RUNAWAYS is a nostalgic, 1990's based set of images, a short film, and an original score designed to transport viewers back in time. When I was a kid in the 90s, I always noticed the "look" and "feel" of the era, and to this day I find it to be a beautiful aesthetic. With this set, I aimed to try and recreate the feelings of being young, since those years are far behind me now. This is a youthful, innocent story with a bittersweet message that many of us may relate to.

The goal was to make this feel as realistic as possible, and truly immersive. We hope that the micro-short above, the two original art pieces below, the score and the writing bring back some childhood memories. Creating this certainly did for us!

𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟐𝟒, 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟒. (𝟖𝟒°, 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐲)
"Wow, this is it, isn't it?
It's all over. Graduation was this morning. My parents are proud of me, and I'm going to miss everyone I grew up with here.
Our song was The Sign by Ace of Base. Our class color was yellow. My Jansport backpack was always too small. Oh, and most of us never did homework. What's left for me now? Nothing, I guess. That's why I left. I climbed through my bathroom window while Dad was busy watching Forrest Gump.

I guess I know enough about the life I'm leaving behind, and not enough about the life I'm walking into."

𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟐𝟓, 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟒. (𝟕𝟒°, 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐲)

"I'm actually doing this, aren't I? Leaving home, leaving everything I grew up with behind. I guess I'm only doing it to start over, live a fresh life. Everyone I love is leaving for college, and I never really got along with my parents or brother.

There's just one thing. What do I leave behind? This is home, after all, right? There's a place. The adults don't know about it, but we do. I turned back last night just to see it one last time. Everyone has been here. It's a place to leave your mark. Maybe you're one of the cool kids, a cheerleader, or maybe you're a misfit like me. I bought these shoes here, and they carried me through high school. Now, I'll leave them here forever, so a part of me stays here forever.

Chapter two starts today, and I couldn't be more ready than I am."

 

For this project, we were beyond excited to use the Elinchrom ELB 500 + 68" Rotalux Octabox. It allowed us to create beautiful, soft light that was easily matched to the environment. The natural light taper is beautiful, and prevented any defined lighting shape, which to me is an incredible convenience. The lights themselves are incredibly bright, compact, and easy to work with on-location. We mounted the light on a handheld boom pole, which allowed us to easily walk it through the location for image two. I was surprised at just how powerful these little lights are!

For the first image, I used the incredibly well-made Snaplux modifiers alongside various gels to craft the correct lighting scenario for this scene.

Paired with the mighty Fujifilm GFX100, the light rendering was incredibly beautiful, and brought a smile to my face as soon as I captured it.

Take a look at the BTS images below!

In closing, I'd like to thank the amazing team that helped pull this together! Also, a special thank you to Elinchrom for helping make this possible, and beautiful.

Starring: Katie Masters

Original Concept & Photography: Aakaash Bali

Cinematography: Abriel Bello

Original Score & Sound Design: Christian Ladigoski

Grip & Production Assistant: Aaqil Khoja

"The shoot was awesome, I've worked with Aakaash before and it's always an exciting experience that pushes me to do something different.  Most of the modeling that I do is on a runway, or is a part of a "glam" shoot where the poses are very "fierce"so this created an experience that was much more natural, and I felt the need to pose in a way that was more like acting or dancing and your regular runway or glam shoot. 

As a 90's kid, this really brought me back, I was born in 93' so I was especially able to appreciate the different parts of my childhood that I hadn't thought about in a long time. There's something really nostalgic about these shots, and the shoot itself had the same vibe, a time that was a little more careless, outdoorsy, and young. At one point I was asked to take my shoes off, and it brought me back to a time where kids could enjoy their bare feet on grass or dirt, far away from technology!"

-Katie Masters

 

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