Fendi is releasing a new line of shoes and purses and our Jo Ann conceived of and is leading the art side of the advertising campaign. Fendi shipped tons (literally, tons) of gear to LA and so many participants – multiples of hair, makeup, costumes, lights, electrical, staging, catering, models, props, costumes, etc etc, and even a seamstress. I got to hang around for a lot of Saturday and some Sunday too and what FUN.
Here come a lot of pictures taken with my phone in not the most favorable light, but I hope you can feel it for the event. Also leafed throughout are the final professional pictures. YOU WILL HAVE NO PROBLEM TELLING THEIRS FROM MINE.
Most of the images are modeled after photos Jo Ann has taken over the years and you can find them in her books available on Amazon.
They had two walls for the order of work, Day 1 and Day 2, including Jo Ann’s drawings and product sheets. Then as they completed a shot they would take off the drawing and put up just a quick sample print.
As you look through the pictures notice all the couches, chairs, tables, chests, backdrops, etc all brought in for this shoot.
I didn’t see any of this one.
Or this one.
They partitioned off a section of the huge room for wardrobe, hair, and makeup, and importantly, for the featured shoes and bags.
Shoes.
A seamstress at the ready.
I wasn’t there for this set-up on Day 1 but Meriellen was there and took this picture. I was around for maybe 6 hours total over the three long days, Prep Day, Shoot Day 1, and Shoot Day 2. They decided to redo this..
..and I got to catch a little of it. The monitor that you see below is an essential part of the effort. Everything that comes out of the camera is instantly available here.
The props guy brought all different sizes of these plants, for choice. You can see how they are used in the monitor above.
Day 1
Day 2
Mariellen and Alan chatting up one of the models.
This is another time I wasn’t there for the first idea (it’s Meriellen’s picture) but..
..I was there when they redid it. They couldn’t get the bag to show right and they used that string for placement which they will spot out in post-production.
Notice everyone gathered around that monitor.
So much involvement on all sides.
I missed the bag in all of these candle pictures but the most fun thing was the smoke. Looks like they’re not going to use the smoke pictures but rather just the model lighting a match, or maybe lighting the candles? I enjoyed the smoke so much I didn’t get a picture without it.
Check out the guy under the table – I don’t know what he’s doing there.
In this image I think they are only going to use the arms and the bag although they did go to the trouble of putting the models in fancy new shoes. Those outlines are just an artifact of telephoto on my phone I’m guessing?
I’ll say it again later, everyone there was delightful and even in moments of stress it didn’t seem to me that anyone was taking it out on anyone else.
I grabbed one last blurry shot on my way out.
It was quite amazing to me that I just hung around in the background trying to stay out of the way and every single person was cheery and kind, offering me a seat or some water or a chat with not a single side-eye among them. There’s a lot of pressure in a situation like this because time-is-money (and a lot of money!) and they’ve got to get it right. I was expecting you might be able to cut the tension with that cake knife that didn’t get used, but it didn’t bleed over to me. Thanks to everyone for letting me enjoy myself entirely!
It’s over now, let’s dance!
