Maxim Magazine "Hometown Hottie" Video

Maxim Magazine "Hometown Hottie" Video · July 6th, 2009, 07:25 PM

Thanks to Jason Robinson, I got the opportunity to shoot something very different than what I'm used to shooting. Each year Maxim Magazine has a competition for 'hometown' girls to try and become Maxim's 'hottie' for the year. In the past the videos were all shot by the girls themselves, with results being just as you would expect.

This year they decided to hire out the videos to professionals, and although the video had to be sexy and showcase the girl's personality ... I think we took it a step further and introduced some style and story.

Okay .. okay ... enough talk .... the video:

Maxim Magazine's "2009 Hometown Hottie" - Holly on Vimeo

Travis Cossel · July 7th, 2009, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lukas Siewior

Great work Travis... Would be nice to do such a gig more often :-) Also agree about the "nose" shot - less nose would make it better :-)

Yeah, the original shot was to be from the opposite side, so head to toes instead of toes to head. But it didn't fit right with the previous shot of the pan down from the sky to the beach, because she moves right at the end of that shot. Thanks for watching!

Warren Kawamoto · July 7th, 2009, 12:23 PM

Travis, great composition, great technical execution, great editing! But one thing really bothers me. The lighting was awful. A great majority of your money shots were done during the middle of the day, the worst time to shoot people. Look at the shots of her sitting on the hood. Half of her face is covered by deep shadows, and her eyes are black holes, lost in the darkness. There is no sparkle in her eyes. Those shots of the back of her thighs in that light is also not very flattering. Could you have done those shots very early in the morning or late in the afternoon? I think paying attention to the lighting would have made this semi-finalist a sure winner! Nevertheless, great job on the execution of your video.

Travis Cossel · July 7th, 2009, 01:06 PM

Thanks for the comments, Warren. I had no control over the timing of the shoot. As it was, the girl was an hour late showing up from the salon.

The lighting could have been improved by using a reflector, but as I already mentioned, I think the girl would have been even less comfortable with more people there. I did try to rig up the reflector, but the wind kept messing with it so we scrapped it. Either way, I was actually pretty happy with how the lighting turned out given our shooting conditions.

Thanks again for the comments!

Jason Robinson · July 7th, 2009, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stelios Christofides

Don't you want an assistant for the next job?

Heh . . get in line man. :-)

This is the first real instance of me not getting a job because I don't have HD cams (yet), so I had to bounce the referral over to Travis. Doh!

Next time you wont' be so lucky Travis! But good job on the shoot. I must now watch the other videos to properly compare yours. ;-) (j/k)

Susanto Widjaja · July 7th, 2009, 09:54 PM

WE WANT MORE!!!! WE WANT MORE!!!

:P

favourite shot: glidetrack hottie's feet coming out the car from the back
favourite story board: "I've got a line of clothing for you" and she comes in the frame with bikiny

don't like: duplicate shot of tilting from bottom to top on the interview
summary: WE WANT MORE!!!

Santo

Travis Cossel · July 8th, 2009, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason Robinson

Heh . . get in line man. :-)

This is the first real instance of me not getting a job because I don't have HD cams (yet), so I had to bounce the referral over to Travis. Doh!

Next time you wont' be so lucky Travis! But good job on the shoot. I must now watch the other videos to properly compare yours. ;-) (j/k)

lol .. too bad it didn't pay like an HD job. Oh well, I definitely appreciated the referral. Glad we were both able to pass each other successful referrals finally!

Travis Cossel · July 8th, 2009, 09:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Susanto Widjaja

WE WANT MORE!!!! WE WANT MORE!!!

:P

favourite shot: glidetrack hottie's feet coming out the car from the back
favourite story board: "I've got a line of clothing for you" and she comes in the frame with bikiny

don't like: duplicate shot of tilting from bottom to top on the interview
summary: WE WANT MORE!!!

Santo

I have plenty more .. it WAS a 7-hour shoot. d;-)

That glidetrack shot was one of my favorites as well. I was also quite proud of the shot where she drove over my camera (scary as hell), even though you only see like a 1/4 of that shot in the piece. I had another killer shot where I was hanging off the side of the jeep while she drove 25-30mph down a washboard dirt road. Just couldn't work everything into it.

That duplicate bottom-to-top shot is a good catch. The intended shot had her in the jeep saying the same thing, but do to the timing of the piece I couldn't jump to her in the jeep, so I had to use that shot. Oh well. Thanks for watching and for the comments!

Kevin Duffey · July 10th, 2009, 03:58 PM

Nice job Travis. Couple questions.. maybe I missed this but what camera did you use? I am still figuring out lighting.. why did you need lighting outside... trying to figure out how a light outside with so much sun light.. I would think you would just roll with no extra lighting.

The shot of the driving over the camera.. did you dig a hole in the ground to put the camera in? Curious how you did that.

Again, great work! Wish I could get gigs like this!

Travis Cossel · July 10th, 2009, 04:10 PM

Hey, Kevin, thanks for watching. This was shot with the Canon XHA1.

Regarding lighting, I wasn't wishing I had more lighting out there, as in actual lights. What I could have used was some light off of a reflector to take some of the shadows out of her face that the high sun was causing .. sort of a bit of 'anti-light' to combat the intensity of the sun and not make it so harsh on her face. I still think it came out great, just a minor gripe of mine.

Regarding the 'drive over' shot .. no hole. This was in a paved parking lot, so she literally just drove right over the top of the camera. I checked for clearance first, but it was still nerve-wracking to watch her do it. d;-)

Kevin Duffey · July 10th, 2009, 04:45 PM

My bad.. I thought I saw her drive up on a gravel road.. there were a few shots of her driving so I got the wrong one on that question. I see about the reflector.. thanks.

Travis Cossel · July 10th, 2009, 06:00 PM

She drove in on a dirt road, but arrived at a parking lot. d;-)

I was originally going to shoot that shot on the dirt road (wrap the camera up and everything), but decided it was safer to do it on pavement at a slower speed (no flying rocks to bust a lens).

July 7th, 2009, 01:06 PM	#18
Travis Cossel Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Miami, FL Posts: 2,933	Thanks for the comments, Warren. I had no control over the timing of the shoot. As it was, the girl was an hour late showing up from the salon. The lighting could have been improved by using a reflector, but as I already mentioned, I think the girl would have been even less comfortable with more people there. I did try to rig up the reflector, but the wind kept messing with it so we scrapped it. Either way, I was actually pretty happy with how the lighting turned out given our shooting conditions. Thanks again for the comments! __________________ Black Label Films www.blacklabelweddingfilms.com

July 7th, 2009, 09:54 PM	#20
Susanto Widjaja Major Player Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 622	WE WANT MORE!!!! WE WANT MORE!!! :P favourite shot: glidetrack hottie's feet coming out the car from the back favourite story board: "I've got a line of clothing for you" and she comes in the frame with bikiny don't like: duplicate shot of tilting from bottom to top on the interview summary: WE WANT MORE!!! Santo __________________ If a picture is worth a thousand words, what about motion picture? website: www.papercranes.com.au \| blog: www.weddingvideosydney.net

July 10th, 2009, 04:10 PM	#24
Travis Cossel Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Miami, FL Posts: 2,933	Hey, Kevin, thanks for watching. This was shot with the Canon XHA1. Regarding lighting, I wasn't wishing I had more lighting out there, as in actual lights. What I could have used was some light off of a reflector to take some of the shadows out of her face that the high sun was causing .. sort of a bit of 'anti-light' to combat the intensity of the sun and not make it so harsh on her face. I still think it came out great, just a minor gripe of mine. Regarding the 'drive over' shot .. no hole. This was in a paved parking lot, so she literally just drove right over the top of the camera. I checked for clearance first, but it was still nerve-wracking to watch her do it. d;-) __________________ Black Label Films www.blacklabelweddingfilms.com

July 10th, 2009, 06:00 PM	#26
Travis Cossel Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Miami, FL Posts: 2,933	She drove in on a dirt road, but arrived at a parking lot. d;-) I was originally going to shoot that shot on the dirt road (wrap the camera up and everything), but decided it was safer to do it on pavement at a slower speed (no flying rocks to bust a lens). __________________ Black Label Films www.blacklabelweddingfilms.com

July 7th, 2009, 12:23 PM	#17
Warren Kawamoto Trustee Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Honolulu, HI Posts: 1,435	Travis, great composition, great technical execution, great editing! But one thing really bothers me. The lighting was awful. A great majority of your money shots were done during the middle of the day, the worst time to shoot people. Look at the shots of her sitting on the hood. Half of her face is covered by deep shadows, and her eyes are black holes, lost in the darkness. There is no sparkle in her eyes. Those shots of the back of her thighs in that light is also not very flattering. Could you have done those shots very early in the morning or late in the afternoon? I think paying attention to the lighting would have made this semi-finalist a sure winner! Nevertheless, great job on the execution of your video.

July 10th, 2009, 03:58 PM	#23
Kevin Duffey Major Player Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: California Posts: 206	Nice job Travis. Couple questions.. maybe I missed this but what camera did you use? I am still figuring out lighting.. why did you need lighting outside... trying to figure out how a light outside with so much sun light.. I would think you would just roll with no extra lighting. The shot of the driving over the camera.. did you dig a hole in the ground to put the camera in? Curious how you did that. Again, great work! Wish I could get gigs like this!

July 10th, 2009, 04:45 PM	#25
Kevin Duffey Major Player Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: California Posts: 206	My bad.. I thought I saw her drive up on a gravel road.. there were a few shots of her driving so I got the wrong one on that question. I see about the reflector.. thanks.