BTS - Paradise Hotel Campaign Shoot 📸 🎥

• Behind-the-scenes photos ✅ 👀

• Light diagram showing how these shots were lit ✅ 💡

• Evaluation of team setups when doing both video and stills at the same time ✅ 🤓

Behind the scenes

The campaign was for the Swedish reality series Paradise Hotel, and the production was handled by Viaplay in-house. I was brought in as a photographer and cinematographer/direcor, shooting separate full-body portraits for both film and photography, which would later be combined into one big team image with a background made in VFX by Yellow1.

To the left in the BTS timelapse from my phone, you can see the stills station, where we shot the stills against a grey background. After a while, everyone moves to the second station, where we shot the film against a green screen.

We framed everyone one by one in a full-body portrait. Here's an example of Rebecca against a grey backdrop for the stills.

The stills were shot against a gray background using a Canon R5 with a 24-70mm lens. Here we see only a test of the Keylight Profoto Soft Zoom Reflector, which is 180 cm wide with diffuser.

The video was shot against a green screen.
Here you can see the camera in vertical mode on my Komodo-X, then SDI to the client monitor.

Creative Director Line giving feedback to talent.

Lets here it for the camera crew!
From the left: Gaffer Thomas Mets, Gaffer Mattias Nilsson, & Me.

Light Diagram: Blending Subjects with Background

This was the exact sketch I got before the shoot. It showed where each character would stand. I wanted to make sure the lighting would match the background that would be added later, so the first thing I did was ask the Creative Director to decide which side the sun☀️ should be on, and they later locked it to camera right.

Sketch made by https://www.yellow1.dk/, who later did the final assembly and retouching of the images and video.

0. - Lights off:

1. - Sunlight Backlight with Rosco #442 - 1/2 CTS:

I had the Creative Director decide which side the sun was going to be on to match the studio footage with the composite image. So, the sun was then locked on the camera right.

Instead of using the usual CTO filters, my gaffer suggested we try the 1/2 CTS filter, which has a more yellowish tone. We used the RFi Softbox Strip (30x120) with a grid and the 1/2 CTS filter to simulate the sun.

2. - Top Light with Rosco #202 - CTB 1/2:

To show that the final image was supposed to be outside, we used a 12x12 frame above our characters with Bleached Muslin. We then bounced a profoto prohead500 flash into it with a cool blue filter (Rosco #202 - CTB 1/2), which gave us a "cooler" soft top light, simulating the outdoor sky.

Me (Mattias) testing the top light. You can see the cool, cold tone of the CTB 1/2 filter.

In a close-up of Emil's final image, you can see the cooler tones on the top of his head compared to the light hitting his face vs on camera right the warm Rosco #442 - 1/2 CTS.

3. - Camera Left, Natural Backlight, 5600 Kelvin:

When I say backlight, I don’t mean a hard rim light. I just mean that the left side of the face has some light on it, which would happen naturally if you were outside. Antother RFi Softbox Strip (30x120) without filters.

5. - Keylight:

We used a big, creamy key light that could light up a full-body shot. For this, we used the Profoto Soft Zoom Reflector, which is 180 cm wide with diffuser.

6. - Final Image

Evaluation: One vs. Two Stations for Video and Stills

Two stations two teams:

Usually, when you use two stations for video and photos, you have two seperate teams. One for video and one for film.

The good thing about having two full teams is that you can work quickly. One team can film while the other takes pictures.

The downside is that the client can't be in two places at once. Plus, using two teams means doubling the team, equipment, and budget.

Two stations one team:

This time with Paradise Hotel, we used two stations and one team. The video was shot against a green screen and needed a locked camera (the camera couldn't be moved between takes), while the stills were shot against a gray backdrop. We only used one team, meaning all the decision-makers and I moved between the two sets.

The camera crew was only 3 people, me doing photography/directing/cinematography and two gaffers. One gaffer for each station and they would get ready for the next scene while I was at the other station. It didn’t feel like only three people were running two stations. I would recommend this setup for saving both time and money.

One station only:

We did that at the BECK shoot.

It’s a bit tricky because you have to take turns, move the stills camera in and out, switch the film camera back and forth, and you might need different settings for each. Maybe the film is shooting in slow motion, or maybe the stills require a different expression. It’s easy to get lost or confused trying to keep track of all the settings while maintaining consistency between portraits.

The upside is offcourse that usually require less gear, fewer crew members, and saves costs.

Did you enjoy this?

Want to see more lighting diagrams from campaign shoots? Check out this one for Vuxna människor.

CLICK IMAGE🖱️

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- Mattias Andersson, Director & Photographer