Epiphanie Campaign - Behind the Scenes with Ale Vidal

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

So here is an inside look into our approach for the Epiphanie Fall 2014 campaign.


Before I ever begin ANY visuals, a significant part of my process is understanding my client's promise, values, and vision. And I don't mean understanding their colors or descriptive words only, I mean what their brand stands for. Sometimes I have clients that have a hard time verbalizing it, but they have a clear vision. I help them with this process too. It's deep y'all. I push hard for this because this is how I humanize a brand and make them stand out. I don't ever compromise on this because that would mean compromising on my client. This is what Maile, owner of Epiphanie, summarized hers as:

"Beauty. Connection. Adventure. I am endlessly inspired by people who live unconventional lives, who go beyond the status quo of what is expected to find whatever it is that fulfills them. I'm inspired by passion, and by the general idea that it's possible to design your life, rather than just react to it." 

Um, heck yeah.  I completely connect with this on so many levels.

Once I had this, Alex of AVE Styles and I collaborated on a Pinterest board to initiate what the visuals would look and feel like. My focus, as usual, is on mood and story. Alex's focus is on styling and art direction which are the tangibles.

From that, I created a story about a graphic designer/photographer that we would follow and experience parts of her really awesome day. Sort of like the journey that the epiphanie bag gets to go on - without focusing on the bag as a product, and more like an experience.  These details also guide what hair, make-up, and location should look like. I also noted in the story that she had a connection with the guy in the film. That while they're "just friends" - they do things like having their own handshake. This gives the film a sub-story and more depth to play with :) Here's a look into my "bedroom scene" storyboard:


Once my team has translated the visuals right before me (models, clothing, hair, make-up) - this allows me to do what I believe I'm made to do: direct and connect. On the day of filming is when my brain goes into a world I can't describe. I guide the people in front of my camera to understand the character and how their movements need to feel authentic and true. I give them visual and emotional cues that occur to me on the spot, or I've thought about in advance, and capture it on camera. Sooo, that happens...


And after all of that - the inner soul searching, the visual planning, the tangibles, directing, and emotional cues - we get the point that I refer to as "bringing it to life." Sounds dramatic but I don't know any other way to describe it. The story goes from idea to tangible. It's in front of you as a character. It has emotion. It is ... alive. And the most thrilling, yet also scariest part, is YOU - the filmmaker must capture this and immerse your viewer into THIS world that you and your team have created. Phew.

I was able to do both the lifestyle photos and the brand film for Epiphanie with my incredible team. This is some of the content that our planning translated to:


And the film:



And that is a just a little glimpse at what I do and a preview into more of what I'll be doing this coming 2015. My heart has been set on campaigns for the longest time and I feel insanely proud of watching this bloom. Huge thanks to my team:

Styling: Alexandra Evjen | Video Assistant: Matt Hail | Assistant + Behind the Scenes: Audree Lopez |  Hair: Jenny Strebe | Makeup: Stephanie Neiheisel

1 comments:

  1. You are so incredibly inspiring! I work on a lot of editorial stuff as a hairstylist in California, and I am in love with your work and vision! our creative process is very similar, it would be great to collaborate one day!
    -Celeste

    ReplyDelete

 

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