The Power of Collaboration
A few weeks ago, FIVE2NINE set out to do a style of shoot that we had not done before. We had four big consecutive shooting days.Although each shoot has its own set of challenges, one of these days was more logistically significant than the others.It had been in the works since this spring, and planning for this was no small feat.The idea was a collaborative shoot that brought together various outdoor brands, seven to be precise.
Most of the shoots that we do are conceptually the same.There is one client, we do some shooting for them, and edit a very nice piece.This particular shoot was not that.The goal for this shoot was to capture beautiful stock footage for each brand. Stock footage simply refers to generic footage that doesn’t convey any particular story. This type of content is very valuable to companies such as these because they have no real expiry date and can serve many purposes.
The idea of bringing together seven brands was unique and beneficial to everyone involved for several reasons. The brands included in this first collaborative shoot were Kenauk nature center, Level Six, Salus Marine, Novacraft Canoe, Bending Branches, Equator Coffee Roasters, and Tourism Outaouais. Firstly, it allowed these brands to split the cost of one day of shooting.This was crucial in getting as many brands on board as we did since many of them may not have had the budget for a full day of shooting by themselves.Secondly, it created a collective of sorts and promoted future collaborations between the brands on this shoot.This is obviously good for the long term prosperity of these brands.
The shoot itself was comprised of Stand Up Paddling, Canoeing, Rock Climbing, Cooking, and Camping.The shooting location was the Kenauk Nature Centre.This oasis is a privately own, 65 000 acre land that welcomes people from all over that are searching for a nature paradise.We were lucky enough to have access to this amazing place.We began at a little beach on a Lac Poisson Blanc where we shot all of the aforementioned activities with the exception of cooking.
In the afternoon we took four motorboats 20 minutes across the lac to a quaint little campsite with a very wild feel.Here we would shoot more of these activities in the evening magic hour as well as some cooking and morning coffee the next day.
Moving that many people and what felt like a metric tonne of camera and camping equipment was no small feat but the help of our awesome talent and Karl from Kenauk Nature’s amazing staff made it possible.Once setup we got fightback to shooting until the light was all gone.
We woke up the next day, did some quick morning coffee shooting and then packed up again and head back to the cars.
What came out of the shoot was a huge amount of content for all parties involved to use for years to come. We were very fortunate to have great talent on and off the screen as well.
Looking back, the team here is very stoked with the outcome of the shoot and we hope that the brands who partook in the shoot will be equally stoked once they see the footage we were able to capture. We already have our next shoot of this same style booked for the fall.