A haircut can be an errand. At Slow Down, it's an opportunity to step away from the noise, settle into the moment, and take care of yourself.
“I’d spent years in that barber chair, so I knew the feeling we needed to capture. The challenge was helping someone who had never been to Slow Down feel it, too.”
— Josh Youngbar, Founder & Director, Connect Films
Where the Story Began
Some projects begin with a discovery call. This one began with years in the barber chair.
I've been friends with Aaron Rohrer, the owner of Slow Down, for roughly 20 years and have been getting my hair cut there for the last seven or eight. So when he reached out to Connect Films about creating video content for the business, I already understood what made the experience special.
The challenge was figuring out how to communicate that feeling to someone who had never been inside the shop.
How do you make someone feel an experience they haven't had yet?
More Than a Haircut
Slow Down is built around a simple idea: taking time for yourself helps you show up as your best self.
We wanted the creative direction to reflect that philosophy. Rather than treating the haircut as the entire story, we looked at the experience surrounding it: the atmosphere, the craft, and the opportunity to slow down.
That became the foundation for our creative concept, "The Art of the Pause."
We wanted viewers to feel what it's like to put the phone away, settle into the chair, and let someone else take care of the details for a while.
The goal wasn't simply to show people what Slow Down does. It was to help them understand why the experience matters.
Turning a Feeling Into a Film
How do you translate a physical experience into something people can feel through a screen?
For Slow Down, we focused on three elements: the people, the place, and the purpose.
The people brought the experience to life through the relationship between the barber and the customer: arriving with the stress of the day and leaving with a little more ease. The place gave us a world of visual textures to explore: steam, steel, and leather. The purpose connected those elements to the bigger idea behind the brand: making space for yourself in a busy world.
We paid particular attention to the sensory details of the shop and the craft of barbering. The textures of the tools, the rhythm of the work, and the atmosphere of the space all offered opportunities to communicate something that dialogue alone couldn't.
One creative reference became a guiding idea for the project: we wanted viewers to feel the experience of a straight-razor shave.
That meant thinking beyond what the audience would see and considering what they might almost feel themselves.
To get there, we used a wide-angle macro lens, sometimes called a probe lens, for our most unusual close-ups. We also shot at 120 frames per second, which let us literally slow those moments down. Everything else was shot on Blazar anamorphic lenses, ranging from 25mm to 100mm.
One of the biggest moments of the shoot came once we had the main interview set up. Everyone could see how well it had come together, and that spoke to what was already there: the textures and details Aaron puts into the shop. It gave us a stunning wide interview shot, and it's still probably my favorite in the whole video.
My history with Slow Down helped inform those decisions. I wasn't approaching the business as an outsider trying to understand its appeal. I had experienced it firsthand, and I wanted to translate that familiarity into a story that would resonate with someone new.
One Story, Multiple Ways to Connect
Connect Films developed a hero brand film alongside social content designed to introduce more people to Slow Down.
The larger content strategy gave each piece a purpose. The hero film was designed to establish the brand on the website and build awareness. Short, sensory clips were designed to capture attention on social media. A "Meet the Craft" series was designed to introduce the barbers and share their connection to their work.
Together, these pieces were designed to give prospective customers more than a quick look at the shop. They offer different ways to discover the people, philosophy, and experience behind the brand.
Because ultimately, the goal wasn't just to get someone through the door once. It was to connect Slow Down with people who value what it offers and give them a reason to return.
“My experience with Connect Films was top notch. The crew was not only helpful and accommodating in directing the flow of the whole process for the project, but they are also great people. The whole experience was fun, which made it all the more enjoyable. The final result is exactly what we hoped for, and more. What a treat to have such a talented operation in our own backyard.
I can’t recommend enough if you are looking for high professionalism, great people to work with (who will take to heart your vision and display it in the most tangible way possible), and a final product you can be absolutely proud of. Thank you Connect Films!”
Why the Experience Matters
What made this project meaningful to me was the opportunity to tell the story of a business I already cared about.
After years of being a customer, I wanted the finished work to reflect what makes Slow Down special: the care behind the craft and the feeling of taking a moment for yourself.
That's something we think about at Connect Films with every project. A beautiful image can catch someone's attention, but the story behind it gives them a reason to care.
THE BEST BRAND FILMS DON’T JUST SHOW PEOPLE WHAT A BUSINESS DOES. THEY HELP PEOPLE UNDERSTAND WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE PART OF IT.
There may be a story hiding inside your business, too. Let's find it.
Connect Films is an Emmy®-Award-winning production company based in Maryland, creating films that help organizations connect with the people they serve.
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Connect Films is an Emmy®-Award winning production company, and we believe every story is as unique as a fingerprint. Based in Maryland, we’re grateful to serve clients locally and across the world.