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Garry : It was hard to do my pose because the position of my arm is a bit awkward and it doesn ’ t feel safe . Then I have to try not to let my leg hit the ceiling so I have to make sure my hands are not stretched out too much and that made me feel a bit heavy in my arms .
Behind the Scenes
The brief was simple : showcase HK Ballet in a fresh , high-energy way through a series of images . The execution of said photos – capturing eight shots , in multiple locations , in a single day - was equally high-energy , but maybe not so simple .
Going behind the pretty pictures , we found out that the campaign was also a tribute to tenacity , endurance , a considerable amount of flair and absolutely no fear of water , crowds , freak accidents or random injuries ! Here ’ s what some of the principals had to say :
Mido Café Garry Corpuz ( Corps de Ballet , HK Ballet ): This is my first time to experience this kind of photo shoot . It was such a great experience shooting in a small restaurant with the crowd watching . The restaurant is just a normal restaurant in Hong Kong , nothing fancy , but when the photos came out it turned out to look like such a classy restaurant .
Pum Lefebure ( Chief Creative Officer and Co-founder , Design Army ): Inspired by the movie In the Mood for Love by Wong Kar-Wai , we chose a Mido Café – a chic micro 1950s café that had an incredible graphic appeal and the perfect backdrop for a modern-day romance .
Pum : What makes this shot so surreal is that the café is so , so tiny – Garry must have kicked that ceiling 100 times – glad Mr Mido didn ’ t kick us out .
Tsim Sha Tsui Waterfront Lauma Berga ( Corps de Ballet , HK Ballet ): We were shooting very early in the morning . We were the second group to be shooting that day and our call time was 6am . I was shooting just outside of the Cultural Centre , which is our work place , therefore I can say I knew the location very well . Our shoot sure did draw the full attention of a few people ,
who happened to be in that location at such an early hour . What I enjoyed most was the make-up van . It was like the ones Hollywood uses to prepare their actors for shooting . I had never seen one in my life before , but I had a nice and fancy ( in a funny way ) feeling being inside .
Sampan in front of the Jumbo Kingdom Floating Restaurant Pum : Last shot of the day was scheduled to get the right light – which also meant we had to deal with rushhour water taxi traffic . Shooting in a wobbling boat was not easy for our two school-uniformed dancers ( Leung Chunlong and Yang Ruiqi ) balancing a stack of dim sum . It was hard enough for our light crew ( who were in another boat ) to keep steady . After some careful boat maneuvering we caught a break as the fog machines were rolling , wind was optimal and the dancers finally got their sea legs . Later that day , we found out that one of the dancers couldn ’ t even swim , but wanted to capture the image no matter what !
Ying Fat Buildings Pum : While some may see the highrise apartments as an unpleasant neighborhood , we were inspired by the graphic-ness and colours . We wanted to communicate the strength that is in the lives of those who live there by having the artistic energy of the dancers ( Shen Jie and Li Lin ) showcased in street wear . This lets the athleticism of ballet shine through . We then added tension between our soaring dancers with a pose that ’ s suggestive of both conflict and unity . It ’ s sort of like Street Fighter meets Street Flyer . Creative : Design Army Photography : Dean Alexander
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