Dishwasher Trays, Mirrors, and Kelly Slater.
Not your typical Tuesday. I got a call from the marketing director of FireWire Surfboards with the kind of problem I live for.
"Most people are scared of sharks," he said. "I need to figure out how to do something cool or interesting for this board, and I don't know how to approach it."
The board was called The Great White Twin. Kelly Slater's name was on it. And Chris was being completely honest with me: he didn't have an answer yet. He was calling because he needed someone else to find one.
I love these calls. The ones where nobody has the answer yet. That's where the best work comes from.
I kept coming back to one image: the way light moves underwater. The refraction. The shimmer across a shark's body as it turns. That visual felt right, it was the shark without being the shark. Presence without fear.
I found a reference that locked it in, a scene from Blade Runner 2049. The way light rippled across the frame in that film. That was the feeling I wanted.
So I went to Lowe's.
Dishwasher trays. Water. Three 2'×3' mirrors positioned to throw light across the studio. Mylar for key illumination. A small dish reflecting a beam directly onto the subject's face, that deep-water shimmer you usually only get from actually being in the ocean.
I tested the whole setup in my garage first. My wife stood in as the subject while I dialed in the mirrors and the light. It looked ridiculous, dishwasher trays surrounded by mirrors. But when I turned the lights on and saw that ripple move across her face on the monitor, I thought: this might actually work.
Honestly, going into the shoot day with Kelly, I wasn't sure. Usually with something like this I'd want a pre-light day, time to set up, test, adjust before talent walks in. But there wasn't budget for that. I had to build the whole thing and go for it, day-of.
The first time I looked at the monitor and saw that light moving across Kelly's face, I knew we had it. The ocean was there, not literally, but in every way that actually matters on screen.
Watch it below. And if you've ever wondered what's actually happening behind a polished frame, now you know: it's dishwasher trays and mirrors and someone who went to the hardware store instead of the ocean.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7olCgYhDU0
