Skip to content
AGWE

Morning Colors

#MorningColors

Morning
Colors.

At 0800 every ship in harbor hoists her colors at the same moment. Nobody is told twice.

Hoist yours. At eight bells, your time, stand your Morning Watch on camera: wash, treat, finish, in under two minutes. End on your card, post it, and come back tomorrow at 0800. The count only goes one way.

Make your end cardThe rules
A man in a linen shirt sits on the foredeck with a tin mug of coffee in early morning light.
Fig. The foredeck, 0800Eight bells · Morning Watch

Colors in

0 BELLS

--:--:--

Working out your 0800…

Morning Watch · 0400–0800

Opens 0400

A bell every half hour from 0430; the eighth, at 0800, is Colors.

Practice on the Watch

Standing orders

Four rules. One time.

Colors go up at 0800 on every ship at once. Yours go up at 0800 wherever you are: the clock above is already set to your time zone.

  1. Rule I

    Colors at 0800.

    Your time, wherever you dock tonight. Eight bells, and the camera rolls.

  2. Rule II

    Wash. Treat. Finish.

    Your Morning Watch, three steps, on camera. Under two minutes, start to finish.

  3. Rule III

    End on your card.

    Your initials hoisted, the date in ship's bells, and the day count.

  4. Rule IV

    Post it. Same time tomorrow.

    Post with #MorningColors and tag @agwe. The count only goes up if you're back at 0800.

  • No kit? Cold water and a clean towel count. The standard is the time, not the bottle.
  • Film where you'd be comfortable being seen, and keep other people out of frame unless they've said yes.
  • Gifted or paid? Say so with #ad.

The shot list

Ninety-five seconds, with room to spare.

A cut that works. Film it straight through or shoot the steps and trim; either way it lands under two minutes.

0:00 · eight bells2:00 · the limit

  1. 0:00to 0:05

    Eight bells, shot 1

    Open on the time: the phone at 08:00, a watch face, the light coming in. Let the bell ring if you have it.

    5 seconds

  2. 0:05to 0:35

    Wash, shot 2

    Cold water to the face, then a little face wash worked over damp skin. Rinse warm, pat dry.

    Shipshape · Clarifying Face Wash

  3. 0:35to 0:55

    Treat, shot 3

    Two or three drops of vitamin C, pressed into clean skin. Close on the hands, not the bottle.

    Morning Colors · Vitamin C Serum

  4. 0:55to 1:15

    Finish, shot 4

    A thin layer of moisturizer, smoothed in. Beard oil after, if you wear one.

    Squared Away · Oil-Free Zinc Face Gel

  5. 1:15to 1:30

    Colors up, shot 5

    Collar straight, coffee in hand, look down the lens. No words needed.

    15 seconds

  6. 1:30to 1:35

    The card, shot 6

    Your Morning Colors card, last frame, three to five seconds.

    5 seconds

The last frame

Your end card, day by day.

Your initials hoisted close up, the date, the time in ship's bells and the count. Drawn here, saved to your phone, dropped in as the last frame.

Fig. The last frame9:16 · 1080 × 1920
Until you type, it hoists A · G · W · E (Alfa Golf Whiskey Echo).

Your first card sets Day 1. This browser keeps the count.

When

0800 · eight bells · Morning Watch

Ground

  • 1080 × 1920: the last three to five seconds of a 9:16 video.
  • Post with #MorningColors and tag @agwe. Drawn on this device; nothing is uploaded.

Keep the time

Let the Watch call it.

The Watch calls each step of your Morning Watch, keeps the clock and rings you through on the bell. Run it once before 0800 and you'll know your timing cold.

Stand your watchDress ship

Post with #MorningColors and tag @agwe. Vitamin C in the morning means sunscreen later: that one is a standing order.