American Exceptionalism: I came up with this concept after observing the madness infecting stupid-ass Americans as they desperately hoarded toilet paper and guns when the severity of the COVID-19 situation was being broadcasted honestly by the media. And because I was also just bored. I will never understand the stupidity of humans in a crisis, but I can poke fun at it.
Creatively this was shot using only constant lights that I normally use for video. But LED tech is so good nowadays that I am starting to test its effectiveness at replacing strobes. It's not all the way there, but for a lot of things that don't require a ton of power, they're way more convenient, especially when working with the RGB ones. I used Astera Titan Tubes, an aperture 300D, and some other RGB panels from Luxli and Lupo to dial in a look that I hope is motivated by the practical lights in the room. Namely the lamp, and a television set that is implied to be in front of the subject. The streak of light from the window was created with one flash (Alright fine I cheated). A Godox AD 200 Pro. I also used a haze machine to give a softer, overall look.
Nationalism aside, the lighting in your image is very intriguing, and the stereotype concept is fairly well delivered.
Thank you for posting your project. I enjoyed the "on the nose" punctuation.