22/01/2024
Back in the day, photography was predominantly an artistic expression. Today, capturing an image can mean many different things: immortalizing a face, depicting a landscape, but also promoting a product.
Photography creates meaning through the intentionality of framing and shot composition. This transformative process occurs through the eyes of a photographer and, in the case of an ad campaign, those who conceived said campaign.
However, the variety of channels on the market – especially digital ones – has led to increased standards and the proliferation of issues related to Photo and Video Production. Responsive websites, channel-specific features, banners, animations — all need to be developed with different, often conflicting resolutions.
Addressing all of these aspects means combining artistic and technical skills with meticulous planning, ensuring that a specific shot can be used in various contexts and adapted to different formats.
Let us consider a practical example. A client might request a picture for one of their products with a vertical cut that fits the slider on their website. However, that same shot must also adapt to a 9:16 format for Instagram stories and reels, a 4:5 or 1:1 for a post, a full-frame 16:9, and so on. Therefore, decisions about framing, set dressing, and even backdrops must take all these formats into consideration.
It is the responsibility of a creative agency – more precisely, its creative team – to determine all this in advance and optimize time and costs.
The same applies to video production. By and large, TV commercials are shot with a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio, which may not easily adapt to completely different digital formats, such as 9:16. In this case, too, thinking ahead is key. One might consider pairing a main crew, responsible for the TV spot, with a second unit focusing on digital production. It may be necessary to carve out certain moments and scenes to create tailored content. An on-set operator dedicated to documenting the production’s Behind the Scenes can be invaluable in capturing moments and situations that expand storytelling possibilities on social media channels.ù
These aspects are frequently undervalued, resulting in insufficient resources for high-quality work. The worst-case scenario might entail additional investments on the client’s part to produce materials not initially budgeted for. The role of an agency extends beyond delivering an adequate "creative" service; it involves comprehensively evaluating the objectives of each campaign, anticipating all potential issues, and putting everything in place for a precise, cost-effective ex*****on.
For example, below you can find some of the pictures from the latest photoshoot that curated for Bonomelli and that are being used in a variety of contexts and formats on their website and social media channels.
