Client: Budweiser: Up For Whatever campaign

Agency: Fullscreen

Creative: ScottDW

Role: Production Designer

This shoot was a blast, but darn-tootin’ was it a whole heck-of-a-lot of work. The location was a modern-day cowboy dance bar, with a gorgeous original 1920s wood floor and some great wooden architectural detailing, but also many neon signs, corrugated steel details, and an electronic bull to hide away. This wouldn’t have been too difficult as it was initially supposed to be a modified bar and stage, and yet it turned into a full 360° Wild West dance arena, equipped with a dozen fully dressed tables, chairs, custom herringbone wood panels to cover the steel, oil lamps, canteens, card games, poker chips, and more peanuts than Dumbo would know what to do with.

It’s always a treasure hunt to find everything needed for a shoot, but this took it a step further with making sure the burgundy velvet curtains, practical lighting, and musical instruments fit within the old-timey world we were creating, even if they weren’t historically accurate for the time. The massive collection of glass bottles had to be pared down to eliminate overly modern-looking beer bottles, including any bottle styles from Budweiser’s competitors. As a last minute touch, we tracked down several crystal chandeliers to add depth to the space, even if it meant hanging hundreds of yards of heavy fabric to create the illusion of walls in otherwise out-of-sight dark corners!

Phew.