Behind the scenes
The making of Business Lasers
Leander Police Department · written, cast, directed and edited by White Lens
Shot in a few hours
Behind the scenes · Austin & Central Texas
What a shoot day actually looks like.
Most people have never had a camera crew in their building, and the honest question underneath "how much does it cost" is usually "how disruptive is this going to be?"
So here is the answer, in photographs. This is what it looks like when we turn up.
Watch a whole shoot
We turned a room into an office. With lasers.
Leander Police Department needed to reach businesses whose alarm systems were badly placed or faulty. We wrote it, cast it, directed it and cut it — an employee trying to arm the alarm through an impossible obstacle course. Shot in a few hours. Stay to the end and see how many of the effects were practical.
And the finished spot
Business Lasers
A public-service message about alarm placement that people actually watch, because it is funny. Watch it after the behind-the-scenes and the effects stop being invisible.
Watch the commercial →
This is the kind of thing that happens when a script comes before a shot list.
What to expect
A calm set is a prepared set.
Thirty years of doing this mostly buys you one thing: nothing on the day is a surprise. Here is what a shoot involves from your side of it.
01
Before the day
You get a shot list
You know what we are filming, in what order, and roughly when, before anyone arrives. Nobody is figuring it out in your lobby.
02
Setup
About an hour, usually one room
Lighting and audio go up in the space we agreed on. We work around your day rather than the other way round — and we bring our own power, stands and everything else.
03
On camera
Nobody memorises anything
If you or your team are on camera, we talk you through it. Teleprompter if you want one, coaching if you would rather just answer questions. Most people are fine within ten minutes.
04
Crew size
One to five people
A testimonial is often two of us. A commercial is a full crew. You know the number before the day, and it is the smallest number that will do the job properly.
05
Wrap
Footage is backed up before we leave
Two copies, on site, same day. Then a rough cut for your notes, two rounds of revisions, and final files in every format you need.
Still have a question about how a shoot day would work in your building? Ask.
On set
A peek behind the lens.
Boardrooms, living rooms, fire stations, ball fields and the side of a road above the Pennybacker Bridge — across Austin and Central Texas.
Boardroom, job site or fire station — we have shot in all of them across Central Texas.
Ready when you are
Now imagine your place in these photos.
Tell us what you are trying to do and we will tell you what it takes — crew size, days, and a number. No pressure either way.