The House That Andric Built

In PDN June the article The Post Moderns profiles three advertising photographers who specialize in subtle post-production. Here the Toronto-based Andric (one of the three) in his own words reveals some of the tricks of his trade he put to use on a campaign for LandAmerica. We also get the perspective from the leading creative at the agency.


The Campaign

"This is one execution of a three-print campaign for LandAmerica--a client who specializes in insurance coverage for new homeowners. The ads depict paper houses placed into cityscapes and suburban scenes. The paper house concept was chosen to illustrate that all one's insurance needs are covered by just one piece of paper. The agency was the Atlanta-based West Wayne and the main creative on the campaign was creative director Rich Wakefield."


The Mood

"The intent when planning this image was to create an intriguing, ambiguous atmosphere and make sure the paper building becomes just one of the interesting elements. We didn't want to be too ostentatious and overdo the special effects. I firmly believe people don't like concepts being thrown in their face - it is almost like underestimating their intelligence.

"To obtain that atmosphere, a very new suburb development in Toronto was chosen, for its distinctly fake, movie set quality. On a prep day we [photographer, art director, creative director, client and producer] had a little brainstorming session on site, putting together a list of additional elements we would like to have in the picture and agreed on a little girl playing with the sprinkler and a ball, a guy with a lawnmower and another man with the barbecue.

"By keeping these elements small, we avoided giving any of them excessive importance, again in the conviction that a successful image is always more than the sum of its parts. Also, it would hopefully retain the viewer's attention a little longer, giving then the opportunity to search the picture further.

"I like to think about this whole campaign as a sort of homage to David Lynch: A slightly disquieting sense of expectation and absence is present in all three images."


The Shoot

"All pieces were shot in 4x5 with a 110mm wide-angle lens. I shoot most of my stuff in this format since it gives me so much more control over the perspective; and also because I really have to think about the image before I get to the camera and not through the camera. The two basic images (the paper and the suburban scene) were shot about three hours apart. The sun was at the appropriate angle for the tree in the foreground in early afternoon, and ideal for the buildings in the background at sunset. The sky comes from my extensive stock (18 years on the road) and had been shot in Nevada, 4x5 as well. The little girl playing, man with the lawn mower and the barbecue scene were done one at a time, same day.

"The paper house was shot in location, positioned in front of the camera so that it covers the same area it would have in the final image. This way, not only the lighting matches that of the real scene, but also the distortion of the slightly wide-angle lens used. We used a real LandAmerica insurance form, letter size (8.5 x 11 inch)."

Creative Director Rich Wakefiled explains: "The original plan was to shoot the paper in a studio. Andric had other ideas. Right from the start he was thinking all the time about how this would look. A lot of photographers just go for the easiest option. He said the paper had to be shot outdoors lined up in front of the house; because of the subtleties in the shadows the light had to be identical. It was a really windy day and the paper was flapping all over the place, so we had to put phone cord behind it to make it look more sturdy."

The Post-production

Back to Andric: "The most time-consuming part of the post production was removing the house that stood where the paper one had to be placed, and reconstructing the fence, grass and many other little pieces surrounding it. We had shot and scanned several positions for each of the characters in the image, and tried them in various combinations until we settled for what we see now. Once all pieces were in place, color was done. A simplified color palette helps not only to blend all elements together but also to introduce us into a parallel world where a paper house becomes acceptable, not impossible.

"I've been doing all my digital work myself for the past eight years. Since I know what can and what can't be done in post, I just shoot all my pieces in a way that would leave me as much space for further experimentation as possible. In other words, when on location, I would always first shoot all the elements necessary to assemble the basic image and than just let the location inspire us further. There's nothing better than reality as a building block of a fantasy. Imperfections are impossible to create sitting at a desk - they have to be found out there.

"It is always inspiring working with an art director who treats the production as a new beginning of a creative process and not as the end of his lonely work of generating the concept. Translating a lay out into an image is not about cosmetics and execution but about taking that concept to a new level. That has been the pattern every time I worked with Rich - he is always ready to push things further and keep looking for new ideas wherever and from whomever they come from.

Wakefield offers his insights: "What I like most about Andric's post-production work is that it is subtle, it looks like it's all been done in-camera. It also great that the photographer is all the person who is doing the retouching, so it is all very hands-on and that problem solving can go on during the shoot. The only thing about Andric that I do worry about is how he gets any sleep. We would shoot all day and then he would spend all night on the post-production."

Andric's final thoughts: "Art directors know that they will be dealing with the same person after we've done shooting. It means that I am being paid (at a day rate of $8000 a day) for my complete vision. We can discuss the feel of the photos during the shoot and we can experiment and evolve. Post production is a great opportunity to rework images and a lot of fun and not enough photographers take advantage of that.



Agency: West Wayne/Atlanta
Art director: Joel Davis
Creative Director: Rich Wakefield
Producer: Phaedra Kennedy/Westsidestudio
Location: outside Toronto