What was I to do? In my current class, one of the first assignments was to scout a small, enclosed location to “explore visually.” Basically, we were told, find a small space and get 20 different angles or perspectives and just have fun. The catch was, the shoot had to include two people, had to be based on a concept, and had to have high production value. When I got the assignment, I had a few ideas as far as locations and themes but nothing that really got me going. Then it hit me, out of nowhere. It just slammed into my head.
Rewind 4 weeks…
A good friend of mine offered me quite an exceptional opportunity. He is a pilot for a company that has several corporate jets based right out of Santa Barbara, and he asked ME whether or not I would want to come shoot them some day. I, of course, was thrilled and surprised that he would offer–I wasn’t even thinking of daring to ask, I mean, these are 40 million dollar props we are talking about here. I have to admit, he is one of the nicest guys I have ever met… and this solidified that.
Back to the present…
…slammed into my head. The jet, use the jet! It is perfect!
What I wasn’t sure about was whether or not he would let me bring models… and a crew… and a crap-ton of equipment. I was worried it would be a no-go, but he didn’t even flinch at the idea. The timing was actually perfect; it was the week before the assignment was due, my friend (the pilot) wasn’t going to be flying at all and the jet I wanted to shoot (Gulfstream 400) was going to be sitting around for most of the week. So I figured, I have 6 days to plan, no problem, I can get everything together in that time… Until Monday morning came, when he called and said, “The jet will be on the ground for today and tomorrow, and then it is going to be very busy for the next two weeks.” Now I was in rush mode, calling models, makeup-artists, assistants… shopping for wardrobe, props… everything that I was planning on procrastinating on anyways was thrown half-unexpectedly (it’s a jet… schedules change… a lot) onto my lap.
Amazingly enough, I got it all together. Still, it was quite stressful.
The crew and I arrived at the hangar at 1:30, with 8 strobes, 3 small flashes, 16 sand bags, 12 c-stands, 4 4×6′ diffusion panels, etc. We instantly started hauling gear in and setting up. The makeup artist (LunabellaMakeupArt.com) arrived exactly on time at 2:15, shortly followed by David Namminga, the male model who was in and out of makeup in about 15 minutes. The female model, the amazing Jennifer Lynn, was as on time as she could have been, since she graciously grabbed some wardrobe on her way. She was in makeup, I was testing lights, working on angles, fine tuning everything. We had 1.5-2 hours to shoot with the plane before we had to start tearing down.
Once everything was set and the models were dressed and ready to go, it was smooth sailing. There were a couple hiccups since the aircraft crew was doing some light maintenance in the cockpit but they were never in our way.
Since everything was perfectly setup, once we started shooting almost nothing had to change. My assistants, Sam Santoso, Mike Mitchell and Zach got to hang out and eat pizza. They would occasionally come in the cabin and watch but it gets hot in there fast with the power off. Regardless, it was an awesome day, with an awesome group. I still can’t believe I pulled it off in such a short period of time. Made me realize that if you really want it, you will do whatever it takes.
Anyways… how about I post some images. That might be cool.
Oh and the Behind the scenes video is embedded at the bottom, but here is a link up here..
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Behind the Scenes
Again, thanks to everyone who was involved, it would have been impossible without all of them.
Sarah Sakamoto
Luna Bella Makeup Art
Jennifer Lynn
David Namminga
Sam Santoso
Mike Mitchell
Zach
And of course, my good friend who got me the amazing access.
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