BACKGROUND

Last summer, John Devoie, from Hot Table Panini, contacted me and said that he was looking for a video to aid in presentations that he gives to strip mall developers to promote Hot Table to new markets.  Hot Table has a very specific identity that they want to share with the world, and so I wanted to respect their vision and create something that they would be proud to present to others.  

John asked that the presentation video might show off their newest location in Marlborough, MA.  I started by looking at photos of the location on their social media account.  In doing so, I found that the restaurant space has huge floor-to-ceiling windows on 1 1/2 walls.  This told us that we were going to have to work with bounced sunlight a lot. 

Additionally, as I scrolled through Hot Table’s social media pages, I came across many photo posts that were being put out by their marketing firm.  The photos looked great and had a pretty consistent use of poppy, bright but slightly muted colors, and hard sunlight/shadows.  I loved what I saw from them and I wanted to remain consistent with the brand image that they had been putting out but also put my own touch on the video.  

At this point, I realized that working with direct sunlight was going to require a lot more lighting power and shaping than I wanted to deal with while also trying to direct the talent.  So while standing in the location with Evan, we decided that it would be best for me to concentrate on directing the talent and for him to handle the cinematography.  

That was a difficult decision because I enjoy cinematography and operating the camera.  I did not want to give up that amount of control, but I knew that it was going to be best for the project as a whole.  Also, I completely trusted Evan to do a fantastic job (even better than I could do).  

So we called up Dan Peck at Fast Lights and he was totally the right choice to be the gaffer.  He and Evan worked very well as a team and got some absolutely amazing images.  They put together just the right camera and lighting packages to work with the amount of sunlight and the location we had.

We only had 4 hours before the restaurant opened for business and we had 4 setups to shoot.  We needed to work quickly.  Setting up the first scene, the awesome camera department did everything efficiently and with quality.  

Scary part number 2 was taken care of.  Next, was the task of directing inexperienced talent.

While all of the awesome crew were doing top-notch jobs, I was struggling to get my own children to perform on-camera.  My wife, Jasmine, did a great job preparing them and helping to get them into character (she studied theater and loves acting).  But the informal nature of a parental relationship makes working with your children on-set a whole other world.  After several takes where we just weren’t getting the expressions we needed, I realized that I was being too uptight and felt I needed to loosen up, especially with my son.  We began to joke around a bit, included all the tickles and giggles we could, and started rolling camera just when the kids were at their happiest.  You can’t see it in the shot, but Jasmine is actually tickling Clara to get that smile.  And telling an eight-year-old that he can drink the juice if he pours it well is an added leverage you can use with kids.

After that, the other setups went very well.  Eddie Gagnon, a childhood friend of mine, absolutely shined on camera.  He took direction very well, as though he could read my thoughts rather than just hear my words.  

Keith and Shannon Mumblo waited very patiently for their camera time and Keith’s jokes brought smiles to everyone and helped ease the tension for the kids.  At one point, we just let their son and daughter play together at the table and we got their thumb wrestling action naturally!

Client: Hot Table Panini
Director: Matthew Derderian

Cast (In Order of Appearance):
Zachary Urbanowski
Eddie Gagnon
Jasmine Derderian
Jackson Ward
Clara Derderian
Keith Mumblo
Shannon Mumblo
Evan Mumblo
Abigail Mumblo
Madison Boudreaux

Crew:
AD: Denis Zenchenko
DP: Evan Bourcier
AC: Dave Wurtzel
Gaffer: Dan Peck
Grip: Wesley Kabakjian
BTS: Dave Wurtzel & Tim Gavrilov