When my friend and fellow creative Lee Morton asked to meet with me in December I couldn’t say yes quick enough. Lee is the owner of Mozell Films, an innovative video production company here in Baltimore. When we met, Lee mentioned he thought he had a good opportunity for us to collaborate. This was great to hear considering I’ve admired Lee’s work for a very long time. When he told me what the project was, I was a little surprised to hear that it was local iconic brand Brick Bodies. If you’re from the area you’ve probably seen their commercials and heard their famous jingle “…build your body with brick!”

The Brick family has built a thriving business for over 30 years. Because of their dedication to consistency their advertising had grown somewhat predictable so they reached out to Lee to disrupt and strengthen their message telling the stories of their members in and out of the gym. He created the “Who Will You Be” campaign – a bold question and a call to action. Be the best version of yourself or let life drag you down…the choice is yours. Could a commitment to self care elevate your life outside of the gym? That is the theory we would explore.

The fact that Brick Bodies was ready to go in a bold new direction with their advertising was exciting enough for me to want to be a part of the project. Now it was time to work out the logistics. Based on a number of factors we knew that a completely stand alone still shoot was not feasible, so we’d have to get creative in making the still campaign work within the framework of the motion shoot. For stills that meant the commitment to working efficiently with minimal gear using the constant lighting in place for video, occasionally supplementing with strobes. This would be a great way to make the stills and the video as cohesive as possible. I also knew that I’d have very little time dedicated to shooting and most likely stills would have to be made during or between motion takes. In most cases is this not an ideal scenario for a still photographer, however given my relationship with Lee and his willingness to make this a true collaboration I felt confident that we’d both be able to produce what we needed within these confines.

Over the three day shoot we followed three characters through three aspects of their lives…struggle, self care and success…covering an incredible range of scenarios. Lee and his team absolutely crushed the tv spot and the library of stills we created for the client will be a great companion.

STILL CAMPAIGN SELECTS





MOZELL FILMS – 30 SECOND TV SPOT

More of Mozell’s work on this project here in the NEWS section

SUGGESTED CREATIVE EXECUTIONS

In addition to just handing over a library of images to the client, Lee and I envisioned a greater potential for the imagery for the ad campaign as well as some creative ways Brick Bodies could use what we made to display in their new state of the art gym at the Rotunda in Baltimore’s Hamden neighborhood.

BEHIND THE SCENES

CREDITS

Lead Director/ EP: Lee Morton

Director: Steve Celano

Producer: Lynda Meier

Photographer: Shawn Hubbard

DP: Kyle Deitz

AC: Aidan Gray

Associate Producer: Corey Jennings

Camera PA: Amanda Ferese

Data Manager: Nick Nyren

Props: John Fulcher

Gaffer: Dan Stack

BB Electric: Marc Elzey

Key Grip: Zach Frederick

BB Grip: Jason Shinsato

Wardrobe + Kit: Leandra Caprini-Rosica

MU + Kit: Jasmen Davis

Location Manager: Jon Jolles

Camera Accessories: DC Camera

Photog assist: Peter Grill

PA Day 1 & 2: Marco Gonzales

PA – Art Day 3: Evan Devine

G+E: Grip Serious Grip

BTS Day 1 & 2: Frankie Cerquetti

BTS Day 3: Nevin Baker