Each week contestants must strut their stuff through gruelling modelling challenges and outrageous photo shoots, transforming from plain Janes to fierce covergirls.
The promo was produced in-house by e.tv’s Brandon Heyburgh. Instead of using a real model, a doll was used. “It was easy to connect parallels between a model and a doll by looking at the plastic expression on her face,” he says. “We realised a doll’s purpose is to display fashion, so all we had to do was animate her and send her down a runway.
“I bought R100 worth of cardboard boxes and proceeded to painstakingly build a set. In addition, I used a variety of torches and placed them in strategic positions to create the lighting effect needed,” he says.
Heyburgh then super-glued pins to the doll’s feet to create a more stable space and took an average of 350 still shots with a digital camera to create the finished result. Moreover, the fast-paced techno-type music that he chose is vital, and catches your attention from the word GO.
Says Kirsty Blackford, head of e.tv’s Creative Services: “All credit has to go to the producer, whom pitched an extremely difficult concept to the team and pulled it off with a mere R300 budget. Given the resources he had, it was miraculous.”
The promo flights until the 8th May on e.tv.
America’s next Top Model kicks off on Tuesday 8 May 9pm.
