Erich Saide Goes Back to School for Best Buy Canada

That phase in life when teenagers leave the bird’s nest for higher education, pursuing their dreams while also taking on more responsibilities, can be daunting. It’s a transitionary period where any assistance would be welcome. But if friends and family can’t provide that support, maybe technology can. That was the message Best Buy Canada delivered with their Back to School campaign in Fall 2022, that technology essentials could be helpful companions in pursuing your ambitions. To help with the campaign’s imagery, Best Buy contacted Vancouver-based photographer Erich Saide.

I was originally contacted by the manager of Best Buy Studios for a previous shoot that did not happen. He found me on Google, liked my job, and added me to their roster after a brief talk. I had worked with Best Buy on a previous Back to School campaign about six years ago, but that was with a completely different creative team. It was a simpler setup, not in a studio, and managed by a different branch of the company. The team that hired me for this shoot had no knowledge of my past work with them.

With the reset button pressed, Erich was ready to partner with a new team that required his particular skills and experience for the campaign.

Best Buy Studios is the brand’s in-house creative studio. On bigger campaigns, they bring on freelance photographers with more experience, based on what that campaign needs. In this case, they needed a photographer fluent in action studio shoots and a tethered workflow, capable of working and collaborating with a creative team to help them execute their vision.

The campaign was to bear the tagline “go from believing to achieving,” focused on product essentials that would help students during the new school year. A laptop that would be great for coursework and gaming, an air fryer that will reduce your time spent cooking, and a camera to catalog your favorite memories and create content for your class assignments – or perhaps that YouTube channel you started on the side.

Each image was to be a composite of three photos featuring a student, telling their story on campus with technology as a welcome companion along the way. As far as brand guidelines that Erich had to follow? Stick to the yellow and blue.

The photoshoot took place in Vancouver over three days in May 2022, with Best Buy’s creative team at hand.

Day One was dedicated to set-building, testing lights, and preparing for the craziness to come. Day Two and Three were full shooting days: photographing, problem-solving, and directing the talent to get the best action possible.

The final output makes everything look simple and straightforward, but Erich had to obsess over plenty of details during production. First, he had to capture two sets of subjects: the people and the products. Of these two, the first required more direction. Their facial expressions and limb positions needed to be just right, and natural enough for the product they were using. Being professional actors, though, all the subjects quickly acclimated to the task at hand.

This was a great example of why shooting tethered is important on commercial productions. Seeing the images in real time was crucial to adjusting and directing the talent. It took a lot of trial and error to get them in the perfect position on set, but we did it mid-jokes and had a lot of fun in the process.

Talent aside, another challenge during production was maintaining consistency. Glaring differences between the transitions could not be tolerated, especially for a composite featuring multiple versions of the same subject. In that regard, lighting was key, ensuring the background was illuminated evenly while shadows settled on the right spots. The desk seen in some of the photos would also need to remain a steadfast constant, and this is where Erich’s background as a carpenter came in handy.

Our desk was created on the fly with a piece of wood painted Best Buy-blue, secured by C-stands. It had to be perfectly level to look like one big table in post. The talent would interact with it during the photoshoot, so we had to create a solid enough structure that would take bumps, elbows, and knees without moving at all.

The makeshift table remained sturdy and intact throughout production. If Erich’s photography career stalls for some reason – which is highly unlikely at this point – carpentry will always be around to comfort him. But while the table made it to the end of production, other items were not so lucky.

The entire shoot was absurdly fun! My favorite moment was when we smashed a LEGO sculpture built by a professional. We wanted to capture it on camera, but only had one chance to do it. The talent was very anxious about it since she’d have to be aware of her expression and be precise on how to launch it forward.

Adults don’t get to break things that often, let alone call the breaking of things something fun. So in that sense, the photoshoot served as Erich’s opportunity to head “back to school”, and let his inner child shine through.

See more of Erich’s work on his website.

Credits

Photo Assistant and DigiTech: Kai Mallari
Head of Creative: Adam Woodhouse
Art Director: Jessie Ng
Project Manager: Jinky Nakamoto
Producers: Nick MacDonald, Eli Semotiuk
Wardrobe Stylist: Sarah D’Arcey
Set Decoration/Props: Adam Ferch
HMUA: Ikara Howard, Maddy Temoin

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