We recently collaborated with photographer Chris Crisman and Guidemark Health on an ad campaign for Fluad (pronounced flooad), a multi-strain flu protection vaccine for men and women 65 years of age or older.
The final series included six images - each photo featuring happy, healthy baby boomers being active and enjoying life. A few of the ads from the promotion even included an iconic Volkswagen bus…but more on that later!
Collaboration from Start to Finish
Gayle Macdonell, Brand Design Director for the Princeton, NJ-based agency, Guidemark Health, sought out a photographer to shoot the ad creative. She was familiar with Chris’s work and felt that he had the exact style the client was looking for on this particular promotion.
Once Chris was on board to shoot the series, he contacted PXL.HOUSE for support in post-production. “The process of obtaining the images for these ads couldn’t have gone smoother,” remarked Macdonell. “The entire creative team was wonderful to work and kept us updated every step of the way.”
Chris involved us in this campaign from the beginning, so we were able to get in on the ground floor of the project and really see his process from start to finish. We observed the way that he set up his shots, which helped us gain a greater understanding of his overall vision for the project. It also allowed for some real-time feedback. Chris provided a bit of direction on set for us to take with us to post-production, and we were able to jump in during the shoot to deliver some guidance, as well.
The Philadelphia-area shoot took place on a private residence property in Bryn Mawr, PA. “We were able to capture a lot of variety, which is always what we want,” stated Crisman. “As a result of this and the talents of PXL.HOUSE, the post-process ticked really nicely.”
Post-Production and the VW Bus
The photo editing process involved some photo manipulation of both the environment and the background of the images. We also spent time carefully aging the VW bus that’s featured in a few of the photos from the campaign. The bus Chris photographed on set looked brand new. We needed to alter the bus to appear as though it had been painted back in the 70’s.
Aging the paint to look as authentic as possible became one of our top priorities when manipulating the bus. Since Anthony Morrow, leader of the PXL.HOUSE team, is an illustrator and painter at heart, he actually hand painted all of the flowers, peace signs and details for the exterior of the van onto a large board. Once he finished his painting, he photographed his work, brought it into Photoshop and then blended the two images together. By maintaining the integrity and texture of actual brushstrokes, we were able to ensure that the final result looked extremely realistic.
Communication was clear and open from the start to the finish of this project. The team at Guidemark Health felt very comfortable coming directly to us with feedback and questions, and Chris felt very comfortable letting that happen. Since we were all on the same page, this meant Chris didn’t need to be in the middle of all the post-production conversations.
The entire collaboration – from the photo shoot with Chris to completing the campaign in post-production – took about two months. Chris, Gayle and entire the Guidemark Health team were wonderful to work with, and we look forward to future collaborations!
Find us on Instagram at @pxl.house for more photos of our recent work.
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