Ride with Us

I love this test shoot we did earlier this year. It was very ambitious, with lots of locations and interesting camera moves. We weren't able to shoot everything I had in mind, but I still love how it turned out.

I do really like shooting the lifestyle around cars. What happens inside them, where the car brings you, and the endless possibilities of how the day can go.

Below is a full breakdown of the shoot - from scouting, camera prep, and a chronological look at how the shoot day went.

First Step: Scout

I knew I wanted to shoot this around Echo Park/Silver Lake and Downtown LA. So I hit up my trusty assistant, Chiara, who couldn't make the shoot but was down to help scout some cool locations. She's lived in LA for less time than I have, and I swear she knows way more cool spots than I do. I always turn to her for location ideas.

I had some basic ideas in mind of what I was looking for, so we got some matchas, a good playlist, and drove around town.

Take this shot below — I love how it came out. I had the idea of starting the video here on this crazy steep street in front of this modern home. I thought the straight roof would really exaggerate how steep the road was. I love seeing the scout video and how we were able to make it happen on the day.

Second Step: Camera Prep

After the locations were locked in, I walked it all through with my DP, Justin Gaar. We've been working together for years, and I always love how invested he is in any project we do, paid or unpaid.

Justin pitched using the newer DJI Ronin 4D camera with Olympus Zero Optik primes, which are rehoused 70s stills lenses. The camera has a gimbal and can be remotely moved with its monitor, which is pretty wild.

I had this shot idea where we'd move from the backseat to the front seat while someone gets out to grab coffee. I wanted a match cut - as we pass the front passenger's headrest, we'd cut to our talent returning with the coffees.

Since we didn't have a techno crane, we used the next best thing: a long piece of wood attached to a pole. The shot didn't end up making the edit, but I still really love how it came out.

My second idea was to have our talent vibe in the car while driving, with the camera panning around from front to see everyone. This camera made that possible - Justin would hide in the trunk and control the camera from the monitor.

Technology is wild.

Time to Shoot

My stylist Lindsay and her own dog shirt <3

If you've been following my work, or even reading this Journal section on my website, you know I like to do a lot of test shoots. Even though I've done tons of them, I still get so nervous right before. I'm mostly nervous about the talent. Will they vibe well together, will they like my ideas, will they have good attitudes? I've had all kinds of experiences in the past, hence my trauma.

Fortunately, the talent was so incredible and they vibed so well together. Right away, they all became friends. Now my stress switched from that to making sure we got everything I wanted to get.

Luckily, I have an amazing team and we all worked together to get it done!

We all met up at Chiara's house, who so graciously let us use it so we could prep and get the models changed near our locations. Everyone got changed into their looks, we had lunch delivered, and we were out the door as fast as we possibly could.

Location 01

Location 02

Location 03

When you do group test shoots like these, the agencies really want you to shoot some individual shots of their models to use in their books. So even though our schedule was packed, I had to carve out some time to shoot individual shots.

During this time, at this location, we also shot the thrift store, clothing haul, and FaceTime scene from the video.

For the thrift store scene, I was worried we'd get kicked out if they knew we were filming in the store, so my plan was to give our talent my little Sony Handycam and have them go in and have fun. I gave them general direction, but they basically did it all themselves. My hairstylist went in with them to make sure everyone was looking good, and she actually helped direct them as well, which was amazing.

Location 04

From our thrift store location, we drove to this rooftop spot I rented for a few hours. I knew that on the way there, we could get a lot of great driving shots of our talent vibing in the car. Justin rode in the trunk of the car while we all shuttled to the spot.

I knew I wanted our talent to be doing something while on the roof instead of just watching the beautiful sunset. I had the idea of getting a mobile karaoke machine, which worked out so well. Everyone turned it ON for this - singing their hearts out. It was so much fun to shoot.

Justin and I just flowed around shooting. No drawn-out shots, just watching the action and reacting to it. It was so much fun!

From there, we had them ride on skateboards, look at the outlook, and just hang. It was such a perfect way to end such a fun shoot.