- Client
- CliniqueGlobal Creative
- Talent
- Melissa BarreraActress
- Shot
- 6 and 7 October 2021Milk Studios, Los Angeles
- Director
- Chris MUG5 MaguireContent unit, stills and post
- Delivered
- Eight films and 36 stillsSocial and PR
- Formats
- 9:16 and 4:5With and without English subtitles
Two days in Los Angeles, a corner of the studio by the makeup station, and about two hours of Melissa Barrera’s time. RIOT ran the content unit on Clinique’s Spring 2022 campaign shoot and turned it into eight social films in Spanish, subtitled in English, and a set of behind-the-scenes stills.
In September 2021, Clinique‘s production team asked us to run a second unit alongside the main campaign shoot for Even Better Clinical Serum Foundation and Even Better Makeup, produced by By Association at Milk Studios in Los Angeles. The main set made the campaign. Ours made everything around it: short films Melissa would speak straight to camera, and reportage stills of her getting ready, with the light and feel of a behind-the-scenes moment rather than the polish of the main set.
Two hours, between setups
Melissa’s day was ten hours with no overtime, and most of it belonged to the campaign. The content list got about two hours on the first day, in pieces, whenever she was free between setups. We had no lighting budget, so we set up by the makeup station and shot on natural light, with a few tubes and stands hired from the studio, and treated the two days as one list to check off. Each film was planned as a straight read or a short memory told in her own words, in Spanish, so it could be captured in whatever window opened up.
A contest announcement, in Spanish
The first film Clinique needed was the most urgent: an announcement in Spanish for a contest whose prize included the first Clinique NFT, asking viewers what gives them hope and inviting them to share their story for a chance to win. There was time for one read, so the edit is built from jump cuts, and the :45 runs as three :15 parts that play back to back in Instagram Stories. A Spanish translator sat with our editor in the studio to translate and subtitle every line, and Clinique added footage from its own launch shoot, which we turned black and white so the two shoots read as one story. Melissa approved the three parts on 26 October, less than three weeks after the shoot.
The holiday unboxing
The unboxing ran as paid media in Spanish-speaking markets, so it had to land in exactly fifteen seconds. Three products lead, Smart Clinical Repair Wrinkle Correcting Serum, Moisture Surge 100H Auto-Replenishing Hydrator and High Impact Mascara, and the rest of the box goes by at speed. Our first cut used a split screen, but in a vertical frame it was too busy, so the final version stays on one frame at a time.
In color and black and white
Two films are personal rather than promotional. For the holidays, Melissa talks about the season as a time of reunion for her family and ends with a wish for everyone watching; Clinique’s notes asked for a line to come out so it could breathe, for more of her smiles, and for an ending on a blown kiss. Her Mother’s Day message was too long for one :15, so we cut it as a three-part series: why she wants to thank her mother, her memory of her mother’s green Clinique case, and a word to her mother about Smart Clinical Repair. Both products sit in her hands as she talks. In both films, everything she says to camera stays in color and the cutaways go to black and white, so the story and the texture never compete.
The stills
Photographer James Law shot the stills alongside our camera, more than five hundred frames over the two days: Melissa in the makeup chair, testing foundation at the counter, laughing between looks and settling into the chair on our set, and the products laid out on the counter. Clinique’s creative lead and Melissa’s team chose 36 of them for Clinique’s social channels and press.
Every film was delivered at 9:16 and 4:5, as ProRes masters and as MP4s sized for upload, most with and without English subtitles, and the holiday and Mother’s Day films were final on 23 November 2021. For more of our Clinique work from the same year, see the Fireside Chat with Leonard A. Lauder and The Foundation.
Shooting celebrity content on a campaign day
How do you capture celebrity content on a campaign shoot day?
Run it as a second unit with its own list. On this shoot Melissa Barrera's day was ten hours with no overtime, and the main campaign came first, so our content got about two hours on the first day, in pieces, between her setups. We set up beside the makeup station on natural light, planned every film as a straight read or a short memory she could tell in her own words, and treated both days as one list to check off whenever a window opened.
How do you make social content in Spanish when the edit is in English?
Bring a translator into the edit room. For this job a Spanish translator sat with our editor in the studio, translating every line and building the English subtitles as the cut came together, so the edit followed what Melissa actually said rather than a transcript. Most films were then delivered with and without English subtitles.
Why cut a long message into :15 parts?
Because Instagram Stories plays short clips back to back. The NFT contest announcement ran about :45, so we cut it as three :15 parts that play in sequence, and her Mother's Day memory became a three-part series for the same reason. Each part has to make sense on its own, and each has to lead into the next.
How do you cut a film when there was only one take?
With jump cuts, and without hiding them. The NFT announcement was recorded as a single read broken into sections, so the edit keeps the best of each section and cuts straight between them. On a vertical talking-head film, a jump cut reads as pace rather than a mistake.
How do you mix footage from two different shoots into one film?
Give each source its own job and its own look. In the holiday and Mother's Day films, everything Melissa says to camera stays in color, and the cutaways run in black and white, so footage from Clinique's launch shoot and our own makeup-station b-roll sit together without fighting over color.
What formats does a social content shoot need to deliver?
Plan for every placement before the edit starts. These films were delivered at 9:16 for Stories and Reels and at 4:5 for the feed, with and without English subtitles, as ProRes masters and as MP4s small enough to upload directly, under 100MB and under 10MB.
What are behind-the-scenes stills for?
They show the person, not the campaign. James Law shot more than five hundred reportage frames of Melissa getting ready, testing shades and laughing between takes, plus product details on the counter. Clinique and Melissa's team chose 36 for social and press, where an unposed moment often lands better than a campaign image.
How long does a celebrity social content shoot take to turn around?
About seven weeks for the full set. We shot on 6 and 7 October 2021, the NFT announcement was approved on 26 October, the unboxing on 2 November, and the holiday and Mother's Day films were final on 23 November.
Credits
- Client
- Clinique
- Clinique
- Colleen Stokes, Miriam Herzfeld, Ashley Consiglio Bateman
- Talent
- Melissa Barrera
- Campaign production
- By Association
- Director
- Chris MUG5 Maguire
- Director of photography
- James Regan
- Assistant camera
- Travis Shannon
- Photographer
- James Law
- Edit
- Chris MUG5 Maguire, Brendan Engle
- Color
- RIOT
- Producer
- Nastassja Simone
- Agency
- RIOT
ServicesDirecting·Social Videos·Editing·BTS Photography