When I went for my interview at Zeno Group’s old office in the AON building I was mesmerized by the mural on the wall, a sign to me that this was a creative place where I could let the artist inside shine through. Therefore I was over the moon when Motiv8 hired me to capture the behind the scenes of Justus Gillette Roe, the artist who created Zeno’s mural.
I got a bit of one on one time with Justus, capturing this headshot as part of my shotlist. He showed parts of his mural featuring his daughter and wife, they can be seen in almost every mural he creates.
The sun was shining brightly that day but camera operator Keith Walker didn't need no stinking shade, his sweatshirt made the perfect cover.
Justus in action, adding some green to his layer of blue. He doesn't plan these murals out, he just lets the color and environment take shape.
Keith and Mike were a fabulous dynamic duo. They work well together and I enjoyed watching their wonder twin powers in action.
A creative meeting in the tunnel to plan out the action. Couldn't resist the silhouettes, you can almost hear the conversation.
Every time I turned around the mural set the perfect backdrop for each shot. I just loved how the shape of the camera is mimicked in the shapes behind Director of Photography, Mike Swanson.
Keeping his eye on the drone in the sky, grip Sean O'Leary looks cool and confident in his aviators, like he's just there to soak up the late summer sun.
When doing behind the scenes shoots you've got to get the sweet shot of what's on the camera with the shot of what's happening on set.
Moving equipment from place to place requires a little creativity. Audio man, Hayden Jackson, certainly had fun with it.
Fearless Field Producer, Jason Bellue, supervises everything from down below. He's just not a fan of ladders 😉
And as the sun starts to dip down into the horizon, we capture Justus putting the final touches on his mural. You can see this mural at 1001 S. State Street, or if you were at Lollapalooza the Perry Stage featured one of his murals and boy did people love getting their picture taken in front of it. One things for sure, everywhere you go you'll now recognize the work of Justus Gillette Roe.
All in all it was a great time being the “behind the scenes” photographer. These shoots weren’t about me, my skill, or my visions. Instead I was there to document the work and effort that went into making these videos. I was a fly on the wall, with a camera of course. Stay tuned for more of these projects!
