Minola Theatre are quickly becoming known as one of the shining stars of Brisbane’s independent theatre scene. Begotten chronicles the story of a family, told through the eyes of five women over the span of 100 years.
Initial consultation
When Minola contacted us for branding images, Begotten had already been performed several times, and during 2020 lockdown was adapted in to a radio play.
Begotten is a one-hander, and accordingly the images would have a single subject. The original imagery had Bianca and a stack of suitcases reflecting different eras and parts of the world.
The top priority for the branding session was the hero shot, for use on printed material including posters, as well as digital (website, facebook, ticketing sites etc).
A concept for a second hero shot was also in place as an alternative. We discussed a potential set of secondary shots.
With two potential hero shots and several secondary images, we planned for a tight 90 minutes.
Bianca Butler Reynolds plays double duty as the writer and the sole actor, with Kat Dekker in the director’s chair. Speaking to Bianca ahead of time, the vibe of the images would be serious, emotive, and speak to travel and a collection of memories and experiences.
Required images
- Primary hero shot – top priority. Bianca arranged with a pile of clothes, representing different eras and geographies
- Secondary hero shot – overhead, arranged with clothes all around
- Supplementary shots
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The shoot
Secondary hero shot
Uncharacteristically we started with the secondary hero shot. The secondary shot had specific lighting requirements, and we polished it off first so we could strike and re-light for the main hero shot, and let that shot expand to fill the remaining time.
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Hero shot
For the hero shot and supplementary shots, we re-set the lighting, and created a massive pile of clothes (bulked up with some lighting equipment underneath!). Simple dramatic lighting highlighted Bianca’s face.
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Throughout the shoot, with Bianca in frame, Kat the director reviewed the images as we shot. It is exciting when the photographer and director become shoot-buddies during a shoot, getting super excited at shots, and brimming with ideas of things to try!
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Post-Production
The secondary hero image and supplementary images required very little post-production. Instead we spent our time on the hero image.
One of the steps in post-production is determining the best colour toning for the image, to try and match the emotional feel and aesthetics of the production. We worked on a series of potential toning choices before landing on the final tone.
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While working on the final edits, we wanted something that would be more than just a featureless light floor. After experimenting with a water-based theme, we settled on a world map, with Europe in full view. For the world map, we licensed a stock image.
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Delivery
The file delivery consisted of:
- Hero image, both web- and print-ready, in a variety of crops to suit posters, banners, instagram etc
- Secondary hero images in web resolution
- Supplementary images in web resolution
- Some fun behind-the-scenes images, useful for social media promotion
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