Coffee Hero Intro — The High Note

For this project, I served as Art Director, Cinematographer, and Video Editor, creating the hero intro for The High Note and establishing the visual language for its website and broader brand identity.

The main challenge was finding the right visual balance between the personality of a host and the identity of a coffee brand. We wanted the video to feel personal, expressive, and connected to the host, while still giving the coffee itself enough presence to feel like part of the brand rather than just a prop. Figuring out how the coffee, the host, the B-roll, and the overall branding could exist within the same visual world became the core creative problem.

The hero intro was designed around coffee, ice, movement, close-up details, and the host’s eyes, using these elements to build something that felt playful but cinematic. We experimented with coffee pours, ice, reflections, textures, and macro-style B-roll to create visual moments that could carry the brand without making the video feel like a conventional coffee advertisement.

A major part of the process was working within a very small shooting space, which created challenges with lighting, camera movement, framing, and controlling reflections. Getting the right exposure and contrast while shooting close-ups was particularly demanding, especially when working with dark tones, highlights, glass, ice, and liquid. The footage also required careful colour grading to bring consistency between the different shots and maintain the intended cinematic aesthetic.

The editing process became equally important. Since this was the hero introduction for the website and other branding material, every cut, transition, rhythm, and visual detail had to feel intentional. The final piece needed to introduce the personality of the brand within a very short amount of time while still leaving room for curiosity.

In the end, the project became an exercise in turning simple objects and a small space into a larger visual identity—using coffee, ice, light, eyes, texture, and editing to create an introduction that felt distinctly The High Note.