When HumanCentric was asked to shoot video for a project, Alex and I got pretty excited. We set out to experiment, gathering materials for a video setup.

The project required footage of ice and water in motion. Our challenge (and the fun part) was filming in a way that reflected the product’s visual language.

This affected the footage in a few ways:

• We needed the right speed. Not too fast, not too slow, just natural-looking.
• We had to shoot on a white background.
• We needed high contrast. If the video was washed out or lacked detail, it wouldn’t integrate with the rest of the product.

Alex prepared the background and lighting, while I gathered containers of all sizes. Then, it was on. Melting ice cubes, water splashes, running to the kitchen, high-fives when things looked awesome. We dropped ice cubes one at a time. We poured an entire pitcher. We had everything from a fish tank to a small vase. It was fun.

I can’t show you video until the product comes out, but here are some tips we discovered:

• Ice has nice contrast when lighting is slightly behind and underneath the container. For the final shots, we used a container with a small pedestal.
• Handbrake is a good (and free) video converter. We had HD footage and used this program to try different file types.
• Photoshop imports video! Part of the project required us to split the video into frames, and I was happy to find how simple this is in Photoshop. Just make sure your files are in .mov format, and try File > Import > Video frames to layers.

Now we’re on the lookout for new things to film, so send your crazy ideas.