Through Color, Emotion and Framing Kremer Johnson Reimagines Automotive Advertising

Kremer/Johnson excels at rethinking advertising archetypes. Using their strength of crafting strong narratives through conceptual scenes, they are able to flip the creative on its head to refresh and bring new and inventive ideas. Such was the case on their project with Chevy to photograph the brand’s new Silverado and told by the creative director to specifically stay away from traditional automotive advertising. 

With the proverbial campfire lit, Neil and Cory set off into the woods to do just that. Using high tech camping gear and inspiration from Wes Anderson, the duo and their team produced a shoot that will have you say "yee haw". 

What was the inspiration for this shoot?

When we were approached for this project, the creative director was very clear that they didn’t want images of the truck in a field doing farm work. Use of pick up trucks has changed over the years and now, many young people now use trucks as camping vehicles. The creative director also said to combine the style of Wes Anderson with high tech camping tools so we were all in.

What elements of Wes Anderson did you bring to this project?

There are three distinct elements we used to get that Wes Anderson look. Color is a huge one. We wanted to create a clear color story through the use of color harmony. I actually took stills of Moonrise Kingdom and through a process I’ve done before, captured the color palette and then used that for this project. 

Framing was another aspect that we used here. Wes Anderson movies are notable for the way scenes are framed. We wanted to make sure that everything was center of frame to create the iconic look of symmetry. And finally, expressions on talent were really important. We always focus on talent and what kind of expressions they can give so this came naturally to us. 

What was a challenge you experienced?

The client provided all of the high tech camping gear they wanted us to incorporate. Literally pallets of gear showed up at Neil’s house and we transported them to the shoot which was in the woods a couple of hours outside of LA. It was a fun challenge, but a challenge nonetheless to incorporate all of the tech. However adding a semi absurd amount of the products into the shots added to the Wes Anderson look we were going for so it worked out. We know it's a trend to camp this way so we wanted to vibe with that community.

What do you want people to learn about you and your work from this project?

We have the ability to produce and art direct shoots on our own. We are all about collaboration, however sometimes depending on the client or budget it’s not possible for them to provide us with all the pieces of the puzzle. One of our greatest strengths as a duo is that we can handle multiple roles and source the elements to successfully produce a shoot.