Client: Burt's Bees
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Production Company: Remedy
Director / DP: Josh Sliffe
Producer: Austin Simmons
Art Department: Austin Simmons
Gaffer / Grip: Brian De Contreras
Grip: Logan Bennett
Makeup/Wardrobe: Katy Dimondi
Production Assistants:
Jeff Buckner, Olivia Griego Martin
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Post Production: Remedy
Music Licensing: Music Bed

In the summer of 2016, we partnered with Burt’s Bees by making a video to help them reach further into the natural product category. The goal was to remind retailers of the many customers who are wanting more convenience and more choice.

8 weeks after we had first spoken with them, and many ideas later, we had approval for a concept. We would have 7 days to find locations, talent, and crew, as well as design and construct the main aisle featured in the studio space.

For our idea, we needed to show the customers at one store aisle with two different experiences. The goal was to show the ideal on one side and a more typical experience on the other. From there, we’d hear from the customers about what they thought of the two sides. With the kinds of up-close investigations being made into the products and their style, organization, and ingredients, it was obvious we wouldn’t be able to just keep logos and labels out of frame. We’d need to create mock products that represented the real ones as well as a planogram for how everything would be laid out.

To better contrast the two sides of one aisle and to let it be a little more visually interesting, we went with a big white studio space for our main location. For the main key light, we wanted a soft, flattering light, but still wanted it to be similar to a grocery store. To make that work, we first put up a big, diffused, overhead light with a bunch of 1k’s in an array going through a 20’x20’ silk. Then we filled that in a bit with two large off-axis lights shot through 12’x12’ silks. Sic lights lit up the back wall and two overhead rim lights gave the customers depth.

Once the studio work was done, we spent an hour or so filming each of the girls doing one or two things that represented them and that was it. We would have four days after the shoot to assemble an edit to present to Burt’s and a few revisions later, the project was finished!

As with any project, there’s always things you wish you could have done better. But the client was happy, it stretched us, and it was fun. That’s a success for us.