LVMH Puts the “Art” In “Heart” With Their 2022 Artist Showcase
What’s there to say that hasn’t already been said about Art Basel? As one of the world’s preeminent art shows, Art Basel is the event of the year in Miami, FL, bringing together the greatest minds, creators, and influencers in the art world. It’s a place for art to shine, but also a place where forward-thinking brands like LVMH can showcase their dedication to the art world.
After a successful event in 2021, the good folks at LVMH decided to level up for their 2022 showcase. We followed suit, and what ensued was an artist event for the ages.
Art In Motion
“It really was a team effort – both client-side and internally – to take things up a notch this year,” recalls the project’s Lead Producer, Melissa St. Clair. “Not only did we have a larger team at play at the event, but we also had a much clearer vision of how we wanted to capture the scenes.”
“Yeah,” chimes in Emily Payton, one of the events’ Camera Operators, “one of the biggest things we wanted to play with was using camera movements to mirror the dynamism of the event. The art itself might be static, but the energy in that room was anything but.”
But as our other Camera Operator, Alessandro Graci, points out, we knew we needed a strong counterpoint to these dynamic camera movements: “There was a lot going on in at Art Basel, but the event felt really intimate, you know? Lots of love in that room. We made sure to get tons of close-ups and even extreme close-ups to let that intimacy shine through.”
“Exactly! And I even made sure to get footage of our photographer Anotonio Ajam at work, as well as shots of the stills they captured,” Emily quips, “it was all about getting lots of physical and emotional textures to play with.”
All this to say, it was a successful, fun, and invigorating shoot – everything you’d hope to experience at Art Basel.
However, as anyone who works in production will attest, the work on set is only half of the artist’s journey…
Painting A Picture of LVMH’s Success
Sebastian Chamaca never shies away from a challenge. He’s cranked out masterful edits that garnered client applause (literally) in less than 6 hours; he’s edited broadcast tv episodes; he’s tamed how-to videos that require the most honed-in attention span.
And yet, going into this project Seb knew he had a problem on his hands.
“Honestly, I was just worried about how much good sh*t I was gonna have to play with,” Seb recalls, with a chuckle. “I actually edited the whole thing once, got it to a place I thought I liked, and then ultimately scrapped the whole thing. It was just missing that feeling, that upbeat vibe that this spot really needed.”
Undeterred, Seb got back to work and pulled together an absolute banger of an edit.
Knowing that he wanted to use a paper rip effect as an homage to some of his favorite fast-paced hip-hop videos from his youth, Seb utilized a simple .png stencil in Adobe Premiere then carefully curated a selection of must-have photos from the event.
“The goal with the paper rip effect was to really showcase the story of both the Artist Showcase as well as LVMH’s part in it; I really agonized over it!” says Seb. “My first step was to lay in the paper rip sound effect to get the cadence just right, then I’d find the best photos and lay them in one-by-one until I felt happy with the sequence.”
Seb’s edit uses this effect deftly, enlivening the video with the exact kind of hip-hop energy he drew inspiration from. Plus: the smooth wipe transitions Emily & Alesso set up for him are *chef’s kiss*
The Finishing Touches
With Sebastian’s wonderful edit locked, the final steps fell to Colorist, Haley Fusia, and Sound Engineer, Matthew Harriott.
“I had one primary goal going into color: don’t mess with the color of the art!” recalls Haley. “I really just focused on color correction, rather than apply much of a grade at all. In fact, I’m pretty sure all I did grade-wise was push the blues & oranges in the midtones to give it a little more oomph, and then I kept everything else pretty natural.”
Matt, alas, didn’t have quite as easy of a time as Haley.
“I was the Sound Mixer for our team on-site, so I knew what I was getting into for post…and I knew it was gonna be a challenge,” sighs Matt (jokingly, of course). “We didn’t have the best board feed from the event space’s AV team, so a lot of the audio tracks were pretty ‘hissy.’ My work-around was that I ended up duplicating some audio tracks to essentially create an artificial room-tone and keep things consistent. Ultimately, it turned out solid – it was just a decent bit of work.”