Studio.News. 10.22: Facebook Musical Chairs
as observed and written by Jesse Janzen, Studio Associate
“The shot looks perfect! Except…” Blaine leans toward the monitor. “How do we feel about that lounge chair?”
A Facebook workspace, as you may imagine, is not your average sardine squeeze. If you want a retreat from your living room, but better designed, I recommend relaxing in a Facebook work area (once you’ve cleared enough checkpoints to make Homeland Security blush).
If you want a retreat from your living room, but better designed, I recommend relaxing in a Facebook work area.
Rows of adjustable desks that glide up and down with the push of a button.
The problem is we NEED a lounge chair. A crucial design element for this huge workspace is the lounge area.
Each employee workstation outfitted with touches of home: a framed picture of Sandy’s family, a pinwheel-fan Rachel’s daughter made, ornate pens and mugs shouting quotes or declaring sports teams. Love notes stuck to work folders. It’s all very sweet. And it all has to go.
To leave these items in the shot would litter the final image with distraction, and Lawrence’s priority is a perfect image corner-to-corner. This lounge chair is a smudge on perfection. The busy pattern draws too much focus.
The problem is we NEED a lounge chair.
A crucial design element for this huge workspace is the lounge area. When the Facebook ideas are flowing, you don’t want to be smooshed into a creative dead-zone. You want the option to move, pace, or stretch. A jump from standing-desk to lounging-chair might be just the ticket for an innovative breakthrough!
And Lawrence’s composition puts the lounge space front and center!
Problem Solved.
Thankfully Lawrence lives by a strong creed: “Know what you’re shooting before you shoot it.”
All the preplanning and scout shots have cushioned our shoot with time to push perfection where others would still be hunting for the best composition.
The team scatters and we cull every lounge chair option for review. Too short. Too tall. Almost. Not quite. Chair after chair miss the mark (Facebook, by the way, has an exhaustive supply of chairs). We stand in the lounge area wracking our brains, our time cushion flattening.
Then Blaine’s eyebrows raise. “What if we turn the couch around so it’s facing camera and just get rid of the chair?” We try it out, and…voilá. Perfect.
I’m grateful for Lawrence’s standards and collaborative spirit. He leads with command and confidence while inviting the opinions, ideas, and input of his team. A captain with clear direction and no ego. It makes each shoot feel less like work and more like an exciting art project where the stakes can be as high as our ideals.