INTERESTING CLIENTS - CHALLENGING PROJECTS

BY: Locke Bryan / LBP Director / Principal

One of my favorite clients is Houston Ballet. Working with Houston agency Katy Bomar Creative, LBP has been producing television commercials for the Ballet for several years and makes an average of two new commercials each year. We have worked with some of the top dancers in the world as well as one of the most exciting choreographers in Ballet, Artistic Director Stanton Welch. We have shot and completed spots for such diverse productions as Swan Lake, Manon, Peter Pan, La Fille Mal Gardee, Dracula and many others.

In taking on this project we face many hurdles:

• The dancers need to be shot on a Marley Floor, which is a sprung floor covered with vinyl
• Because the commercials are shot well in advance of the Ballet’s productions, the actual sets are rarely available and are much too large for the space we shoot in
• The dancers are only available to us on a limited basis
• Two complete commercials are shot in one 12-hour day

Originally we thought about shooting on the Houston’s Wortham Center Stage where the Ballet performs but that was impractical due to scheduling issues and cost (it is a union theater). The decision was made to shoot instead on the Ballet rehearsal stage in the Wortham complex. This room gives us many things: availability, Marley floor, basic size with good ceiling height. The challenge is that the room is perfect for dancers but was never designed for a film shoot. The walls are covered in mirrors, there is no power for lighting, the entrance is a double door with a 10-foot height – not exactly the size you need for moving in large set pieces. Oh yes… and the hall is on the third floor.

Behind the Scenes "Sleeping Beauty"

La Fille Mal Gardee

Sets are a whole other issue. The Ballet maintains a huge warehouse filled with sets for numerous productions – sometimes the show you need is available, most frequently it is not. Working with Houston Ballet marketing director Andrew Edmonson and production director and set designer Tom Boyd, the creative team of Katy Bomar, (agency creative director and principal), Locke Bryan (Director), Andi Meckna (art director), DP (Wayne Forster or James Reid) and Gaffer (Mark Wells) visit the warehouse and pull appropriate set pieces in order to create the “world” we need to shoot in. Other elements such as star walls, smoke, backdrops and hand props are either provided by the Ballet, rented or made by Andi’s art department.

On the day of the shoot, the crew moves in the usual array of large and small lights, grip stands, flags and cameras. The electrical crew parks the generator on the street and then carefully runs the cables up three flights of stairs and into the hall. The mirrored walls and back wall are shrouded in black visqueen to give us enough darkness to light effectively. The set seems to come together magically as the disparate pieces are mated to make a stunning environment.

Behind the Scenes "Merry Widow"- Houston Ballet

The attached time-lapse illustrates the changeover from rehearsal stage to movie set.

The ballet dancers are wardrobed and made up by the talented dressers and artists from the Ballet and the shoot begins. The spots are composed of simple story-telling movements and dramatic dance sequences. Katy Bomar, Locke Bryan and Stanton Welch work closely together to select the dance sequences that reflect the style and integrity of each production. Ballet is all about fluidity, precision and balance, so each shot is carefully framed. Shots tend to be wider as the total movement often involves toes and fingers that are extended or lifted into beautiful compositions. We tend to slowly move the camera left and right to see the change of perspective as the foreground and background elements define and frame the dancers. Some slow motion is incorporated for accent.

Working with the dancers is very rewarding. They are extremely talented artists and have spent their lives responding to very specific direction. Complicated moves are rehearsed and executed. Additionally, the fun of these shoots is that we create a world of our own to shoot in. All in all the spots and the people we work with make for an enjoyable and creatively stimulating atmosphere. Houston Ballet – “Coppélia”