From Miami Heat to Brooklyn Chill: Behind the Lens of our Pharma Campaign Shoot

Mid-August in Miami means sweat, sun, and the kind of humidity that makes you question your life choices. So when Alice Blue, a Richmond-based production company specializing in VFX, reached out about a pharmaceutical campaign shoot, I was intrigued. Their client, Omnicom, was rolling out marketing visuals for a new breast cancer treatment. The concept was elegant and heroic: a woman walking away from a medical interior, bathed in bright, glowing backlight with wind rushing through the space. The catch? The entire background environment would be digitally created.

Fast forward five months, and I found myself trading palm trees for snowflakes, stepping off a plane into a 9-degree Brooklyn chill. From Miami heat to Brooklyn frost, the transition was stark enough to make me rethink my decision.

Crafting a Digital World with VFX Collaboration

The shoot was a masterclass in collaboration between practical cinematography and digital artistry. Working closely with Kris Rivel, the VFX Director, and Lindsay Siu, a Toronto-based photographer, we shaped the visual narrative well before the cameras rolled.

Kris’s CG pre-visualizations were invaluable. They weren’t just pretty animations; they dictated camera height, lighting direction, and environmental motivation. These pre-viz scenes helped us understand how the glowing backlight would interact with the digital environment and the subject. It was a blueprint that allowed us to plan every detail with precision.

On set, the magic continued with the help of our VTR and DIT teams. They superimposed the pre-viz backgrounds over the live footage in real-time. This meant we could see exactly how the practical shots would integrate with the future CG builds. It’s a rare luxury that saved us countless hours in post-production and ensured the final product would feel seamless.

The Long Road from Concept to Filming

Pharmaceutical commercial production is a patient game. The concept development began in August, but filming didn’t happen until January. This timeline is typical in pharma work, where every detail must be vetted and approved multiple times.

Our crew was a tight-knit group of 20 above-the-line professionals, most of which traveling from out of state to shoot at BeElectric Studios in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The studio itself is a gem—spacious, versatile, and equipped to handle complex lighting setups.

The cold Brooklyn air was a shock after months in South Florida, but it also brought a clarity to the shoot that Miami’s humidity rarely offers.

Choosing the Right Tools for the Job

For this campaign, I chose to shoot on the Arri 35. Its color fidelity and skin tone rendering are unmatched, especially important when filming pharmaceutical commercials focused on women’s health. The camera’s ability to capture subtle nuances in skin tones helped us portray the subject with dignity and warmth, avoiding the clinical coldness that sometimes plagues pharma visuals.

Lighting was a deliberate throwback. We used six large overhead tungsten space lights, each housing six 1K bulbs, creating a soft, enveloping glow. Our key light was a strong 10K tungsten soft side key, supplemented by Aputure 600x and 1200x units for fill and accents. It was the first fully tungsten-based set I’ve worked on in years, and it felt like a warm embrace in the chilly studio.

The tungsten setup gave the scene a timeless quality, perfect for the heroic, elegant tone we aimed for. The wind machines added movement to the subject’s hair and clothing, enhancing the sense of motion and life within the digital environment.

Balancing Practical and Digital Elements

One of the biggest challenges was ensuring the live footage and CG backgrounds would blend flawlessly. The pre-viz work by Kris was a game-changer, but on set, it was the real-time VTR and DIT overlays that kept us honest.

We constantly adjusted camera angles, lighting intensity, and wind direction to match the digital environment’s cues. This back-and-forth required patience and precision but paid off in the final shots. The woman’s silhouette, the glowing backlight, and the rushing wind all felt natural and integrated.

Reflections on the Shoot and the Journey

Filming pharmaceutical commercials often means working within strict guidelines and long timelines, but this project reminded me why I love the craft. The blend of technology, artistry, and collaboration created something more than just a commercial—it told a story of hope and resilience.

I’m always looking for projects that push me to think differently. This pharma campaign did just that, combining traditional lighting techniques with cutting-edge VFX to create a visual language that felt both heroic and intimate.

If you’re involved in pharma commercial production or any project that blends live action with digital environments, remember this: collaboration and planning are your best tools. Trust your VFX team, communicate clearly, and never underestimate the power of seeing your digital world come alive on set.