NYC-based musician LOVESKILLS came to Nice Shoes looking for a creative partner to produce two music videos for the lead-up to the release of his debut EP, Multiplicity. With a production schedule of about two months, Creative Director Brian Bowman presented two unique approaches that would work within the timetable while also realizing a creative vision inspired by the album’s psychedelic cover.
Both videos were shot in one day, but “Cover Me” delivered first. The video features LOVESKILLS performing in a black vacuum with an interactive LED array acting as a light source, intercut with a pair of identically dressed dancers in workout clothes. The video has an overall 80’s feel, which according to Bowman only intensified throughout shooting and carried through into the final color session with colorist Ron Sudul.
Off the shelf LED lights were hacked and controlled with a custom DMX controller programmed by Bowman. Throughout the video, kaleidoscopic animations created in After Effects act as transitions, but the team mostly utilized in-camera effects created by the lights and a number of rare filters supplied by director of photography Rod Lamborn. “Rod buys these filters all over the world,” said Bowman. “He won’t tell anyone where he got them. They’re completely unique and produce beautiful results.”
“Flash in the Dark” set singer Richard Spitzer and model Lara Winter in an animated, black and white world, with color slowly introduced by Winter’s presence. The intro and transitions featured interactive animations that react to the song, some of which were introduced into a live environment when LOVESKILLS played the Mercury Lounge on February 15th. “Flash in the Dark” also brought in more of the Nice Shoes team, with editor Tony Dolezal, Flame artists Vin Roma, Russ Bigsby, Jason Farber and Kevan Lee and colorist Gene Curley all contributing to the final piece. Producer Colleen Valentino managed both videos from start to finish, taking on her first live action production role. “It’s a great example of what a client can achieve when utilizing all of the talent and technology at Nice Shoes,” added Valentino.
Bowman has worked with interactive elements in the past, but is always keen to play with new software and technologies. “With each new project, I’m interested in an experimental approach. For ‘Cover Me,’ we were working with an entirely new program in the VDMX platform. There was no guarantee it would work, but it did and it came out beautifully.”
Credits
Production: Nice Shoes; Director, Brian Bowman; Director of Photography, Rod Lamborn; Producer, Colleen Valentino
Talent: LOVESKILLS; Creative Director, Brian Bowman; Editors, Rocky Bazemore (Cover Me), Tony Dolezal (Flash in the Dark); Animation & Compositing, Brian Bowman, Kit Lam, Danny Princz, Jay Kim; Colorists, Ron Sudul (Cover Me), Gene Curley (Flash in the Dark); Flame Artists, Vin Roma, Russ Bigsby, Jason Farber, Kevan Lee; 1st AC, Alan Bailan; Key Grip, Holly Hosman; Gaffer, Rome Peterson; Swing, Josh Wilson; DIT, Tony Dolezal; MUA, Laura Costa; PA, Nicole Lana
–SHOOT Publicity Wire
