Spearheading a shoot somewhat gives an individual a chance to exercise both his creative and corporate sides while balancing the responsibility of both mediator and decision-maker during the shoot. Responsibilities vary, depending on the product, but the shoot producer acts as one of the most important members of the team that, while not seen in the final product, remain essential to the editors, model, photographer and staff.
With my job I must say that I am lucky to work with some of the bigwigs in showbiz, fashion, lifestyle and some often times politics. I am always making sure that I am focused and serious with what I'm doing. I've been in the shoot producing (for magazines) since 2008 but I never see my job in another perspective until I took the creative thinking class of Prof. Beaver Flores. Gathering thoughts with his lectures, it is Interesting to know that whenever we do our job, we undergo with certain "creative process". I learned many models of the process, but I must say that my favorite model is from Graham Wallas. In his work Art of Thought, published in 1926, Wallas identified mainly four stages of the creative process:
For me, I find it similar that shoot producing process and the individual creative process summarized by Wallas can be models of the same underlying process.
The Incubation and Illumination stage are when we live with the problem, experiencing it and finding out ways to think of a better way to address the problem. This is where "collaboration" really kicks in or known better a the pre-production meeting. The work done in the shoot producing together with the creative team. Multiple viewpoints, insights and ideas from an engaged team ensure that you can effectively address the problem. You share with others to get deeper insights and to overcome your biases.
And lastly, the Verification stage wherein the question to be asked is "is the problem already addressed?" Verification is also built into the process by getting the important creative individual in the team involved. For us, If you’ve solved your problem and came up with bright and fresh ideas for this month, then it can be already executed or to be implemented to actual shoot.
Most of the time, a magazine shoot is judged from its output cover, but I just want to remind readers that behind a successful photoshoot is a creative team that undergoes a creative process. But whatever model you prefer, what is important is that the key elements of being creative must be there.
No matter how brilliant a single person is, the power of collaboration is still very important. it allows you to harness other people’s brainpower as part of the creative process. I believe that is why we have had so much success with my collaboration with other creative people in shoot producing.
(some photos are from www.fhm.com.ph)
