our many intense days of shooting in incredible 5 storey villas and vast beaches.
Vacheron Constatin: Getting it just right
Hard at work on our 2 day shoot in the studio, with our fantastic male and female hand models. Lighting has been a big factor in getting the mood to look just right today, but thats only half of the work. We had to constantly remove and add props, reposition and re-angle our models, to best show the products themselves: the watches.
eqiq 2019 - Going vintage
Our first fashion shoot of 2019 with eqiq, involved quite possibly the most oldest and valuable prop we’ve ever worked with: A Mercedes Benz 230SL from the 60-70s. It’s very interesting and rare to actually see these older vintage cars on the roads of Hong Kong. But they definitely draw attention and make for a great scenic shot with our model!
Dorina Studio Shoot: Setting up
For this photoshoot, we decided on a dual setup to allow two teams to shoot simultaneously in the same studio space. Setting up an extended blackout curtain needed the most time to prepare, as it had to extend to not only the floor to ceiling, but also end to end of the studio walls. Once this was in place, it was a great setup to work with.
Vacheron Constatin: Preview
Behind the scenes of our photoshoot with Vacheron Constatin, focusing on their ‘Collectionneurs’ range. Initially it looks like a relatively simple shoot to execute, but actually involves a more thorough process. From alternating between materials and accessories, trying different placements, to fine tuning lighting and capturing different watch details. The photo below is not only a starting point for post editing, but also the result of weeks to months of detailed pre-production planning.
Vacheron Constatin: Video shoot
A challenge of working within a small confined area with multiple teams of crew and clients, is ensuring that no one enters each others shot while filming. As a solution, we put together the Vaxis wireless system paired to a portable, battery powered monitor. This allowed our clients to view the video from a safe distance, while still maintaining the ability to direct and give necessary feedback.
Dorina: Last day of shooting
Day 5 of shooting inside our final location, in a very grand and intricately styled hotel. Here we are mid-way through the day using a tripod supported slider, to prepare a dramatic push in/push out shot.
Dorina: Setting up in Lisbon
We have finally made our way across to Lisbon, Portugal, readying ourselves of the challenging shoot ahead. We went ahead with assembling and testing our main rig, with the intention of capturing both photo and video simultaneously: consisting of a RED Epic-W body, Schneider xenon lens, mounted on a DJI Ronin with a wireless monitoring system from Vaxis.
