Ghouls Night In: Our Halloween Take on Girls Night In
Every October we give ourselves a creative assignment. This year it was our Halloween take on a girls' night in: candlelight, punch with floating ping-pong eyeballs, a witch blowing out a candle, and the whole crew raising a toast. We gave ourselves one session to pull it off, and we set, styled, filmed, and cleaned up in 4.5 hours.
A costume closet years in the making
The real hero of this shoot is Katelyn. She has a library of Halloween costumes going back years, and she kindly brought it to the studio. The whole team dressed from Katelyn's collection: witches, a red devil, and plenty of black velvet. I went my own way as a hippie, from Amazon, because I love flowers and anything orange.
Set first, then the transformation
We built the room before anyone put on a costume. We pulled props from our in-house prop room: spider webs over a red backdrop, a table of pumpkins, black taper candles in crystal holders, skeleton hands reaching into the punch bowl, and a spread of frosted cookies and candy. Once the set was standing, everyone did their own hair and makeup and stepped in front of the camera.
New toys on test day
We do fast setups like this for clients all the time, so test days are where we get to play. This time, we added a disco light and a fog machine to the kit, plus a huge box of ping-pong eyeballs. The eyeballs ended up floating in the punch, piled in the candy bowls, and staring out of the cocktail glasses. The fog and disco light gave the room movement, and that red party glow you see in every shot. Next time a brand asks for a party, nightlife, or seasonal look, those tools are already lit, tested, and ready to go.
The same workflow we use for product video
This wasn't just a party. It was a run of the camera workflow we use for lifestyle video for CPG and food and beverage brands. We shot vertical at 24 frames per second for a cinematic feel, planned short clips for each moment, and kept the set standing so we could repeat each action until it landed. A pour, a spoon lifted to camera, a candle blown out: each is a small performance, and we shoot each one more than once.
We take the same approach when a brand needs reels of its product in real hands, in a real scene, with real people enjoying it. The props change, but the process stays the same.
Color is part of the story
I graded the final cut in-house, pushing the warm reds and oranges and letting the candlelight carry the shadows. The whole reel feels like one party, not a string of clips.
Why we do creative shoots
Client work comes first, but shoots like this keep the crew sharp and show brands what a lifestyle day with us feels like: fast, fun, and organized. If you have a seasonal launch coming up, holiday or otherwise, we can build exactly this kind of content for your product.
Thank you, Katelyn, for opening your costume closet to all of us.
Crew:
Katelyn Kelley, Jordan Hill, Ryann Hill, Judy Doherty
Planning a lifestyle video shoot for your product? Try our CPG Photo Shoot Planner or book a free call.
