Brands are increasingly taking their message beyond the conference room. RocketJobs.pl and JustJoin.it turned the findings of their report „Jak pracować, by nie żałować? Pokolenia X, Y i Z o dopasowaniu do pracy” into an improv show: experts discuss labour market data, and comedians comment on it in improvised scenes. A public, ticketed show at Klub Komediowy in Warsaw, with a full house around the stage.
I photographed the evening on commission for JustJoin.it. A different brief than a corporate event: the material has to carry the show as a show – the stage, the comedians, the audience reactions – while also leaving the brand proof that its project actually happened and had an audience.
What happened
Before the programme began, I photographed what disappears first: the neon sign above the entrance, materials with the project title laid out on the chairs, two microphones waiting on the empty stage. The screen with the title above the audience also had to be in the material before anyone asked for it – it’s the shot the client uses to account for the visibility of their project.
Then the stage belonged to the comedians. Improv lives on reactions: a performer in a single spotlight, a scene with three performers, shadows on the wall, the stage flooded in red light. Then there were moments that cannot be repeated – the whole room with hands raised above their heads, when the audience started copying the comedians’ gesture. Shots like that have to be caught in a split second.
Between parts of the programme, the audience went back to talking over wine. A toast in the audience, a raised hand during an interaction with the stage, someone filming the performance on their phone. In other words, material that after the show goes into social media, the project summary and conversations with partners.
What I pay attention to at a club show
A club venue with the audience seated around the stage means the audience is the backdrop of almost every shot. This works in the material’s favour: the audience’s laughter and attention are proof that the brand’s project worked on a live, ticket-buying audience, not on invited guests.
I don’t photograph the stage only head-on. I look for shots over the shoulders of the audience, reflections in the stage floor, shadows on the walls – anything that captures the character of the venue the brand chose over a conference room.
Result
A gallery of 373 photos reached the client a few days after the show. The client confirmed receipt of the material and settled the job without any comments. It’s another collaboration with JustJoin.it in my portfolio – and the second show from Klub Komediowy.
