I was less than a week into real advertising. Fresh after 3 month of rigorous MUDRA MANAGEMENT TRAINING PROGRAMME ( MMTP-II) under Dr. Naganand Kumar and CM Ramesh (UNCLE TOM). At that stage one believed everything was possible. I was going to be the Brand Saviour.
In my first week I was sent to Mumbai on shoot for brand- Mayur Suiting’s. Oh I had finally arrived in the glamor world of Advertising. Mumbai shoot coordinator had done the best possible – and I was to just ensure nothing went wrong. Get the shoot den and get back to Ahmedabad with the results.
I was new to Mumbai fickle weather. The shoot was at Mud Island with the ace photographer Denzil Sequaria. We had booked one of those bungalows used for the shoot and were shooting next to the pool. Light was becoming an issue. All the models were ready when weather decided to play spoilsport.
Denzil after waiting for light to improve finally decided to call off the shoot. It was around 4 in the evening and enough light as per this novice of an Account Executive- yours truly. Anyway, his calling the shoot off was against my demand from the assignment and it seemed perfect place to show my IIMA taught- sharpened at MMTP crisis management skills.
I have already confessed I was new to the system. I was unaware of the protocol at location including not knowing who takes which decision. Only thing I knew was Client Servicing has to deliver on the requirements of the brand. So, when Denzil said it was bad light, it was not going to be ok with me. Result me taking him to a corner ( I have been taught that confrontations should ideally not be in public) where this interesting conversation took place.
- ME: Denzil is the light really bad
- DENZIL: Yeah baba I know, what do you think,
- ME: But we must shoot- everything is ready
- DENZIL: I can’t shoot we will not get the right results
- ME: But if we don’t shoot we will get no results.
- DENZIL: We will shoot tomorrow
- MW: If you don’t mind give me your camera and I will shoot.
- DENZIL: You know how to shoot…. and what will you do
- ME: No….. you tell me and I will try to shoot. Anyway we have lost model sitting fee, travel- stay- location and your fee- if we shoot we would lose another 3-4 roll cost ( That was much before digital became the format of default ) – If I get at least just 1 workable transparency (TP) – it would have been worth it
He stares at me and them for some reason smiled and handed me his camera. Well it has more notations and levers than there are alphabets un english. Yet I bravely heard him out and with confidence went ahead and shot with the models. It was experimentation at its peak.
when we saw results after a week, Philip the art director at Mudra Ahmedabad agreed to salvage the situation. We used two of the pictures. They were not the best but finally the client approved and one TP was used to create the 20X30 Poster for trade promotion.
This episode led to a different kind of understanding between Denzil and me. In the time that I spent at Mudra Ahmedabad, I ended up doing a lot of shoots with him. Many stories took shapes at those shoots and I will soon share a few of them.
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LEARNING: You can always try and do an trade-off. Never give up. DAR KAY AAGEY JEET HAI.
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Other episodes in Advertising and marketing
● Thank You ● Rain Clause – I ● Lethal Combination ● APPETITE ● Puncture ● Adultery- the moment ● ASSET ● I am Sankar ● The Count ● Introduction ● Time Bomb ● Small Tile ● Shoot Report ● Sardar Khush Hoga ● Kaali Peeli Picture ● Upgrade ● Juhi Effect ● Power Of Punjab ● Out ● Two More ● Eleven Minutes ● The Cherry Win ● The Presentation ● Black Gold ● Buffered ● Continue With Client ● Not Fired ● One Less Decision ● The Ghost Of 35 Rani Jhansi Road Jhandewalaon ● The Problem ● Imported Art Card ● Banyan Tree Agency
