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Victoria Secret Model Jess Hart photoshoot - BTS

T

Thomas Stockwell

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A couple of months back I was asked to shoot a BTS for a photoshoot for an online magazine.

The model was Jess Hart, and the brief was to not show off the location (ugly standard industrial carpark), incorporate the photographer, hair/make-up and that was about it.

Shot handheld on Dragon at 120fps, 5k WS on Sigma 18-35mm, Sigma 50mm Art and Canon 70-200mm 2.8 ISII.

Please let me know what you think, and as always constructive criticism most welcome.

 
I'll get rid of all these lenses and buy at least some Leica R's. You'll never regret it. I'll keep the Dragon. The lady needs some modeling lessons. White balance is off, too blue. Makes the skin cold. Maybe it meant to be like that. I'll fire the makeup artist and the hairdresser. Keep the musician. (in general 2 thumbs up but you asked for constructive criticism, it's another story - blowing sunshine does not get you better)
 
Thanks for all the feedback so far. I really do appreciate it.

Dominik or Lakis, do you mind explaining why and what difference I would see when shooting with Leica R's against what I was using?
In no way am i trying to compare or criticise, I'm just curious as to what I could expect in comparison to what I shot.

Also, Lakis, thanks for the honesty, and thats exactly why I was seeking the CC - its all very well and good for people to appreciate what you have done, but for me I think its about improving for next time.
 
Overall I like your part of it. I agree with the rest of the crowd about the lenses - too sharp for this type of vid. Not necessarily Leica R specifically, but if the photos are going to be retouched to make her skin flawless, you'll want to at least try to mimic that so it's not such a huge contrast between the stills and the motion. A HBM 1/8 filter would help soften the skin a little bit. Some post fx could be done on the skin to soften as well. Makeup and hair could be better - MU is really heavy and hair looks a little sloppy - unless they were meant to be that way for whatever the vision of the shoot was. If not...and if the creative team is used to only doing hair/makeup for stills, then that would partially explain why it looks the way it does.
 
The Leica Rs have a softer beauty aesthetic. I shoot a lot of models and women content, A LOT ! and Like Arthur said, the look of your footage is extremely sharp and crisp, nothing wrong with that in general but it can get a bit difficult when you work with women, especially when the makeup artist is doing work for stills/ retouching/ post work instead of UltraHD video and for example instead of flawless airbrush makeup, works with traditional powder foundations....the RED is ruthless with this sort of stuff and will pick it up. In the case of your video the makeup in some shots looks very strong and "visible" which shouldn't be the case....not your fault or the way you operate at all, its just something the camera and these super sharp lenses will pick up. The Leicas or slightly softer lenses tend to counter balance that a bit more. Have a look on my vimeo chanel, there is a lot of similar content, most of it is shot with the Leicas and you ll see the difference.
Btw I'm down your way in Sydney next week, can bring the lenses and you can have a play over a beer :)
 
I think it's good, but yeah I do notice the wrinkles in her skin around the eyes. Did you add any sharpening in post?
 
Leica R's are also just lower contrast, which can be much more forgiving on skin. Sigma's are great - but they are very sharp and contrasty, which is ideal for some situations, but can be excessive when it comes to beauty.

Perhaps also consider getting some filtration? A simple 1/8 Black Pro Mist, 1/4 Classic Soft, or 1/4 Hollywood Black Magic, could do wonders, even with the Sigmas you already have.

Otherwise, I thought the operating and overall look was pretty great. You clearly have an "eye", which is the most important thing!
 
Not sure why everyone dislike sharpness lol. A bit of "beauty work" and softening of skin and this would look amazing. I'd rather start with sharper image and degrade or tweak from there. Lots of fashion films have been shot on Master Primes, so sharpness isn't a bad thing. Just make sure to do some skin beauty work in post. Overall I like the look, just would soften her skin some. Like Nick mentioned, a black pro mist or my personal favorite Hollywood Black Magic or the like would have helped some on this shoot. But do not throw away the sharp lenses!

Hope it's okay to show a sample of what I'm talking about, if not let me know and I'll remove it. Played around and did some retouching to your vimeo video:
VSbeautyLook.jpg


Again, do not get rid of the sharp glass! Lots of ways to take this material, my retouch is just one of the many... Plus as a BTS video, I thought it was excellent... Like all fashion/beauty photo's, they will be retouched heavily. The video we see above hasn't had anywhere near the work the stills will. My retouch above gets you closer to a photo finish but there would definitely be even more manipulation than what I have done.
 
Thomas,

I found the shots where she appears to be studying something and adjusts her gaze the most engaging - revealing a patience with its own inherent beauty.

The HFR combined with a lengthened gaze make me wonder if she was momentarily lost in thought; I almost want to reach out and ask her what she was thinking.

Matt : Thankyou for your insight. Very much appreciated.

AJ
 
Nice video, really like the look for a BTS. She looks stunning and real.
Except around the eyes, really good "paint job" by the makeup artist.
I really hate that everyone obsesses about woman having to have smoooooooth skin.
Women are being seen as china-dolls, with no right to age.
The texture of human skin is very important for my perception of faces.
Sure you use makeup to even out things, get rid of spots etc., but getting rid of skin pores is a crime in my book;)
Looking at Matt's retouching, I much more prefer the original.
That being said, some mist filter would have helped to smooth things out in a subtle way, as others have said...
 
Christian Schmitt said:
She looks stunning and real.

I really hate that everyone obsesses about woman having to have smoooooooth skin.

The texture of human skin is very important for my perception of faces.

Sure you use makeup to even out things, get rid of spots etc., but getting rid of skin pores is a crime in my book;)

Looking at Matt's retouching, I much more prefer the original.

That being said, some mist filter would have helped to smooth things out in a subtle way, as others have said...
Click to expand...

To this I agree with 100%!
By the way I like your work Matt, just not particular not a fan of skin smoothing. =)
 
High end clients expect beauty work to have this flawless look, right or wrong, that's the way it is
 
It's called "Gritty Pretty" magazine, huh? I'd leave it unfiltered (with textured skin) and even add some grain. Is this BTS or is it supposed to be the "motion version" of whatever the stills end up being? Because if it's BTS, I think the delta between the actual photochopped pics and the video isn't actually a bad thing.*



*Bare in mind I'm not the agency, and I presume they'll dictate what they want (especially if they have a problem with the way it is). Worst case, just render out a highly compressed standard-def version -- it'll be super soft.**

**that "SD version" bit was also a joke.
 
Jake Wilganowski said:
High end clients expect beauty work to have this flawless look, right or wrong, that's the way it is
Click to expand...

exactly... Not that it's my preference, but the skin work I did above is exactly what any client would ask for or they would reject it.
 
Sometimes, especially in music videos, the amount of softening on women's faces gets ridiculous. I'd rather just see the flaws than to see a blurry circle with eyeballs.

Not to derail the thread, but check out the model in the bathing suit at the beginning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdsTUfDTEhQ
 
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