I make sure everyone is well-fed and happy
The producer of Denis Zolotov Studio, Andrey Sidorov, talks about filming an image video for the brand E'CHELLE. We talked with him about French aesthetics, the right approach to planning shoots, and how to maintain a balance between advertising and viewer comfort.
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—Andrey, tell us about the brand and the client. How did the work with the company E'CHELLE start?
E'CHELLE is a Russian brand of professional cosmetics for eyelash and eyebrow technicians. The company's products are made in Russia but using French technologies. Partly because of this, the brand positions itself in the "premium" category.
Company representatives approached the studio with the task of making a brand promo video. Moreover, they already had a negative experience: they hired a videographer who ended up making something not what the client wanted to see.
One of the most difficult stages is calculating the budget. We had to explain that the final work would cost more if we wanted to realize all the client's ideas on screen.
As a producer, I took a different approach: I decided to 'sell the director.' I showed the clients the works of fashion-art director Tony Shiro, who by that time had experience in Milan at shows of various couturiers and fashion houses. The director's projects appealed to the client, so we started the work.
We approached the scriptwriters with the idea of filming the perfect day of a lashmaker (eyelash specialist). According to the concept, a girl wakes up in her apartment, looks at her phone, chooses the accessories she needs for work. Then she goes to a cafe, then goes to work, and in the evening meets her lover, who gives her a trip to Paris.
We planned that the duration of the video would be 30-40 seconds, and we wanted to fit the shooting day into one shift.
—How much time did pre-production take? How many scripts were discussed with the client?
It's worth mentioning right away that the concept of the video was presented by the client. Our task was to write the scenes as we see them and make a storyboard. The scriptwriter only highlighted certain details: a red beret that would definitely be in the frame, a memorable scarf, transitions that needed to be implemented in post-production.
Let's be honest, the original script did not come to life. First, the director had his own vision, different from the scriptwriter's; second, we needed to optimize the budget, saving on some scenes.
As a result, our director became the cameraman, taking responsibility for scene composition and editing. Usually in production, these tasks are distributed among several people.
It took us five days to create the script. Casting and location scouting took another two weeks. Then we chose a date that would suit everyone: both the client and the director.
—You mentioned the casting stage. Can you share how this work went for you?
Initially, we selected models through an agency. But the agency charges a commission for each model. It was not profitable for us, so we decided to select models from databases and at the final stage brought in a casting director who, for a fixed fee, selected the necessary actors for us. Of course, 80% did not suit our tasks at all, but eventually the right girl appeared. And one more guy, of whom only his back remained in the final shot.
—How many people worked on the set?
We had a director and his assistant, a makeup artist, and a costume designer. And the client, who worked on set as a prop master. Much of the material in the frame came from him. I was the executive producer, responsible for organizing the entire filming process.
—Tell us more about your functions on the shooting day.
The feature of this day was the need to move across a huge number of locations. I monitored the shooting timeline, movement from one location to another, and also making sure everyone was fed and warm.
The most difficult and most expensive location was the Singer cafe. We filmed here early in the morning (an hour before opening), while there were no guests in the cafe. It took us ten minutes to shoot the scene: the rest of the time was spent setting up equipment.
Then we went to film all the outdoor locations: the arch of the General Staff, the entrance to the Winter Palace. By the way, we were lucky: it was still warm autumn weather, so we could put a beautiful coat on the model (and she didn't freeze). In Tauride Park, we filmed the final scene with the presentation of the trip.
—If it was an image shoot, then it is necessary to show the brand. How did you work with product placement in the video?
Indeed, this is a very image-based product. However, the clients wanted to show too much brand in the frame — in the style of Timur Bekmambetov or the Blackstar union. But we persuaded the clients to minimize the amount of brand in the frame, focusing on the atmosphere of our story.
Indeed, yes, it is also an atmospheric story: when you draw parallels between historical St. Petersburg and French streets, similar in architecture, and add details to enhance the atmosphere: the same red beret, or coffee with a croissant in a cafe.
—How did the post-production stage go?
The most time was spent on choosing music. We wanted to preserve the atmosphere of France, but in the frame it's St. Petersburg. So it should be a calm melody. On the other hand, we have crazily wild dynamics of frames, they switch very quickly. And at the same time, we cannot use any fast rhythms.
We spent a long time coordinating the musical accompaniment, so the final video was ready only three months after the shooting. But I want to say that the representatives of E'CHELLE really enjoyed working with us, and now we are also developing the brand's YouTube channel, creating educational content for it.
You can watch the final video here.
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