Commercial · Philadelphia, PA

On set for Itaú with Sylvester Stallone and Marcos Mion

We were part of the production crew when Itaú brought Sylvester Stallone and Marcos Mion to the Rocky steps in Philadelphia, shooting the behind-the-scenes stills on set.

By Tony Ellis Martinez · TM Productions

A camera operator filming Sylvester Stallone in front of the fountain at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Filming Sylvester Stallone at the fountain outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Itaú is one of Brazil's biggest banks, and its Uniclass campaign put Marcos Mion, one of the country's best known TV hosts, on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art with Sylvester Stallone waiting for him at the top. If you grew up on Rocky, it doesn't get much better than going to work on those steps.

Home Production Services brought us onto the crew to shoot behind-the-scenes stills, so we spent the shoot moving around the set with a camera while the production worked the steps, the plaza and the fountain.

The camera department

This was a big cinema production, with camera builds on stabilized rigs working up and down the steps, a crane out on the plaza and a video village under the tents. For a stills photographer that's a dream, because everywhere you turn somebody's doing something worth shooting.

A cinema camera built up on a tripod outdoors with two camera assistants beside it
One of the camera builds on set.
A camera operator checking a cinema camera with the Philadelphia Museum of Art behind him
Getting the camera ready with the museum behind it.
A stabilized cinema camera rig held low on the museum steps
The rig on the museum steps.
An operator wearing a stabilized camera rig with an assistant and a sound mixer beside him
The operator, the assistant and sound working together.
A camera operator with his eye to a cinema camera in front of a large black flag
Lining up a shot against the black flag.
A camera crane set up on the wet plaza in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art
The crane on the plaza in front of the museum.

Working through the rain

It rained on and off, so the monitors and cameras spent part of the shoot under plastic, and the crew worked from pop-up tents and under umbrellas until the sky cleared.

A crew member at the video village under a tent, watching two monitors
The video village under the tents.
A camera operator in a rig talking with a crew member holding pages on the plaza
Going over the next setup on the plaza.

Filming Stallone and Mion

Once the two of them were on set, the operators moved in close, with a big black flag shaping the light on the steps and in front of the fountain. We went after the frames with the talent, the camera and the crew all in one shot, because that's what makes behind-the-scenes photos worth looking at.

Sylvester Stallone and Marcos Mion in position while an operator frames them beside a large black flag
Stallone and Mion in position beside the flag.
Sylvester Stallone putting up his fists for the camera in front of the fountain
Stallone in front of the fountain.
A camera operator filming from the top of the steps with Stallone and the museum in the distance
Shooting down the steps toward the fountain.
Sylvester Stallone in profile on a field monitor, seen past a crew member
Stallone on the monitor.
Sylvester Stallone talking on a field monitor, seen past a crew member
The same setup, a few seconds later.

The stills set

A separate stills set ran alongside the commercial, with a gray backdrop, softboxes and a photographer working one setup at a time.

A photographer shooting Sylvester Stallone against a gray backdrop with softboxes and flags around them
The stills set, with Stallone on the backdrop.

The end of the day

The sky cleared by the end of the day, and the last setups had Mion out against the skyline and on the steps in that low evening light.

A cinema camera framing Marcos Mion with the Philadelphia skyline behind him
Mion against the skyline.
A camera operator filming Marcos Mion sitting on the museum steps
Mion on the steps.

If you've got a production coming through Philadelphia, New York or the Lehigh Valley and you need behind-the-scenes stills or another set of hands on your crew, give us a call.

Campaign details via Meio & Mensagem and shots. Photos by TM Productions.