Hollywood professional Kurt Gefke, who alongside Pele Kudren, directed “The Search,” for Maxim Group Co. explains how this dream-like concept came to be. Gefke gives Maxim Lighting some insight into the making of this riveting visual experience, read more about their vision in our Q&A with the co-director.

Q: What was the inspiration behind "The Search?"

I'd say our main source of inspiration for our narrative comes from an amalgamation of traditional literature, one major source being Alice in Wonderland. Not so much that we find ourselves in a psychedelic trip to another dimension, but rather that one can be transported into another space/place/realm.

Both Pele and I are Production Designers so we lean into our builds and spatial awareness to give us context for the viewer's perceived narrative in a fashion film like this. I am personally fascinated with the Rocco and Baroque eras, so we had fun cutting that with some of the future-scape in the mirror scenes.

We also took a cue from some of our favorite cinematographers straight out of the choreography. These shots we almost designed as a one-take scene, so the camera movement, action, and timing all had to be perfect. There's something to say about how keeping a viewer's eye so tightly controlled allows for you to make the subject and their surroundings seem very special. It was fun to do for us, not so much for the grip department.

Q: You mentioned the cinematic inspiration for this shoot, who are some of those filmmakers that inspired this work?

We are a stewing pot of everything we watch and reference. Some key influences in camera movement and overall energy would have to be from filmmakers such as Wes Anderson.

Q: What about lighting made you think of those filmmakers?

We referenced a lot of films that focus on the environment and space acting as a true canvas populated by dressing and interesting pieces to bring it to life. Almost every conventional space is just 4 walls until you dress it and bring it to life.

Q: How do you turn a filming element such as lighting, into the star of a film?

We attempted this by allowing for extra headroom using a 4:3 aspect ratio. This gave us more verticality to show fixtures hanging from above. We also used as much negative framing as possible to give the fixtures some space to breathe.

Q: How did you build a story around the characters while keeping the focus on lighting?

Our main idea was to show our characters looking into different worlds, all informed by the products displayed, and give us a feeling of variety and choice. The thought was rather as though, "If you choose this fixture, this is the kind of world you can build for yourself".