Studio.News. 04.22: There are a LOT of Moving Parts.
as observed and written by Jesse Janzen, Studio Associate
A titanic sized project that will be squeezed into a four day shoot.
Our roving group is enormous: clients, assistants, video crew, photography crew, so many models.
Lawrence, front and center, steering the oversized vessel’s maiden voyage into video production.
The lights are all motion activated and all eight floors of this dorm need to stay lit for thirty minutes while we capture the morning twilight shot. But they only stay lit long enough to run through half the building. So I’m racing floors one to seven, and Chase is sprinting eight through fifteen.
Lawrence is perched outside snapping away as the still-hidden sun floods the sky with perfect light. It’s a terrific start to a huge project, and the next four days will not alter the break-neck sprint we’ve begun.
It’s an enormous campus with thoughtful design elements crafted into every step. Seriously. The whole campus unconsciously guides you through lines, shapes, colors, angles, and patterns toward exactly where you didn’t even know you wanted to end up. As a shining example of artistic function, it’s astounding.
But as a titanic sized project that must be shoe-horned into a four day shoot … it’s a beast.
Problem Solved.
Thankfully, Lawrence’s preparation is extensive.
His approach to each project has a foot in his early years, studying in Italy. He would walk the city and pick a building to watch. He would gaze and notice shadows, reflections, personality. He’d take a nap on a park bench for a few hours and look again in new light to see how the building had changed. A trip to the sandwich shop and back to observe once more. Then to the other side of the building with fresh eyes. This patient fascination trained his eye to see a building through a lens of not just lines and shadows, but time. And craft. And most of all… affection.
Every project these days starts with Lawrence walking the whole space weeks before. Observing. Noticing. Enjoying.
How does he find the right shots when he’s scouting?
From these friendly, affectionate walks, he shoots scout shots. I asked him once about his process. “I find the shot by touch,” he said, “What makes me feel the most. I walk the building. I look for the shot that shows the building in an interesting way and shows it better than any image I’ve seen of it.”
He takes everything the client has requested and fuses his own drive for artistic perfection, then blends those with love. Truly. Love. I see it in his eye when he’s shooting.
He’s a man in love. And I have to say, it’s effective. And on this project thank god for it, because it’s our north star in a tempest.
Lawrence looks like the captain of a living land-ship made of people. Charging this way, shooting. Sailing that way, filming. Charting course by his map of scout shot selections and video storyboard choices. It’s glorious mayhem that’s fun to be a part of for one reason: I trust Lawrence to pull it off. If I didn’t trust that, it would be a stressful nightmare. But with Lawrence at the helm, it’s an exciting adventure.
And pull it off we did. The pictures and videos were a huge success and I think everyone was grateful to be aboard a journey of that magnitude.