Over the summer I created image assets for the City of Charlotte for the creation of ads to promote the newest addition to the city’s public transportation system. The Gold Line is a streetcar that connects east and west Charlotte. Streetcars initially appeared in Charlotte in 1887, however in 1938 service ended. You can still see the original waiting stations in the Myers park and Queens neighborhoods.
I really enjoyed how many different types of images this job required. We needed interiors of the streetcar, portraits, lifestyle and urban landscapes. We achieved this with multiple locations along the rail line and 15 models. The day started early with the crew meeting at the location of our first lifestyle setting. Our group of models represented the diversity of Charlotte and the many ways the streetcar could benefit Charlotteans young and old. While the talent was in hair and make up, we set up a white seamless and did a pre-light. The DT and I then drove over to the train yard for the streetcar interiors. The interior plates plus lifestyle and urban landscape images would be used to create the view a rider might have while riding the streetcar. Once we returned I moved on to creating portraits of the talent. I directed each model in an organic way giving them real life situations or cues that would help them find a similar experience from their lives. With our elderly couple (not a real couple by the way) I bought up the dynamics a couple can have. For example, he is looking for his wallet and can not find it even though you told him right where it was. This got a laugh and they made some real magic. We had to move fairly quickly to stay on schedule. The biggest help during this shoot was the First AD. He kept everyone on track and his time management skills helped us complete a very aggressive shot list on time.
Next we moved into lifestyle images. The first was of a large group of people having a party in a mixed use urban environment. In the future this area will host live music, local vendors and food trucks. Then we moved on to capturing talent at the waiting stations. We photographed different combinations of talent at select stations. Many of the stations had only been partially constructed. I found the best angles to showcase the station, city and talent while avoiding eye sores. We also moved a lot construction cones. Many of the shots called for a streetcar at the station. We thought we would have control of the train day of, however it was not possible. The solution was a production caravan and a CATS system employee to keep contact with the two trains that were running tests that day.
I love the collaboration it takes to make jobs like this work. I was thankful to have a great Art Director. She approved the images once she knew she had what she needed. This cut down on unnecessary shots and time. We also had the benefit of a very experienced Producer. Their hard work and planning made this production run smoothly. We had 31 people working day of to make this job a reality.
It was a long hot day but everyone kicked ass and that made for a great time! I love working with talented people on a singular goal. I am thankful to everyone who helped to make it this happen. Team work really does make the dream work!
Chad and I at the train yard capturing plates of the train interior.