How Luxury Watch Videos Get Made with Nolan Shi

Your watch looks incredible in hand, so why does it fall flat on camera? That gap is where luxury watch photographer and videographer Nolan Shi lives. Nolan is based in New York and has quietly become the person behind the kind of watch imagery you’ve probably double tapped without knowing who shot it. We talk about how he went from acting and commercial production to filming vintage watches, then quickly leveling up to some of the most expensive, unforgiving pieces you can put under lights.

We get nerdy and practical about luxury watch videography: why dust is a full-time enemy when you’re working with thousands of frames, how reflections behave on polished cases and domed crystals, and what actually helps (big diffusion, circular polarizers, even cross-polarization). Nolan also shares the small decisions that make a watch feel alive, like letting a chronograph run, embracing controlled shadows, and keeping the crystal looking real instead of “perfect.”

Then we zoom out to the watch content marketing side. Clients often bring AI or 3D render references that create impossible expectations, and Nolan explains how he protects his style, prices his time, and turns down briefs that don’t fit a brand’s identity. We also talk gear without the hype: why 4K is enough, what lenses he actually relies on, the motion tools he can’t live without, and whether a robot arm is worth it. Plus, he hints at what’s next: a microbrand and a beginner-friendly masterclass for creators.

Subscribe for more insider conversations, share this with a friend who shoots watches, and leave a review if you want more deep dives like this. What’s the hardest part of filming a watch for you: dust, reflections, or getting smooth motion?

Follow Nolan here:

https://www.instagram.com/nolanshi.himself/

Transcript

Welcome And Guest Setup

Blake Rea 0:01

Hello, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of the Lonely Risk Podcast. I'm your host, as always, Blake Ray. And today's guest is probably behind a lot of the watch imagery that you've double tapped on without even knowing who made it. We are sitting down with Nolan Shee, who is a luxury watch photographer and videographer based in New York, who's been shooting some of the most expensive and unforgiving objects you can put in front of a camera. And in my opinion, Nolan is a master of lighting, you know, creating amazing imagery and motion that makes watches feel alive on screen. So stick around. I'm gonna see if I can get him to reveal some of his secrets, talk about what it's like to handle some of these six-figure watches and really understand, you know, who is the client for high-end watch content content today and why so much of what you see on Instagram looks the exact same. So Nolan, brother, welcome to the the Hello, hello.

SPEAKER_00 1:06

Finally, finally, after weeks of postponing, finally, yeah, we meet each other. Yeah, thank you for the amazing introduction. I'm very flattered. Hi guys.

Blake Rea 1:18

No, yeah, thank you. And mostly, I have to say, mostly it's my fault why we've had to reschedule, but no, no, no, it's been been amazing about rescheduling and going back and forth, and we've had to reschedule this multiple times, and and we finally made it. So finally, let's go. Yeah, I know. I'm excited because this you're gonna be you're gonna be the first real I I don't dare I say watch content creator, like filmmaker, photographer, like you know, somebody who's doing this on on a an insane level right now. So I'm super curious to like, you know, you had told me briefly kind of like where you started and how you got here, but let let's jump back into that and tell me how you got into to filmmaking and photography and how you landed in into the watch industry.

From Acting To Watch Work

SPEAKER_00 2:09

Yeah, so basically, if I have to start from the very start, the very start is that like I started as an actor after I finished high school, I go into auditioning and stuff, and then I work with a lot of filmmakers and directors, and I found my I find myself like, oh, like I wonder how it feels like behind like staying behind the camera. I started picking up a camera, I started shooting, I started shooting my friends and dogs and cats, and I started enjoys. And then I became serious. I got into productions, I joined an in-house like marketing teams, and I started shooting commercials and stuff. And then while I was doing script writing and acting, after that, like you know, civil wars and stuff happened back in my country, so I have to move to this New York City, and I have to start from zero. And I would say exactly around a year ago, a friend tell me that, oh, like there is a place that they are looking for some videographer. And I was like, okay, I think I might be the right candidate. What are they like looking for to shoot? And they're like, oh, it's vintage watches. I'm like, oh, I've never shot watches, but I have uh like a watch lying around with me, so I might be able to shoot some sample reels and send it to them. And I sent it to them, they liked it. It's not like 100% liked it. Back back then the video was very bad, just holding it very shaky with a single light, and I don't like understand about like how to cut like white balance the gold from the watch, and like you know, everything is messed up. So I had to learn it, and then they accept me, like we start as a trial, and then and then they take me in as full-time back then. Yeah, that's how I started a year ago, like with vintage watches.

Blake Rea 3:54

Wow, dude, a year ago, that's crazy. That's crazy. And then yeah, and then I mean, the way that you shoot watches is it feels so dynamic in the sense that first of all, you and I are both Panasonic guys, which is freaking awesome. Oh, really?

SPEAKER_00 4:14

Yeah, you are a Panasonic guy too.

Blake Rea 4:17

I am, I am if I I have a lot of cameras, but if I'm just gonna grab one, it's gonna be a Panasonic. All right, yeah, so yeah, yeah. So L Mount, L Mount Alliance, Alliance, and then and then yeah, I mean, the way that you shoot, it makes the watches really feel alive because you have little arms and you have dynamic motion that you're creating in the set, and then I mean you spend a really a lot of a lot of time kind of really curating this look. So, like, like how do you get inspiration and and and yeah, any any advice you can lend to somebody who can take take inspiration?

SPEAKER_00 4:55

Yeah, so I would say I'm not gonna take like full like uh credit

Finding A Luxury Visual Style

SPEAKER_00 5:00

to myself because like you know, like the my taste or my like uh signature shots and move, it grows from my client feedbacks and stuff. So I started as like I wear a glove, shoot in front of it, and I start to like the luxury motion of it, like like the stability of the shot, the like how you able to see the watch without any interaction, like like camera shakes or like movements while you see the like light running across the metal or the curvature of the watch or the sapphire crystal. And then like some clients show me like reference reels that they like from Richard Mayo, Vacheron, Patek Philippe. And I mean most of the watch brands and like companies I know they use like 3D renderings for like watches, which I find it okay, right? Like they are trying to show the watch, which is flawless and stuff, but I want to show the soul the dynamic of the watch, like that what you will get in person and what you are seeing in my reel. That's what I want to show. So I take pride, I take pride of it. I'm very proud of what I do, and I I take pride in like that. I don't use AI, so on my bio, you can see like no a like no. Yeah, I saw that. Yeah, so yeah.

Blake Rea 6:17

And then so obviously you've worked your way out. I think now you're shooting for a couple different brands. No, probably not mistaken, beyond vintage. Like, I mean, some of the stuff that you're shooting, like you're shooting like like factory diamond set poteks, and like you are shooting some Richard Mills now, right?

SPEAKER_00 6:38

Yeah, which is wild. Uh yeah. I wish I could shoot for the brands, but right now I have like craziest clients. They got like those like luxuries, like one out of like only eight pieces in the whole world, or only like one of one pieces that I've seen that I cannot able to show. Some of them they only like like uh tell me to shoot it and like don't post it anywhere because they're like very private and they don't want to like show it to anybody. So I cannot like present it to my like audience, but uh for the pieces that I can show, uh they are all on my Instagram and they're more gone.

Blake Rea 7:13

Yeah, something too that was kind of rad is you did you did an octo, right? Yeah, you did a vulgary octo, and then you know, you in in your captions, you're kind of like poking fun at like trying to get attention.

SPEAKER_00 7:28

I am I am actually I misspelled it like intentionally so that I'm like, oh why not rich bait people? Like, and then my friends are like literally texting me, yo, you spelled vulgarity wrong. I'm like, I know I'm trying to rich bake people so that they comment, and then tomorrow morning I wake up, don't know it'll enter my comment. I'm like, oh my god, I messed up big time, I should have made it serious, uh yeah.

Blake Rea 7:54

I don't even think he really cared because it sounded like he was like, Hey, like I read the comment, he was like, Hey, have you talked to LVMH watches? Like instead of because you were trying to get the attention of Bulgary, but yeah, you know, obviously there's the L VMH group which oversees all those little the the subsider subsidiary watch brands, yeah. But like, did anything ever happen from that? Because I've always been curious.

SPEAKER_00 8:16

I'm like, yeah, so after like ever since that day, like literally that day, I tried DMR, and then I'm like, I'm very interested in shooting L VMH watches, especially LV watch it. I tell him like I I love like all the watches, like TagWire, and like even Jerogen is with L VMH, I think. Yep, I'm saying it. Yeah, so um uh it's like a huge opportunity to me for me to like get in touch with all of those brands, and then yeah, he referred me to some of his one of his manager, and then we had a meeting about it, and then like you know where to go, and yeah, that's where we're at right now.

Blake Rea 8:50

So you're you're doing work for L VMH now.

SPEAKER_00 8:54

Not technically, but hopefully in the future, I will hopefully I will be, I guess.

Blake Rea 9:00

That's so that dude, that's so rad. Congratulations. That to me is like your story is like almost like like an entrepreneur's story kind of come true in the sense, right? That like yeah, you know, you moved to the states, like you know, started over practically, you know, brought what skills you had, right, to a whole new industry, and you've seen like such like an an awesome amount of success. It's it's it's awesome. It's it's congratulations. First of all, congratulations. And and yeah, the uh the attention to detail is something that like I I don't know if it's just me as as a fellow like creator, but and maybe I've been in the the hamster wheel too long that I'm like okay, I'm just gonna put a watch down on a white table and get a macro shot, you know. Like I don't I don't spend any time like really like curating like a set or like making it feel dynamic because yeah, because for me I I'm more of a volume guy instead of a quality guy, which is is rad because you're the entire opposite, you know, you'll probably spend 10, 15, 20 hours shooting one

The Real Work Behind Clean Shots

Blake Rea 10:10

watch, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:11

So uh 1015 is a lot, first of all. I I would say I'd spend around like two to three hours shooting and maybe double that for editing because as you can see, like my videos, you won't be able to see a lot of dust and obstacle that will disrupt you from enjoying the watch and the dial itself. Uh, I take time removing those, like every particles of dust, which is the nemesis for watch photographers works for videographers because photographers are just one frame. The videographers, we have to work like thousands of frames per video. So it's very hard at first, like dust and scratches like annoys me all the time. And then later on, I try to like deal with the reflections and lighting, and also manually remove all the dust particle. Yeah, I achieve this look, and also like before, even during shooting, I have to do like like like blowers and like you know, yeah, pressure air and instant wiping, constant wiping. I mean, like, oh, that's it's terrible. I was it's TS job.

Blake Rea 11:16

It is, it is it's something it's something that like I always like will shoot a watch, and then I like go back and I'm like, oh shit, like there's dust there, or there's a fingerprint, and you know, you can't see it because the the I I again I don't use a very big reference monitor, like I probably should, but you know, I'm looking at it either through my phone or my tablet, and I have like you know, like a relatively small little display that I'm using, and and yeah, I I just get so lazy, I'm so ashamed of saying that. I just get so late. I'm like, okay, whatever. Like, I don't even want to shoot it again. Like, I'm just like I just spent four hours and like I'm not you know like going crazy on lighting, you know. Like I'm I'm literally I dare I say I'm I'm doing the bare minimum. So okay.

SPEAKER_00 12:05

I mean that's there's nothing wrong with it. Like I've done a lot of time, especially I I am uh like also I like to collect, I have like a collection of watches, not that expensive, like Cardi Santos and Christopher Ward and other vintage uh crazy like watches that you might have never seen. I have those watches, but the like uh I never shoot my watches, never, because I'm never that's uh very weird thing. I don't know for some reason. I like maybe because I'm bored after shooting like four million dollar watches. I don't want to shoot like like you know, like 20 200 watch from my own collection, which I will only enjoy. So I just put it on my wrist, just shoot uh other clients' watches.

Blake Rea 12:49

It'd be it'd be super rad if you did like like a showcase of your collection where like you know, like you just put together like a really high-end little reel that's like my watches, boom, and then you just have these really beautiful shots of all your like it'd be the coolest freaking thing, first of all.

SPEAKER_00 13:06

I think but yeah, I should I should give it give it a try.

Reflections, Diffusion, And Polarizers

Blake Rea 13:10

Yeah, and and most people who like you know, you you brought up the fact that watches are are reflective, and most people don't understand that like you can't light a watch like head on, right? Because it it's a mirror, right? You're shooting into a mirror and like reflections are everywhere, like almost like like 300 degrees of the watch, you know, realistically probably about 180, but degrees of a watch is the reflections, right? The case, the cr the crown, the bezel, like all that stuff is reflective, and like you know, it's is it's like so challenging to shoot watches, but but how did you like overcome that, right? Because you know, most of the time people start off with like product photography, right? And then they go into watches, but it sounds more like you came in from like the acting space, right? In in like a different version of a content creator. So, like, you know, what challenges have you found shooting watches and then how have you kind of overcame them?

SPEAKER_00 14:17

Yeah, the the like I said, the challenge the most challenging part is the the dust and the scratches, and of course, reflection is the craziest thing. So the first thing I get I use is CPL filter, like circular polarizer, which I learned from car and mobile, like you know, like autos automotive like videographers that they use the CPO and get rid of the reflection, which is only partial of the reflection, not all of them. So uh the only thing you gotta understand is like like uh the how far the light is gonna be. And as long as the light, like the light is the reflection of the light is not in focus, then it is pretty soft. If it's in focus, you will you will be able to see the sharp end of the softbox, which is yeah, very bad. And one tip says like the bigger the diffusion, the better. I have like seven-foot and four foot wide diffusion like fray shit like folded in there. They uh it's only for one particular watch, Jacob and Cole, like astronomia series, because that watch is it's the it's the most difficult watch to shoot for me because it's literally a dome, like a glass ball. So whatever you light that you you you you can even see yourself in the camera in the in the crystal, which is like very, very hard to shoot. And when I shoot that watch, I find myself very struggling, and I use the diffusion. I had to learn a lot more like other techniques like cross CPO filter, like you you CPO your lens and also CPL the light, and you cross it out so you won't be able to see the light reflection in the dial anymore. Yeah, I had to learn a lot of a lot of those techniques while getting rid of the reflections.

Blake Rea 15:59

Yeah,

First Watch Shoot And Early Lessons

Blake Rea 16:00

that's wild. Well, what was the first watch? Do you remember the first watch that you ever put in front of your camera? Like other than your own, because because you said you tested with your your own watches.

SPEAKER_00 16:11

Yeah, the first watch I've ever put on is I of course I remember I still have that in my is a white gold blue dial, like a rectangle patek ellipse, like patek leaf ellipse. Yeah, it has like crazy like patina like streaks on the dial, which is like you see a blue dial and then gold veins on it. It's very crazy watch. That's the first, like real, real watch. Yeah, I really still remember I was wearing an Apple Watch. I walk in that day into the studio. I wasn't a watch, guys, before, and I walk into the studio and I was like, okay, let me do a trial reel for you guys. And then they give me the watch, I shoot it, and I'm questioning like why these watches are so expensive, and they're just like telling the time. My Apple Watch do the same. Now, if somebody do to tell that to me, I'm gonna be very mad.

Blake Rea 17:03

Yeah, no, that makes sense, and though that's probably a really hard watch to shoot, and and they it's I mean, like the astronomia, right? Like it's yeah, super challenging because something too that's really odd and most people don't really talk about, but just capturing the patina in a in a dial, like it's like it's so challenging because you you're trying to like essentially create something that looks natural, yeah, right, and shoot it so like you can amplify something that's happening. Yeah, I mean that that seems like that was a challenging first watch to even shoot because I started off shooting freaking little what was I? I was shooting like little like like thousand dollar like Seikos and stuff, you know, like eight hundred dollar Seiko's, and so so yeah, for me, or even Invictus, you know, I shot some Invictus and I was like, okay, I was never shot Invict's before. Yeah, I mean, I again like you, I started shooting my own watches at first, and then just kind of like cutting my teeth, and then I got a micro brand, it was AV8, like A V I. Oh, oh, I know that brand, yeah. And and they sent me a brand, uh, they sent me a watch, and we put it in this like little like light box that we had like saw like in public, and we like and we were just shooting pictures from me and my friend, and then and then yeah, we started shooting like Skoggin watches, which are like the little like fossil, like the the stuff.

SPEAKER_00 18:34

I I have two Skoggin watches, I'm not gonna lie. You know, yeah, yeah.

Blake Rea 18:38

No, Skoggin Skoggin's cool, and they make they make decent watches for the money, and and yeah, they're you know they're fashion watches, which is fine, yeah, right.

SPEAKER_00 18:46

It is wait, let me show you. I think I have I have both of them laying around.

Blake Rea 18:49

Show them, show them.

SPEAKER_00 18:51

So I just found them on the vintage store. I I picked them up. I was like, they're very cheap, they're like $30 per piece. Yeah, so it's like it's this titania. I'm not sure if it's they're both a titania or not, they're like mash bracelet with these like oh yeah, dome crystal. It has date function on the six o'clock. Yeah, I uh they're very thin as well. They're like at home watches.

Nolan’s Personal Watch Collection

SPEAKER_00 19:15

Yeah.

Blake Rea 19:16

What uh what's in your collection right now?

SPEAKER_00 19:20

Uh so I have I have a lot. I'm wearing uh wait, what do you call Mandane? I was in a like a really long yeah, like a Cartier and this is I have a Cartier Santos and Local Yeah, no, it's a Christopher War local. Oh second like uh in-house movement with double barrel. That watch is a really crazy watch. And yeah, a lot more vintage if I show you, it's gonna take like an hour.

Blake Rea 19:58

No, we'll we'll have to spend some time together off camera and talking about it.

SPEAKER_00 20:02

Wait, let me show you, let me show you the crazy one. Okay, I'll just bring the whole thing. Alright. So this is my favorite in the collection.

Blake Rea 20:18

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_00 20:19

What is this? It's called Hilton. It's from uh yeah, they're they're they're essentially wasp based in New York. They're just a fashion brand back in like 50s. They are they called are vintage menu wine. Wow. Yeah, and yeah, this is the Tiffany and Cole enamel dial 18 karat gold two-tone. I found it from Flear Market for a really cheap price, which I find very, very weird. And there's that yeah, they didn't know that, so I'm like, uh okay, yeah, let me get that one. This is the last one I added to the collection, it was Seiko 1980s Jared Gento design Seiko. Wow, it's beautiful. And this is my birthday gift from my girlfriend. I mean, she picked it up from my uh eBay wish list. Oh yeah, it's like a gold-plated uh long jings. This is also vintage. Dude, so good. Yeah, and this is uh this is probably gonna be my favorite Seiko ever. Is I found it is coarse movement, even though, but it's a very nice style, and I don't know the history, to be honest with you, but it's very rare. I've never seen any like Seiko tank that look like this. I've never seen that. Yeah, yeah, it's very style so good too. Yeah, it is. Alright, this is the last one. It's Royal Destiny, manual wine. Oh wow. This is like coughlink, it's like a like that's how you call it, right? Like it's manual wine, blue doll. It's amazing what you you take it off like this and then like put it on like a cough link.

Blake Rea 22:05

Dude, I have never seen that. Yeah. I told you. I told you. Okay. Damn. All right. Hell yeah. That's my and many more. Yeah. Yeah. No, you showed off the the the milestones.

Macro Obsession And Hardest Details

Blake Rea 22:20

Yeah. I have to ask. So I see you do also photo and video, but which one do you do you like better?

SPEAKER_00 22:29

Oh, I am a video guy, like a hundred percent. I don't like taking photos at all. But I take photos for fun. And some of my client, like I would say risk check is one of my clients, and they asked me to take some photos. And of course I'm happy to take some photos for them since like they're really, really nice and very nice to work with. Yeah.

Blake Rea 22:48

What what would you say is the hardest detail of a watch to shoot? Oh, that is a good question.

SPEAKER_00 22:56

Hardest detail. And in video video-wise.

SPEAKER_02 23:01

Sure. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 23:03

I would say the curvature of the watch because let's say uh Pataghali they have like a like a reverse like change chamfer chamfer uh and there's some of their models, and it's very hard to show that those curves. It looks mesmerizing in person. Everybody loves looking at those, but in camera it's it's impossible to show. It looks like normal, normal bezel, but in person is very, very beautiful. So I would say the curvature and the the curving of the watch, like which is very beautiful in person, but it disappeared in camera. Yeah. Yeah.

Blake Rea 23:40

No, that that's always an interesting way. And I even think the crown is really kind of is weird. Because there's such small details in the crown that like you know you just want to bring to life, but yeah, the crown and the way that the sapphire or crystal is set into the case, like those are things that I'm like, okay, these are these are interesting. But but yeah, you you obviously you shoot a lot, not only with like a macro, but you shoot probe. Do you feel like you enjoy shooting macro photography more than even just random normal or e or videography? Just more like generic wrist shots. Because I even see that you do a lot of non-macro work as well. Like you'll do wrist shots, and and which do you find that you enjoy more? Like the macro side or just the yeah, 100% macro side.

SPEAKER_00 24:36

Uh wrist shot, everybody can write take risk shot. Like if you're a model like a human photographer or a wedding photographer in studio photographer, they all it's easy for them to take risks because it's the lighting is very general and it's very similar to like like model in studio, like taking like photo type of lighting. But in full macro, it's very like weird because your lens is like like right in the watch, like almost in the watch, and very hard to light. And you have to you need to have a set of knowledge, how to be able to light so that you can show the movement and the dial texture or the crown as well. So, yeah, I'm I find it very, very beautiful when I do whenever I do micro, it's like you're in a different world, like like a quant, like a quantum world of watches, especially with those probe lenses, man.

Blake Rea 25:28

Like the probes are crazy.

SPEAKER_00 25:31

It's very crazy, yeah.

Blake Rea 25:33

If if you could give any tips to

Wrist Roll Tips And Watch Prep

Blake Rea 25:35

any of our listeners who are trying to level up those wrist shots, wrist shots, yeah, the wrist shots, or maybe their own watch photography.

SPEAKER_00 25:43

What yeah? So the only the only thing is if you are trying to achieve luxury look, I would say try not to light up the whole area. Like, like you gotta have some shadows on the like let's say you're lighting from this point of view, and then you you are supposed to have some shadow on the outside. Please, all the shadows are not bad, and all the reflect, like all the reflection on the crystal is not bad at all. You gotta show that there is a crystal, so there should have some a little bit of reflection. And the other the only thing is that use the tripod and make sure your wrist is at a stable place. So, what I usually do is when I'm doing the wrist roll, I try not to move from here. I I hold it with the other hand, I I twist it like this, so you your wrist is not shaked, and it's like stable from both sides instead of doing this, and it's gonna be shaking like this. So you you please hold it like both like this. Uh, just let it stay here and do the twisting with the other hand so it looks stable. Yeah, that's that'll be the best tip I can give. Wrist roll hack. Wrist roll hack hack right there.

Blake Rea 26:55

You heard it here first. What about when you get a watch for the first time that you've never handled? Like, tell me what you're looking for when you get hands-on. Like, before you decide how you're gonna shoot this, like, what are you looking for when you get a watch for the first time?

SPEAKER_00 27:14

The first thing I gotta I gotta think is that the cust what what the customer, uh I mean what the client really want. And I take time like looking at the watch, I'm like, what kind of crystal it is? Uh does it have any brush surface or polished surface, which I have to take care of? Because the only the worst thing is that the whole watch is polished and it's a curved, like like a dome crystal. That would be the worst case scenario that you will ever encounter in a watch. Watch videography. Photography is not that hard in terms of like uh like getting rid of the reflections and stuff. You got Photoshop and it's very strong. So yeah, that's what I do. And I look at the so I prepare it before I when I know the client's gonna be sending sending me this watch, and I I look at it, and when I got it in person, I look at it in hand. I take like five to ten minutes looking at the watch with like a torch. Uh and then like and I find out how to like this watch, and then I start to set the thing. You can you can see those like lights and things in the back. Yeah.

Blake Rea 28:17

Yeah. What do you

Keeping Watches Running On Camera

Blake Rea 28:20

feel it's important to show not only the the the watch case but the presentation of the watch, but also do you feel it's important to show the watch like like the actual mechanical aspects of the watch functioning? Because certain watches and certain filmmakers and and content creators that I've seen, like, you know, they leave the watch at 1010, right? And then, you know, if they're doing photography, they'll they'll photograph the crown with the crown pulled out, and then they'll like Photoshop the crown in so they can just but I've spent a lot of time like setting the watch back, you know, to 1010, and then and then something that I've even done that I I probably have gotten in trouble for is like I've even taken the case back off of watches to take to take videos because I want to show the heartbeat of the you know the hairspring. So like you know how how important is it for you to make watches feel like alive, you know?

SPEAKER_00 29:19

So yes, I have the same problem with it. I don't like to like stop the watch and shoot, so I like to keep it running so uh so that the watch feels alive. When if it's a chronograph, I push the start and then I let it run so that you'll be able to see okay, this watch is alive, it's it's not dead, and also some vintage watches they're trying to sell, okay. This watch is not broken, it's already serviced, it's working functionally. Yeah, I even have some like cellulos here because to twist the crown, like so every watches, I would say I would have to adjust the time at least 12 times, at least like every video. So that's like uh like that give you uh a little bit of like that's what you could roll, like tell us cellulose, right? Yeah, I have yeah, I have those things on my finger by setting time back to 1010 all the time. That is a very big deal, yeah.

Blake Rea 30:18

It it is. I I I didn't really realize that until like I started, you know, really getting deep into watch collecting. But what would you say also is you know you talked about some of the lighting, right? But what would you say is a technical mistake that you kind of kept making early on, and you know, now you're years into this, and you're like, oh shit, like I wish I could go back a year and not make these same mistakes. But like, what's some of the technical mistakes that you kind of made that now you're like you know, more experienced that you just like wow, okay. I never I don't know why I did this.

SPEAKER_00 30:56

Technical mistake, wow. Okay, I too. I'm I'm gonna be honest with you. I I like uh the only mistake I made is that I shooting like two like shallow aperture. That's like I'm supposed to be using like 7.1 or 8 for to shoot like these watches to be in focus. But back then I'm like, you know, like oh everybody likes sharp aperture, so I try and shoot it like four or like you know, like even 2.8, which is absurd. It is yeah, I also want to talk about the one you mentioned before about opening the case bag and showing the movement. If it's like a insertion case, I would love to show it. Uh like the movement, how it's like everything's working together. But if it is like a closed case bag, it depends on the watch, or if I have a watchmaker nearby, if I'm working on site with them, if they have a watchmaker, that I'll ask them to open the case bag so that if they are willing to show the case, like the movement, I'll ask them to open the case bag. But if it's like risky things like stone dials or or other crazy watches, I would say like Patek fleeps, like like brand new ones. I I wouldn't open them. I don't really open like a lot of watches unless they ask me to open or show the case bag. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Blake Rea 32:15

I only open my own watches because I know if I screw them up, like nobody's gonna get pissed. Yeah, I open that all the time.

unknown 32:22

I open that all the time.

Blake Rea 32:24

What would you

Cinematic Content Versus Raw Content

Blake Rea 32:25

say that a lot of your clients really want the cinematic kind of look that a lot of your content kind of like leans into? Or do you do you feel like the whole market is kind of moving into this more like raw, kind of like un more naturalistic approach to content? You know what I mean? Because you see, yeah, like look, you know, I I I think most of us will reference like Tim Masso, right, from 1916 and Co. And he literally will go on YouTube and he'll literally just like handle a watch and he'll just spin it around and like he'll it's it's a very raw approach to to showcasing a watch, but you know, your design and brand aesthetic is like really high-end, really luxurious, like really cinematic. Like, do you feel like like you can balance those two, or do you feel like you just you're with your approach to content creation, you can't you can't like like break, you know what I mean? Like you can't downgrade your your quality of your work.

SPEAKER_00 33:27

Yeah. After all, I'm not creating content from my own. Like the content I'm posting on my like page is just showing showcasing my work. That's why I always attach it my like behind the scenes, and I I don't try to sell any watches. If they ask me, I just send them to whatever like store that uh that watch was shot from. So I'm not doing like I'm just trying to showcase my own like work. And then also uh to answer your question, this video is not for everyone. Uh let's say like a dealer who's uh 47th Street or somewhere and they trying to sell like uh roll normal Rolexes, you know, like a bunch of Rolexes and stuff, it's will not be ideal for them. My target is like uh to give you the the best luxury video for the brands, and if if it's like a really special piece is for your as well, let's say if you have a sentimental value to a watch and you have a specific dent that you get from the from an accident that you really like like which is like really memorable, then if you want to film that watch and make it make that watch stay alive in your phone forever and a very high quality, then that my videos will be for you. And also if you're a watch brand that's trying to launch a campaign or trying to show your watch how it looks in real life without losing the quality and without looking too artificial and too flawless, then my video will be for you. I I am I'm not trying to replace anybody, I'm just trying to create a niche on my own, like uh without AI.

Blake Rea 35:05

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense, and I'm sure too, how frustrating is it for you that a lot of your clients probably when they come to you, they're showing you AI. Oh everyone, everyone, and they're like, I want you to recreate this. And you're like, I don't think you understand what you're asking, first of all, yeah, but I mean, the entire watch world knows that what they're seeing is AI, right? I think I think they know, yeah, they accept they accept it, they accept it, they're like, Oh, okay, well, I'm gonna have to go to a watch store to see it. Right. I think we just have in our minds subconsciously that like you know we're we're seeing images that aren't even real. Yeah, right. So that that creates an an all an alternative challenge to you because you're shooting watches and making it look like you know the way that an AI image would look, but you're I mean, not to discredit your your talent.

SPEAKER_00 36:06

No, no, no, not at all.

Blake Rea 36:08

Because that's the challenge, right? That you're faced with, because your client wants that perfect kind of perception of what a watch should look like, right?

SPEAKER_00 36:18

Which is why yeah, all the all the reference video they sent is probably AI or AI enhanced, like you know, like super shops, like over shopped videos and AI render, like like super like every details on the watch is wrong, type of thing, or like 3D renders, which are like the whole watch is in focus, which will never happen in real videography.

Blake Rea 36:43

Yeah, yeah. What

Proud Shoots And Dream Watches

Blake Rea 36:45

what's like your proudest piece of work that you've done? And then if somebody were to say, hey Nolan, I want you to shoot this again, like you'd be like, Yes, tomorrow, right now, I'll shoot it again. So, like, like what are what are the those two pieces of content that again you're most proud of? And then the one that you just you had such a good time shooting that you would instantly do it again.

SPEAKER_00 37:09

Oh wow, that's a very good question, I would say. Overall, I like all the watches that I've shot, every every single one. It's like I remember how I shot it. I I remember the feeling when I was handling the watch, it like setting up the settings, like seeing it how it react under the light in the camera. So the the best ones I've shot, I would say the RM55 that I recently posted with the blue the like Tiffany Blue RM55. That would be the best one because I tried out the green screen on that watch, which is like very absurd. I would never think about it, but I had to use the green screen on that watch. So I tried it, it worked for some reason. So it surprised me a lot, and I love that watch, RM55. I think everyone left that watch. So that would be the best and watch I've ever shot, and I loved that video. And the watch, if somebody gave somebody told me, like, okay, you come film right now, I will like then that is very tough. That is very tough. What would I shoot? Maybe the Rolex Meteorite Daytona with Ruby that Ruby Basel. Uh I will I'll shoot it for free. Yeah, if you see it, Kevin, I'll shoot it shoot that watch for free for you.

Blake Rea 38:36

You should you should tag Drake now because that new diamond. Did you see Drake's new one?

SPEAKER_00 38:41

Oh, yeah, the ice blue drive, ice blue diamond. Yeah, Drake. Drake. Let's do something. Stop stop beating around the bush with the ego. Come here, I'll let me film the video.

Blake Rea 38:55

No, that that's that's super rad. And you know, something that is also kind of, I guess, comes to mind, and and you know, you talked about I'm taking a step back here a little bit, but it had me thinking, you know, the clients come to you with like reference images, yeah, right? Where they say, Hey, here's the look we want. Do you have clients that just say, look, take this watch and shoot it how you want, and let you do all the creative?

SPEAKER_00 39:22

Yeah, most of my clients are like that, and some of the clients, I would say 20 to 30 percent, is like the clients that they they want to shoot in their own vision, like they see something cool and they think I might be able to do it, so they come and show it to me and tell me if I can replicate it, which I can, but I this is not my subjective, this is not where I'm good at. Like, if you tell me to film like a wedding video, I won't be able to do as good. Something like that. So the

Creative Control With Client Briefs

SPEAKER_00 39:55

same thing in the watch, it is like a very different genre. Like, like if you're gonna talk and show the watch, which is some people do, I I won't be able to do that, those kind of videos. And yeah, and a lot of my clients are a lot of the clients that reach out to me, and a lot of the clients that I accept to work with are the clients that tell me, all right, here's the watch. I like your videos, I want it to look like this video. They literally share the link from my Instagram or from my website portfolio. They're like, okay, I like this video, how it looks, and then they add some extra shot. Like, so our watch has a very nice curve, uh, has a very nice dial, very nice texture. We like to showcase that, so I add some shots to the video. That's how I usually work with, and yeah, and they're pretty happy with it. I'm very glad, dude.

Blake Rea 40:44

That that's amazing. I'm sure you've probably, as a creative, you probably turn down projects that just like just sit and sit right. Like, how do you how do you decide, like, you know, there there might be people out there who are listening, hopefully, that just say, hey, like, they're looking at your work now, and they're like, hey, I want to hire Nolan, right? Like, hopefully, right? But how do you decide who to work with and like you know how to turn turn away?

SPEAKER_00 41:15

Yeah, so a lot of people I have to turn away are like I said, it's like no, like normal, like dealers who are doing like normal, like Rolex and Patag Cartier, and they want some like nice video out of it from their inventory, and they they want this kind of video, which I spent like almost like two-digit hours spent for one videos and like got paid like almost nothing, it doesn't work for me, so I had to set a price, and I cannot let it go lower than the price. So I stopped negotiating with my clients that if if if they propose me a price and it doesn't match the required price that I have to work for, then I I will like simply decline that okay, like I'm so sorry, this price doesn't work for me because I have to spend a long time like editing and shooting what this particular watch. So yeah, I'll simply decline. And also some clients that they don't know what they want, like they think oh, they want this video might be cool, or that video might be cool. They sent me like 10 references, totally different niche watch videos from like 10 different pages, and they want to try it on their Instagram, which I I can do it, you know. Like I I'm happy to shoot for you guys. Like, if like as they they pay me, I shoot it, that's it. It's very transactional. I don't want to be like that. If you're my client, uh I want you to grow as as you are, not from other niches. So I want to create a personality for your own page, and or if you are a brand, like what kind of brand guidelines you have, you have a colour or like simply how you composition the watch itself, it's also a brand identity as well. I want to like comply with all of those rules and create something that is specifically for you, like not like picked out from all the brands. So, yeah, at first I accept those like people like or clients who want to try everything. Now I just simply think like, okay, these clients they don't know what they want yet, so I I simply decline them. Yeah, yeah.

Blake Rea 43:28

How do you how do you also balance

Pricing, Fit, And Turning Down Work

Blake Rea 43:30

like you know, a lot of the stuff that you're shooting, you said is for clients, but you also share like the behind the scenes. So, like, how do you decide which client work that you're gonna post and how do you kind of balance it versus building your portfolio, you know?

SPEAKER_00 43:45

Yes, so the the only thing will be the the the pieces that I think is very cool. Uh, I wouldn't I mean, like, of course I love a Rolex Submariner, but if I ever had a video for Rolex Submarina, I would I don't think I'll post it because it's very generic. Everybody has seen that watch before. I want to show you something cool watches that you like some of us might not be able to see it in person, but you you after you look up my video, you will feel like, oh my god, that's why it's so cool. I feel like I I've seen it in person. And even better, like I I've shown you like more micro shots than the human eye can sim like see with the naked eye. So yeah, that's that's like how I choose, and also it depends on the mood. Like I scrolled through Instagram and I found a really cool like background music, and I I match it with the videos I did, and I was like, okay, this video might work with this background music, and I find them like behind the scenes for that, and then I match it up and post it. That's that's my process for now. That's why I disappear like a month or two months because I couldn't find the background music that matches for my video.

Blake Rea 44:55

Do you I I guess I started to notice a shift too in your content because I've been following you now for maybe a couple years, I would think.

SPEAKER_00 45:05

Maybe from the start, since the start, yeah.

Blake Rea 45:07

Yeah, I think so. Cause and and then I think I don't I don't remember exactly the whole context on how we got connected, but I I mean if anybody follows me and they do cool shit, I'm just gonna follow them back. I don't really care. But but something that I've started to notice that that you're also doing is you're kind of like turning the camera on yourself, right? Where you you're you're starting to become a personality instead of just a filmmaker, right? Like, what made that shift? Is it just the whole kind of client aspect of of getting new business that you have to show that you're like a real person and that you're like fun to work with?

SPEAKER_00 45:45

That is a very that's a very good question, Blake. Thank you for asking. So at the time I did some video for myself. I just try now, like, because I think I should have an identity for my page, not just like a guy shoot shooting watches. Uh, I I wanted to like not like recognize, but I just want to have an identity for my page, and it might be too early for it, but I am doing a micro brand for watches. It's currently in the sampling stage right now. I'm gonna have like two one model, two models in the coming up, and one model will be out probably at the end of this year or start of next year. I'm gonna have a soft, like a soft soft launch and then like pre-order and stuff. I'm starting a micro brand. Oh shit, congratulations! Thank you, thank you, thank you. Yeah, so for that, I wanted to have some like how do you say it? It's like a a face behind the brand. Yeah, yeah. That's why I started to do those videos, which I stopped.

Blake Rea 46:51

I enjoyed them, by the way. They were fun, yeah. With the gong, yeah, no, they were they were amazing. So

Trends, Brand Identity, And Instagram

Blake Rea 47:00

do you feel, and this is probably gonna be some of the more like I guess sensitive topics that we talk about, but do you feel that Instagram has made watch photography better or worse overall?

SPEAKER_00 47:18

You mean for me or for the whole community? Just no, for the whole industry. I'm not talking about you. I would say it's better in my perspective because everyone's posting cool shit. Uh sorry for everyone's yeah, yeah. Everyone's posting cool things, and I I love seeing other people's works, and I love to support other creators if they're doing like, oh my god, I'm inspired from you, like uh and they ask me like some ideas and help, and I I give them a call, I help them, I give share them a list of like things that they need to buy to achieve certain kinds of look. I do all kinds of things, I support them. There are a couple of people who are doing really well in my account already, like by like they literally told me, All right, I'm gonna start doing like watch videography because I really inspire you. And they start doing like that, and then they become super, super good. I'm even amazed. I'm like, whoa, what is this? And I checked it and it became this guy. And I was like, Well, he he started like two months ago, and he's already like this level, which is very, very amazing. And yeah, I think as long as the community is very supportive and like they're always happy to share what they're like find out. Yeah, I I I myself take uh like a lot of inspiration whenever I take videos, photos, and like uh shots for a specific watch, and I just search it up and look for other people who do who have already shot this watch, and yeah, I took inspiration from them. So I think it's very healthy and everyone's very supportive.

Blake Rea 48:52

You're probably this is some of the more sensitive topics. I I don't want to get you in trouble with your clients, but what would you say is a watch that looks better in video or or images than it wears?

SPEAKER_00 49:08

Oh okay.

Blake Rea 49:14

You don't have to I don't want to like put you in Hollywood. I'll be the fizz. Okay, okay, all right. I think I know where your where your head's at though.

SPEAKER_00 49:24

Okay, I think you know, I'll I'll just you know what I'm saying. I know I know exactly what I'm doing. That's the way. Yeah, that's the way. Okay, okay.

Blake Rea 49:33

Um what what about maybe brands that you feel like like are doing really well with their imagery, like their online like photography, filmmaking. Brands, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 49:48

Is it Orban Jergensen? Is that the brand name? Yeah, yeah. I love their brand page, like their photography, like like uh the whole grid is amazing. Yeah, even though I don't know how to pronounce the brand names. So sorry. I'm like I have ADHD, so I don't I'm very hard to memorize the name. That's okay.

SPEAKER_02 50:08

Yeah, and yeah.

Blake Rea 50:11

Go ahead, sorry. Yeah, go ahead. No, no, you were about to say another one. Sorry, I didn't know.

SPEAKER_00 50:17

Oh no, I was just about to say, like, my recent like client who is brew, I was shooting for Brew, Brewmetric, and I love shooting their watches, and they're very they're very nice to work with. I would say they're the best client I've ever had.

Blake Rea 50:33

That's amazing. And yeah, the the what they're doing for the the watch community, like I think I I don't know if I remember, but I think did I think you were at Wind Up New York. If I wasn't mistaken. Were you were you at Wind Up New York? No, I wasn't. I'm trying to remember where I saw I think I saw you somewhere in person. Really? At a watch event. I I mean I could be wrong, but I think you might be wrong.

SPEAKER_00 51:04

There I only been to like risk check events.

Blake Rea 51:06

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 51:08

Yeah.

Blake Rea 51:08

Okay, just kidding then. Yeah, I don't think I've been to any of those. Um what would you also say is like a trend in watch content that you think is gonna just fall apart here in the next couple years? A trend in in watch content that's just gonna age so poorly.

SPEAKER_00 51:31

Uh I would say like I think you might be able to see like what day to wear this watch. Like they show like seven watch for seven days, and then you're like, I'll wear this for birthday, I'll wear this for engagement party. I mean, alright, I guess like uh I can wear this watch everywhere. Like, like I think I think these they're pretty pointless. The some of them. This might be a hot take, but for me, I I don't I don't care about those watches. And another thing is that comparing watches, like, oh, if you want this million-dollar watch, but you don't want it, so you have here you go, there's a $200 watch for you that you can wear. Yeah, I mean, some of them make sense, but some of them they're just a like uh very cheap brands trying to like compare themselves to very expensive watches and take brand names, which is not really the right way to do. Yeah, I yeah.

Blake Rea 52:27

I I also this is a question for a lot of our listeners. I do know for a fact that a lot of watch brands listen to my podcast. Like you know, we're we're more of like an industry insider podcast than we are like a large, you know, like mass media outlet. But I know for sure that brand founders, watch owner, watch brand owners are listening right now, but I'm sure if they were to have this conversation with you, you know, what what would you tell them about how they commission content for their brands? Like what should they look for? Like if it's not you, like how do they find somebody who approaches content creation in the same way that you do?

SPEAKER_00 53:18

The the only the best advice I can give is like brand owners have have a brand identity that they want to follow and hire a good designer and hire really good like people who manage your guide brand guidelines and stick with it. And like if you really like a video or or AI generated or 3D rendering or whatever, but if you really liked it, like try not to replicate, but also try and find some creator who who has a potential to who has the potential that might be able to do the same video but in your own brand language. That's that will be the the best advice I can give you. Because if you are uh if you're giving a cat to a dog trainer, your your cat will still be a bad cat, it will never become a good cat. So trying to find somebody who can train your cat, I would say that yeah, that you have to identify yours as a cat or dog first, and then go to whoever trains for you, or just hit you up, I would think. Yeah, I mean, obviously, yeah, yeah, obviously. If you're trying to look for some luxury movements, whatever, and behind the scenes, and yeah, if you like my videos,

Cameras, Lenses, And Must-Have Gear

SPEAKER_00 54:35

hit me up. Amazing.

Blake Rea 54:37

Now that we've made it far enough in our podcast, I'm curious about some of like your aspirational goals, right? Like, you know, obviously now you're shooting, and this is gonna get super nerdy for any watch people. We're gonna talk a little bit about cameras, maybe some equipment, stuff like that. But what's an aspirational kind of like camera for you, you know? Because I know you're using you're using an S52, right? S52X.

SPEAKER_00 55:17

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So my my favorite camera that I would like to use right now for watch videography will be S12. I'm look I'm waiting for S1H2, but uh uh Lumix hasn't shown any sign that they will release S1H2 any anytime soon. So I think it will be S12 for the best because large format are not really ideal for watch uh videography. So yeah, S12.

Blake Rea 55:45

Wow, I was expecting you to say something like uh like an Ari or like a red or like a pirano.

SPEAKER_00 55:54

That is too overkill. I would say red camera or even black magic pixel's like 12k, if you are looking for resolution, then that would be the best. But I think they're all overkill. As long as you're you're not showing on like like like a 30 feet billboard like of your like watch video, you're seeing on your like 2k pixel phone screens. So 4k is enough, everybody. You don't need 12k, 8k, 4k is enough.

Blake Rea 56:23

What about lenses, right? What about aspirational lenses? Because I know we have a lot of them.

SPEAKER_00 56:29

Yeah, yeah. I I'm gonna be honest with you, I'm very happy with the lens collection I have right now. I have the basic 24 105 f4 lens that Panasonic produced like so long ago. It has 0.5x magnification for macro, which is really, really versatile, like considering it goes from 24 to 105, and I put a macro tube on it, so it becomes even more macro, yeah. And also I have a cinema lens, cinema micro lens. I don't use autofocus macro lens because they're like they have an astigmatism around it, so I use cinema lens, and yeah, I use a Siri Jupyter Siri 75mm macro lens for macro shots. Yeah, nice and and and the probe lens, but uh my clients tend not to like the probe lens because they think it distorts the watch, and I every time I show them, they're like, I love the video, please cut this cut shot because it's with the probe lens. I'm like, all right, and I stopped using the probe lens, it's a waste of money.

Blake Rea 57:38

Yeah, what's the you have the what's it asked is it Astor Hori?

SPEAKER_00 57:41

Is that what you have? Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, Astor Hori.

Blake Rea 57:45

Nice, that's a nice lens. I love that lens. I don't know why people don't like it.

SPEAKER_00 57:49

Yes, I don't know why. They think, like, oh, it distorts my watch, is Mac Pro, and also Y, which is like very unusual. So I'm like, all right, guys, like I won't stop, I'll stop doing it. I'll just do it a food photography from now on, like food videography.

Blake Rea 58:05

What about little like accessories that you can't live without? So, like, for example, I have a platter that like spins the watch.

SPEAKER_00 58:14

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. The same thing. I have the Adult Chrome head one. That's that's like my go-to. Whenever I go, is I I I leave it on my bedside, I sleep with it, I hug it every night. It's my essential for every everywhere I go. Uh, if they're looking for this kind of video to achieve like really smooth battery movement, then Adopchr is the way to go, guys. Don't sleep on Adlechrome. Like, I I have a sponsorship from Ad Chrome, so yeah, I love them. And they're they're their gears are very useful. Sliders, not really for me, but I use them some shots, but had like rotating ones, yeah, all the time. And every every shots I did, I used them.

Blake Rea 59:01

Yeah, that yeah, no, that's what creates that beautiful like turn that you have on all of your watches. Any any dreams of getting like a freaking robot arm, right? Because you see those in product photography now. I do, I do.

SPEAKER_00 59:17

They're very I wouldn't say they're too glorified. And so I try to shoot one watch. I I wouldn't say the name of the watch, but it is very private, is is an expensive private watch. And I I know the founders, and they are the watchmaker of the watch, and I love shooting their watches, and uh, they even invite me to their private event and stuff. I try and take photos at their place as well. Sorry. So they had a budget, and the budget is pretty pretty good. So I try to shoot them with the robot arm, which I wanted to, but the the imagery they wanted is not this kind of like things, what I'm doing right now yet. They just wanna have like a slow movement with the gloves, and they just want to showcase and like a like a really warm vintagey tone for the whole video. So but I did contact uh robot places in the in the studio I shoot. They they uh quoted me 7,000 for one session with two operators including my robot arm. I'm like, this is absurd. I can shoot with my own slider and and the hat. Yes, but that would be a wet dream for a videographer to own a robot arm. Like, I would buy a robot arm with I don't need a house, right? But yeah, but if you ask me, I wouldn't buy one because I know what you can achieve from one slider and one like turner.

Blake Rea 1:00:44

So

Studio Goals, Courses, And Wrap-Up

Blake Rea 1:00:45

yeah, what about dreams to open like like an actual studio? Because I mean, I know you're doing a lot of your work, you know, in in your in your home. Um but do you have any dreams to kind of like open an actual like studio or anything? Like where I do where are you planning to take your business, you know?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:01

So the essentially I want to like connect with other photographers, videographers who is doing every niche in this luxury industry, and I want to build a team with everybody, and I want to find clients for everyone. I want to work as a team. Whenever there's a like huge projects come by, we will work everyone together. And if if we don't will go for our own work, like that we're like doing with whenever they contact our studio, I will find the right cat or dog trainer for the client, for the client, yeah, so they don't have to find it. Yeah, that would be the ultimatum goal for my the the like videography studio.

Blake Rea 1:01:42

That's amazing. That's amazing. Yeah, don't want to take any more of your time. I mean, this has been an amazing episode. Thank you again so much for coming on, you know, sharing your perspective, you know, helping us understand, you know, a little bit more about watch imagery and marketing. I'm glad we're finally able to make it work. You know, obviously, I'm I'm a huge fan of the work that you're doing.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:07

You know, I mean I'm a huge fan of your work as well. I love your videos.

Blake Rea 1:02:11

Thank you. Appreciate it. I feel like my videos are boring, and I'm like, I need to.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:15

No, not at all. I watch them all the time, especially I I start to know your video from the you know Georgia. Yeah, the podcast. Yeah, I I know her, I met her in person one time, and she's a very nice lady. I love to talk to her since we both are like vintage watches, like we bond over vintage watches. So I talk with her, I like it. I saw her Instagram, and I saw the podcast with you, and I was like, Whoa, this is amazing. And I started following you from that.

Blake Rea 1:02:42

Thank you. No, yeah, George Georgia will actually be here with me on Friday. So she's flying in. Wow, yeah, she her and I work a lot on a lot of stuff together, and maybe you've seen some of her content like around Watches and Wonders and stuff like that. Yeah, I think so.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:02

You you shot them for her?

Blake Rea 1:03:04

Yeah, yeah. I shot a lot of her content during the Watches and Wonders. Like, she did the Roger Dubuis factory tour, which I put together. You know, she did some of the other like harage stuff that I did, and she did this whole like Rolex like like stack of Rolexes that we did. You know, it's probably like like half a million dollars in Rolexes, and you know, the stuff when she was walking through Geneva, just talking to the camera, like introing. Yeah, I mean, I I her and I work together a lot on a lot of projects. And then did you get a chance to see the the short the short documentary that her and I did?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:41

I haven't, I haven't actually, yeah.

Blake Rea 1:03:44

We j we just posted it.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:46

Um really that'll be the my today's video, I guess.

Blake Rea 1:03:51

I uh yeah, I just posted it maybe about a week ago, and her and I shot it over the course of of New York Watch Week. And I mean, we we spent a lot of time on it. You know, we submitted it to film festivals and we won. We we you know we got selected at two film festivals. We have 10 more that we've already like entered into and and and pending, you know, pending some acceptance in some of those. Um, but we put a lot of time into it, you know. We hired a second DP, you know, we we brought a whole lighting package in, we brought a whole audio package in. What you know, we got a lot of brands to kind of contribute to the project, a lot of resources. We probably put almost maybe a hundred hours, if not a hundred plus hours into editing. And then, and then yeah, yeah, it's it's online right now.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:42

So I'm gonna go watch it right away after right after this podcast.

Blake Rea 1:04:46

And yeah, we we I mean we we got some sponsorships from from red, so we shot it with a red camera and nice and we had some Zeiss, Zeiss, like you know, we we didn't really spare much expense expensive hats.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:01

I can tell, I can tell with the package, like, oh yeah, you got second DPs, all the all the packages. I'm like, all right, Blake is going all in for this one. I gotta watch it.

Blake Rea 1:05:11

Yeah, yeah. I'll send I'll certainly send you a link. And then uh and then and yeah, the whole goal of that was actually kind of reversing what we're doing because I think there's a lot of watch brands out there that have a hard time telling stories, right? The biggest challenge for watch brands is to tell stories which connect with you know buyers or their customer base or whatever potential customers. So I put together this project with her, and the whole entire goal was to was to see how much we could do with how little, right? Yeah, and the entire project we shot for less than five thousand dollars. Wow, right, and that included travel, that included renting camera equipment and Wait, wait, travel travel too? We we spent three thousand dollars of the five thousand dollar budget on travel. Oh my gosh. Because I flew in, right? That was you know the the hotel was like two thousand dollars because we were staying in Tribeca, which is where she lives. Yeah, and then I flew my director in from LA. So I flew in from Vegas, he flew in from LA, and we we we stayed the entire weekend just shooting. So we only stayed like like four days in in New York, and then we had to spend like another, I think about 400-ish dollars renting a lighting package because it was just too expensive for us to fly with.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:42

Yeah.

Blake Rea 1:06:43

And then we rented a second, a second red camera package for like two days, and then we had to hire like essentially like a second camera like unit, and and then the colorist. So so yeah, I mean we we we we but most of most of it was again was just trying to see what type of production value we could get with as little money as we could, right? Oh my god. It was a social experiment. It was a social experiment for sure.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:15

Um if you ever do not like something like this again, don't forget to hit me up, bro. New York City.

Blake Rea 1:07:22

I'm no, no, I'm definitely I'm definitely gonna hit you up and and yeah, yeah, I need to figure out how we can work on something together. Yeah, you know, 100%. It'd be super amazing. And and yeah, vice versa, too. If if you're ever in my side, I don't know if you ever come to Vegas.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:40

Of course. I I have I'm planning right now, like I'd probably come in November for F1 race. I want to see it. I'll be here.

Blake Rea 1:07:48

We we we have a lot we usually during Formula One, there's all the watch brands in town.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:54

Yeah, I know, I know. That's why I'm coming also to what uh to watch F1 and also maybe we should do a meetup party.

Blake Rea 1:08:03

Definitely, definitely, and the last Formula One, we did 12 watch events and like a whole weekend, wow, right? Which is wild. And we did five, I think, five of them in one day. So we were like jumping from like a panorade event to like a Rolex event to like a Booker event to like a Hublow event to like a Bright Link to a tag, like we were doing, we were jumping around and then and then yeah, and then we finished the day at Watch of Switzerland. It's like, oh my you know what I mean? It's it's wild, it's wild. So so yeah, if you come, if you come to Vegas during Formula One, happy to because we have a we also have a club here, like a watch club.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:47

And I think I gotta buy buy the plane ticket now then.

Blake Rea 1:08:51

Yeah, I think I think it'd be super cool too, like, and I don't know like where you're at, but like in terms of like you know, sharing your knowledge, you know, you have so much knowledge to share, like, you know, bringing that to like you know to the internet would would be like insane, you know. Yeah, so putting together like a watch masterclass on how to do watch photography or video or it's coming up.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:18

I already have have a full script and like for the whole course prepared. I I the only thing I need to do is shooting, which I don't have time right now, and I am taking off some clients of my schedule, so I'll be my schedule is gonna be started freeing up in September. I will be focusing on that, and I will like there will be a masterclass, not for these kind of videos, because it take it's gonna take a lot of time for me to take videos, and the I I don't feel confident for myself to teach to other people because the just because I shoot it good doesn't mean like uh I can teach other people good, right? Like I'm not a great teacher, so I think I'll be showcasing what will be very useful for everyone, like to film how to do like a prop backgrounds and nice warm, like uh you know, videos with cinematic movements with some gloves and hand movement, how to do like you know, like do the settings from four beginners, starting from like how to set the camera settings and explaining the exposure triangles and everything. There will be a course for all of that. Yeah, hopefully it will be launched before the end of the year. Yeah, wow. I'm very surprised that you mention it, like because I am literally planning it right now. That's that's amazing. No, I that's incredible. I'm scared. Are you stalking me?

Blake Rea 1:10:40

No, no, I just I think it's the natural progression, right? Like, yeah, you know, you've you've learned so much, right? And you know, I think it it goes back to the community aspect of the watch industry that we're in that you know, we want to share and we want to educate. And and I mean that that's my entire outlet, right? Like sharing these stories, like you know, you and I may have may have had this conversation like privately, yeah, right? The same conversation, but but now it's filmed, yeah, right, and it's recorded, right? And we can share this with everybody so people can learn from from your words, hopefully they can learn from me, you know, and and just create more more knowledge, spread the knowledge and spread the wealth and spread the passion, and like that's what my entire project is about, right? Like just telling stories and like spreading the passion and the enthusiasm of the watch industry, you know, and that's that's lonely wrists in a nutshell, you know. So yeah, yeah, I'm with you 100%. Nolan, thank you again so much for spending time with us. If everybody, if you've made it this long into the podcast, of course, we're gonna link Nolan's work, right? We're gonna link his Instagram, his website, all that can be found in the show notes, the description of this YouTube video. If you're listening in from your phone, I would highly encourage you know you to go watch it on YouTube because you can actually see some of the stuff that Nolan shared with us, his personal watch collection, which you know you said you've never shared anywhere else. So thank you for that. Um and and yeah, if you haven't seen Nolan's work, I would highly encourage you to go on Instagram, to go on his social media profiles, give him a follow, and please enjoy some of the stuff that he's doing. It's amazing work, obviously. Nolan, I've said this a million times. You know, you're doing amazing things in the watch industry, and we're very lucky to have somebody like you who is who's willing to share, like who's willing to contribute and who's still passionate about it after doing this as a job, you know, it's it's it's insane.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:57

So thank you, thank you, Blake. I'm I am very, very I very appreciate you and like I'm very flattered to be on podcast. This is my first ever podcast, like so. Wow, yeah, yeah. So wow, I'm I am nervous, and also my my English is not that good since it's not my first language. So I'm I'm sorry if I ever say any mistakes.

Blake Rea 1:13:19

No, no, you did you did amazing, and I'm glad and I'm very humbled that that you decided to come on my uh on my show as your first podcast and and giving me the opportunity to to share your story is is that's why I do it, man. That's why I do it. So I'm I'm thank you, thank you for giving me the opportunity to share my story as well. No, no, thank you for for letting me share it. So Nolan, thank you again, brother. I I can't wait to see you next time and and talk more and and yeah, maybe in person next time, right? Yeah, formula one, formula one.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:55

Formula one, I'll be looking forward to it.

Blake Rea 1:13:57

Yeah, yeah. All right, man. Well, have a good evening, and and we'll chat very soon. You as well, you as well. Bye bye.