BTS of Succeeding On a Project With a Tight Deadline

A little behind the scenes for all the photographers and videographers out there wondering how to make a tight deadline for a last minute project. In the end, the client, Buff, was very excited with the end result of this photo and video project. So, here’s how we delivered a project in five working days:

Wednesday:
Got the call on Wednesday the project was green lighted for Friday with a start time of 5am. The kicker, the delivery was moved forward 8 days 😬

Thursday:
Packed the van and gear, headed to the beach on Thursday, arrived at 11:45pm

Friday:
Woke up 4:00 am and started production at 5:00am
Wrapped creative by 10:30am
Images done with culling & first round of edits by evening

Saturday:
Video first round started
Images finalized for approval

Sunday:
Worked towards final R1 for video

Monday:
Photos approved and delivered
Video submitted for edits

Tuesday:
"We love what you did with the video, but we want to change direction, can you do x,y,z edits?"
"Yes, be we have less than 10 hours to make this happen, what else needs to be done?"
"Can we also get a&b?"
"Yup!"

Wednesday:
"R2 is done, any final changes?"
"THANK YOU, DALTON!! You did great!!" (don't believe me on this, see the email screen shot)
Delivered 😉

Photos and video drop tomorrow, I'll share when I can.

Why and how is the deadline achievable?

The shoot was real!

What do I mean by real?

We documented an art installation, the focus was on the artist and their artwork with touches of brand. There is a story that should be told and it isn't made up. There is a sprinkle of conservation mixed with surfing. AKA it's in my wheelhouse.

Also, the team was small! Me, the artist, one rep from the brand. So, we could pivot, quickly as needed. On the edit, there were two commenters and me editing. So, that was simple and another win for the small team.

In the end, why this worked out was the size of the team matched the activation paired well with intention.

Screenshots of the finished project