03 · Retreat & event coverage
Three Days Without a Phone
- Client
- A women's retreat in the high desert, 24 guests
- Runtime
- 3:00 retreat film + guest stills
The vision
The retreat's whole promise is presence, so the camera can't be the loud thing in the room. Long lenses, natural light, no direction. We arrive the evening before to become part of the furniture, and by the second morning nobody looks at the camera anymore. The film is built from what people do when they think no one is watching: the walk to the fire, the laugh that goes on too long, the first quiet minute of the last day. Guests get stills of themselves they didn't know were taken.
Mood
- Golden hour, unposed
Golden hour, unposed
- Dusk, the walk to the fire
Dusk, the walk to the fire
- Morning light, no one performing
Morning light, no one performing
- The group, wide, from a distance
The group, wide, from a distance
Storyboard
- 01Wide. Arrival. Cars in the dust, the rocks behind.
Wide. Arrival. Cars in the dust, the rocks behind.
Where they came from, where they've come to.
- 02Long lens. First circle. Nobody looks at camera.
Long lens. First circle. Nobody looks at camera.
Establish that we're not a presence.
- 03Handheld. Kitchen, second morning. Overlapping conversation.
Handheld. Kitchen, second morning. Overlapping conversation.
The retreat is the in-between moments.
- 04Static. The fire at night. Faces only in firelight.
Static. The fire at night. Faces only in firelight.
Let sound carry it.
- 05Close. One guest, dawn, alone, coffee.
Close. One guest, dawn, alone, coffee.
The quiet minute. Hold.
- 06Wide. The last walk out, together, backs to camera.
Wide. The last walk out, together, backs to camera.
They leave changed. Don't explain it.
- 07Stills montage. Guests, unaware, mid-laugh.
Stills montage. Guests, unaware, mid-laugh.
What they take home.
- 08Black. Retreat name. Next date.
Black. Retreat name. Next date.
The film sells the next one.
Deliverables
- —One 3:00 retreat film
- —A private gallery of 150+ stills for guests
- —Six vertical cuts for the host's channels
- —A 30-second trailer for the next retreat's launch
What this does for you
- —Next year's retreat sells from this year's film
- —Guests share stills they actually like being in
- —The host's brand gets a year of honest content from one weekend