The fashion house, Jacadi Paris, is already getting ready to release its Fall/Winter 2021 Collection. Last year, Thomas Hutteau was the Cinematographer on the set as Jacadi as they launched a commercial for their Christmas clothing line. He explains that camera placement is critical whether you’re shooting a commercial or a feature film. The Cinematographer’s job intersects with the director’s vision and how they want the brand to be marketed.

Camera movement can either look amateur or professional, depending on the experience of the Cinematographer. It’s very important to choose someone with experience, and that follows the current trends in advertising. Cinematographers must be familiar with angles and lighting and understand how that will translate into selling the product. 

Thomas Hutteau explains that Jacadi’s clothing line was inspired by the pure joy and happiness of a child, offering a chic carefree style. This collection, in particular, featured bold prints and color choices for the holidays. “So, the commercial was shot as a luxury brand should be,” Hutteau explains. “The clothing line is constructed beautifully with classic lines and elegant fabrics, so we had to capture that on camera.” 

The camera pulls back to see the whole look in its entirety, and then the girls spin, hold hands and hug. Hutteau explains that the shots feature extreme close-ups and then onto the subject’s attire. There is also the concept of aspect ratio, the width, and the height of the frame. Landscapes and action are meant for wider frames. “I combined a tall and wide frame for this to show the entire garment, ” Hutteau explains. “The set featured custom crafted stained glass pieces to add a holiday feel, so I wanted to capture that in the frame as well.”

Hutteau adds that the camera focus is used to emphasize different elements in the performance. The girls appear to be twins or sisters in the commercial. They look away from each other and then face each other. This was used to show the garment, but often the focus adds something to the character or plot. There was a great deal of editing that went into these shots. As you can see, there are some intricacies in the camerawork with spinning images and cutting and piecing of the scenes. 

It’s interesting because you are trying to market the brand to adults and children. So, what attracts children to commercials is not the same as what attracts adults. Not just adults, but parents who are a little more critical of commercials selling clothes to their children. The commercial needed to visually represent what parents and children both feel is a celebration of fashion. It needed to be fun but still very practical, showing the garment up close for parents to see the quality. 

Choosing the appropriate lens for the occasion was crucial. Hutteau explains that the image needed to be very crisp and clear. Clarity is what most commercials are going for unless it’s a perfume ad. Those ads are likely to blur the scenes for style purposes, but advertising a clothing line, especially one as high-end as this, you want to see the lines and materials. “The clothing line was inspired by the playfulness of the holidays, and the set and crew brought that to life,” Hutteau says.