Thursday 13 October 2011

The Post Bunker Shoot Blog

The bunker shoot took months of prep and suddenly its been and gone, and its into post bunker blues, so what happened....

First of all it was an exciting event from an organisers point of view as it was the first one we'd organised outside of net-model...good move! and almost all the models hadnt been here before.

I'd always found it a bit of a problem recruiting models from outside of net-model as they usually treated it like any other group shoot and it was fifty fifty that they would turn up, they didnt see the build up and planning and didnt really appreciate what it was all about. This time it worked, and we had a 100% turn out on the day. The nuke bunker group on facebook worked very well, and it did seem that we'd formed our own little community over the months.

Ok so  what was good what was crap?

 For me it was bunker weekend rather than just the evening event. I had Violet Raven and Crimson Raine coming down to stay Saturday night after the bunker, and they agreed to come down Friday night to be able to  shoot on the Saturday, as well as at the bunker. They are both stunners and exceptional models, and more than up for any of my weirdo ideas. So I wrapped them up in plastic sheeting, covered them in glop and stuck a hot light in there for good measure....awesome! whatever I do, when I shoot with those two always seems to work.

Agnieszka Hexer-ai also came over on the Saturday, and started work on the prosthetics for the evening. She kept us in stitches most of the evening and amazed us with her fx work.

So in the evening it was into Bunkerland....and what a buzz! Practically all the models had not been before, so it was a new adventure for them and also lots hadnt met each other before, so it was great to see models that I'd shot with before having fun with each other.

My first shoot was with Sharon FiresSecret and Araneae. Into fetish gear and stuff them into a secret place I know of in the plant room (still not telling) they had to use me to climb on to get into position (hah that ploy worked, next time I'll tell them they have to wrestle me to get in). That shoot went past very quickly, its my fave spot at the bunker so I could have done with a few more hours just there.

Next was Adele and (oh crap I just remembered I didnt burn her shorts!) who I'd been looking forward to meeting after all the ideas we've been tossing around. I was after a very basic swordswoman image which was difficult to get with all the clutter in the bunker, but we eventually found a room with a white tiled wall that worked, despite the horrible green carpet, and basically got some very female assassin looks.

 Then into the corrugated exit tunnel to shoot with Exhayle, Asteria and Sharon. I cant recall what exactly we intended to shoot but it immediately turned into Hayley and Sharon torturing poor Asteria with everything from chainsaw and machine gun to axe and victorian vibrator. Hayley I hadnt met before and again great to meet someone new and find they kickass.

After that it was the V-Team of Pretty Pink, Lara Leach, Exhayle and Chixy Dynamo (who came as a last minute stand in). So I got my four badass babes with guns. I think by this time I was flagging having already shot all day, and trying to get everything I'd planned out from the bunker shoots. Maybe I was too ambitious to get as much as I wanted out of so many short shoots. The V-team shots came out well, and it was fun working with four crazy models (yes I'm greedy). Its something that needs to be re-visited in its own right to get the full effect of everything I wanted to try out on the day. V-Team babes sign up now!

Whilst all this was going on, Sophie (Crimson Raine) and Agnieszka had quietly been working away in the surgery on a Ghost in the Shell theme, so by slot 5 I was able to have a break and see what the progress was. Agnieszkas work on prosthetics and makeup was brilliant, and by Slot 6 we had Sophie as Major Kusanagi with cables attached looking awesome for the final shoot of the evening which worked brilliantly.

By hometime, I think everyone had used up all their adrenalin and for us it was, lets get home, fill the oven with pizzas and open more wine!

Next morning...zombie! I think I managed to get downstairs with the aid of gravity after rediscovering where my limbs were. A busy day of helping my guests pack and get away, taking my daughter to her ballet group in Chelmsford and in the evening taking a copy of Thor round to Johns and watch it with a curry whilst TK was still down.

Definitely a satisfying weekend with lots of fun and great images.

There is one thing I find about the bunker though, not really a negative, but the shoots are tight and hectic and you rush to your next location and set up, usually not in earshot of anyone else, so you dont get that cross shoot banter that you get say at Laredo where even if you are at opposite ends you can still hear TK. Its very much heads down get on with your shoots, no I cant stop to say hello I have my 7.20 to get to. One day we wont bring cameras, we can just play with YFNAD's toys and chase each other around the bunker....oooo now I have ideas!

For me alot of the shoots I did gave me a taster of ideas I want to develop and also a couple of models that I hadnt worked with before that I now know I will be working with in future.

Whats next?

Well quite a few possibilities.....another Wild West at Laredo, Bombers and Jets at Gatwick, Tanks up in Diss, another Bunker, and quite a few possibile Urbex shoots (all top secret!!)

Just a thought what our shoots are about

1. Achieving  great images

2. Taking the piss out of everyone including ourselves

If you cant do both, give up now.




1 comment:

  1. I came in via. Sophies FB, and this sounds like an epic weekend!

    ReplyDelete