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 15^th. “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.”

To engage people in the campaign, the United Nations enlisted Droga5 and Ridley Scott & Associates to design a unique event in the UN General Assembly Hall where humanitarian aid workers and UN officials shared stories of their important work with an audience of more than 1,200 people. The evening culminated in a performance by Beyoncé of her song, “I Was Here,” featuring the iridescent icon before an amphitheater-sized screen. Beyoncé and Diane Warren, who wrote the song, donated the music video of that performance to the World Humanitarian Day campaign.

Nice Shoes, who has worked extensively with Beyoncé’s production company Parkwood Entertainment, stepped in to handle the color grading and VFX on the video. Nice Shoes colorist Lenny Mastrandrea and VFX artists Jason Farber and Kevan Lee executed the project, closely collaborating with Directors Kenzo Digital and Sophie Muller, as well as the creative teams from Droga5 and Parkwood.

“Our team’s experience and ability to work quickly and jointly in visual effects and color grading really worked to our advantage with the tight turnaround,” explained Nice Shoes Producer Jen Cadic.

The VFX crew had over 30 shots to focus on, but also had a small but unique challenge. “There were a few shots where there was a small gap between the bottom of the screens and the stage, so we were able to stretch the background screens down in the Flame,” added VFX artist Jason Farber. Colorist Lenny Mastrandrea worked to marry the looks of Alexa and Sony F3 footage. “The Alexa and F3 capture fine detail quite differently, so we took considerable pains to seamlessly marry the two looks,” noted Mastrandrea. “This synthesis was an enormous concern for all involved, and I think we nailed it.”

As the goodwill embodied by World Humanitarian Day was intended to be the campaign’s centerpiece, the studio paid special attention to making the heroic and tragic projections behind Beyoncé appear dense enough to be recognizable. “We had special instructions not to make this a glamour piece,” stated Mastrandrea, who has worked with Kenzo for many years. “This music video was about the special message of empathy and aid for our fellow man.”

Beyond creating the music video, creative director Brian Bowman and team extended the filmed content to become part of the band’s live performance.  Deploying interactive projections playing through VDMX and controlled by iOS (via iPhone, iTouch, and iPad), the iOS devices can transmit touchscreen commands and live video over Wi-Fi to a laptop.

“The song for me is about the memory of somebody, not necessarily the reality of somebody,” detailed Bowman. “The projections became about those memories living in an illuminated space.”

Creating that space was not without its challenges. The screens needed to be large but featherweight so that they could be hung from the ceiling. Bowman also personally ensured that the massive screens were seamless so that the gorgeous backlit projections filled the entire surface during the performance.

The projections themselves were controlled during the shoot using VDMX haptic technology. Originally intended for VJs, the highly customizable platform worked in junction with Open Sound Control (OSC) and the iPhone to transmit touchscreen command signals over Wi-Fi to a computer. This allowed the projected memories to react in real-time to the swipe of a fingertip, resulting in a dynamic visual experience. Bowman’s hands-on approach was later replicated at Tiny Victories’ EP release party.

Bowman’s deep involvement reflected both his love for layered electronic music and a passion for all things practical.

“I wanted the video to reflect that in some way,” he explained. “Different ways of layering up images that were kind of retro without using plugins. The particles are practical. That’s eye shadow glitter flying into the camera. We did a lot with LED flashlights or shooting into the projector to create the lens flares. It’s a DIY aesthetic that’s meant to be experimental.”