PRODUCT AND TABLETOP FILMS
Controlled light, a locked table, frames approved before the take.
Tabletop is the opposite of an event: nothing is spontaneous and everything is a decision. Where the light wraps, how the label sits, whether the surface is slate or paper, how a pour behaves at a hundred and twenty frames a second. A product film is mostly won in the hour before the first take, when those things get decided on a reference board instead of being argued about on the clock.
I art-direct and direct these. Surfaces, props, the frame list, and the shot order that keeps the product handled as little as possible. The DOP and gaffer execute lighting I brief, and the material decides that brief — a chrome body, a glass bottle and a matte fabric each need a different setup. Every frame gets approved on the monitor before the take rather than fixed in cleanup later.
The output is a small library, not a single video. A fifteen-second hero cut, six-second loops that work silent, and a set of macro inserts the rest of the campaign can keep reusing for a year. Cleanup gets briefed as a written list — dust, seams, label alignment, rig removal — and reviewed by me before anything is called final.
WHAT I DO
- Reference board and look direction — the finish, surface, palette and mood the film is aiming at, agreed before the table is set
- Frame list — every shot specified: product orientation, movement, lens intent, and which frames exist as macro inserts
- Styling and set direction — surfaces, props, liquids and hand-model actions, directed shot by shot on the day
- Material-specific lighting brief — reflective, transparent and matte products each get their own setup, specified to the DOP and gaffer
- On-monitor frame approval — each frame signed off before the take, so cleanup is never fixing a composition
- Cleanup and retouch brief — dust, seams, label alignment and rig removal listed for the artist, then reviewed by me
- Delivery set — a 15-second hero cut, 6-second loops, silent-first versions, and a macro insert library in 16:9, 1:1 and 9:16
HOW I WORK
- 01
LOOK
Reference board and material tests that settle finish, surface and palette before any day is booked.
- 02
FRAMES
A frame-by-frame list with orientation, movement and lens intent, plus the shot order that protects the product.
- 03
TABLE
On set I art-direct styling and brief the lighting, then approve each frame on the monitor before it is shot.
- 04
FINISH
Written cleanup brief, then edit, grade and sound reviewed to the hero cut, the loops and the insert library.
BEST FOR
- D2C brands whose product has a texture, finish or pour worth seeing properly
- Launches that need a hero film plus a reusable library of detail shots
- Brands whose generated product visuals look good but cannot show the real material
- Companies with one hero SKU and a lot of placements to fill from it
NOT THIS
- Not catalogue photography at volume — two hundred SKUs on white is a different brief with a different crew and rate structure
- Not AI product key art — generated hero visuals and stylised product imagery are quicker and live under AI Commercial Production
- Not packaging or label design — I will direct how it is lit and framed, not redraw the artwork
THE PROOF
Published case studies from cinematic production work. Each one names the client and shows what was delivered.
STRAIGHT ANSWERS
REST OF CINEMATIC PRODUCTION
MAKE A
WISH.
Tell me what you're building. I'll tell you how loud it can get.
- /01
YOU WRITE
Tell me what you're building and what's in the way. Two lines is enough.
- /02
WE TALK
A 30-minute call, booked within 7 days. Real questions, no pitch theatre.
- /03
YOU GET A PLAN
Scope, timeline and an honest number, usually within a week.