We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nelson Morlock a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Nelson , thanks for joining us today. We’d love to start by getting your thoughts on what you are seeing as some the biggest trends emerging in your industry.

There are many trends in the videography world but one that stands out to me right now is the focus on story-telling in social media. Brands are finally understanding that creating authentic, engaging content is more important that a polished video that no one is paying attention to. As a cinematographer and director, my job is to tell a story that connects. Sometimes that necessitates a big production with lots of lights, slow motion cameras, professional actors etc. and sometimes it means just using my iPhone. This past summer I filmed a commercial in Spain for a natural wine tour company. I went back and forth on what camera to use for the shoot and I ultimately decided to use a small mirrorless camera (the fuji xH2s) instead of my much bigger and “better” cinema camera. This camera choice changed everything because it allowed me to go under the radar and capture candid moments that I wouldn’t have been able to do with a big, attention-grabbing camera. The client was very happy with the end result sharing that it “actually feels like you’re on the tour yourself”. One thing that was key to the success of this commercial was creating balance. Because the footage was already so organic and candid, I kept the edit very clean and worked with a professional voice-over artist to anchor the commercial and provide credibility. This project was another reminder that storytelling should always be the number one priority.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Years ago, after working on TV shows for History Channel and Discovery+ I had a realization that I wanted to be around and work with inspiring entrepreneurs. My degree is in business and I’ve always been fascinated with entrepreneurship and building brands. Starting Melodic Sorbet Productions and felt like the right decision and I couldn’t be more excited to get started. Fast forward and today Melodic Sorbet is an innovative production company that creates video and photo to help brands connect with their audience. I think what sets us apart is our balance of professionalism and out of the box creativity. Because we are a smaller company we don’t have “play it safe” and are always thinking of ways to set your brand apart. We will create a stunning TV-ready gin commercial and at the same time create relatable between the scenes content for Instagram. Our approach is modern and iconoclastic.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

One of the most rewarding aspects of being a creative for me is getting to “connect puzzle pieces”. A recent example of this is a project I worked on with a wine brand. The three main puzzle pieces in this instance were the brand itself, the location, and the models. For the location, I reached out to a stunning Airbnb that I had previously worked with and asked if they would be open to us filming a commercial at their property. They were very excited and let us use their beautiful A-frame as the backdrop for our shoot free of charge. In exchange I spent an extra day and took beautiful lifestyle photos of their place. I also encouraged the models to use the location during our down time to create UGC content on their phones for other brands. While it did a lot of coordination, in the end the Airbnb got professional photography and shoutouts from the models, the models got to use the location for free on top of the main shoot, and the wine brand was very happy because of the money we saved. Thinking differently about how to run a project is very rewarding for me especially when I can create wins for everyone involved.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My five year goal is to create a rental property for videographers, photographers, and musical artists. Renting an Airbnb as a creative is a great way to film a project or record an album while having your whole team together (rather than having to rent a hotel and a shooting location separately). This format facilitates deep, creative work in a truly unique way. Often times, however, Airbnbs aren’t set up for creatives. My dream is to create a space that thinks of the creative first. This means having an onsite recording studio, a full video/photo studio with backdrops, beautiful natural light in every room, a kitchen optimized for filming, and electric that can handle powerful lights just to name of few things. I want creatives to be able to rent my space and stay for a few days or a week and have everything they need to create amazing, inspired work.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.melodicsorbet.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/melodicsorbet

Image Credits
Erik Engstrom Simon Peterson