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Behind the Work in association withThe Immortal Awards
Group745

Your Shot: The Greatest Words

01/08/2012
Production Company
Toronto, Canada
189
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Louis Vuitton's recent campaign featuring Mos Def

Floating like a butterfly, stinging like a bee, Yasiin Bey (a.k.a Mos Def) bobs and weaves his way through Muhammad Ali’s verbal poetry, while artist Niels Shoe Meulman creates gothic graffiti. Effortlessly powerful, The Greatest Words campaign for Louis Vuitton features a set of knock-out films. We spoke to the creative team at Ogilvy Paris, director Stuart McIntyre, editor Stephen Sora and the sound and music team at Apollo Studios to find out more.

 
LBB> You were approached to find the right artist to match the brand - why did Yasiin Bey fit so well with Louis Vuitton?
 
Apollo Studios (Philippe-Aubert Messier)> In the beginning everything was on the table.  We considered singers, musicians and actors of many different age groups and cultures. The common thread was a fit with Vuitton's core values or culture of excellence. At the same time we wanted someone who could make these poems written in the 1960s and 70s relevant today. To take those values and carry them to a new generation.  Yassiin Bey's (Mos Def) name came up really early on in the discussion. Everyone in the team is a big fan and we knew he would be great on screen. We were hoping that the Ali poems would have some personal resonance for him and they did. He understood the idea right away and ran with it. 
 
Ogilvy Paris> Yasiin was chosen because of his abilities as a versatile wordsmith. From his origins as a rapper many years ago to the Def poetry sessions in recent years he seemed the best choice. Above all he matched the brand; he is a very elegant man, very poetic with a lot of depth in his personality.
 
LBB> How important a role did music and sound play in the spots?
 
Apollo Studios> Originally we were looking for multiple artists for the different spots but once we had Yasiin Bey on board we realized his presence is all that was needed. Having Yasiin sing the spots was also considered but in this case there would have been no musical element, simply sound design and everyone realized that Muhammad Ali's speeches are so powerful and that Yasiin such a talented artist that it wouldn't have had the desired effect.  We developed a track for all five spots and in order to keep continuity, the track used in each spot is a rearrangement of the original.  Music and sound design have been closely tied so that they complement one other and we have incorporated actual sound from historical fights.  We've received such positive feedback and many requests for the song that we're currently developing it into a full track.
 
LBB> The films also feature Niels Shoe Meulman - where did you come across his work and what did he bring to the project?
 
Ogilvy Paris> The Art Director Adrien is a huge fan of Niels and we all fell in love with the style and elegance of his work. He is very well known in the international graffiti world and has a huge following. Niels was able to work rapidly on a grand scale. This is very impressive to watch, especially when viewed from above. It’s a cross between tai-chi and modern dance; watching him move across the canvas. 
 
LBB> The films play on the interaction between two different art forms - the spoken word and calligraphy - how did the two artists collaborate? 
 
Ogilvy Paris> Both are amazing to work with. To begin with, they had a pre-brief that they worked on individually and then on the day they spent time being briefed with the director Stuart to work out what they wanted to do. 
 
Stuart McIntyre > Though we shot the two artists separately, compositing their images together, they had a great deal to talk about regarding practice and inspiration. Both Niels and Yasiin were incredibly inspired by the words of Muhammed Ali, and did an incredible job to embody them in their work. 
 
LBB> Did they practice or workshop the films before filming or was it entirely spontaneous?
 
Stuart McIntyre> Both Niels and Yasiin work with inspiration. They want to be wholly engaged with the moment of creation. As a result, despite lots of preparation beforehand, each performance was new and alive. Niels' works are completely one of a kind. He can't re-create his actions, so we needed to capture the painting of each canvas. As for Yasiin, though we did multiple takes, he always went into the ring fresh. To have over-rehearsed might have drained his performances of their power. The way to keep these performances fresh and make sure that we were getting the best visuals was to have multiple cameras filming at once.  In the end, the spontaneity of the pieces helped give them their special magic.
 
LBB> There's a real physicality to Yasiin Bey's performance - from the gentle bobbing-and-weaving to his sharp sweeping turns - was the choreography something you worked on together?
 
Stuart McIntyre> I knew from the outset that I wanted Yasiin to interpret Ali physically as well as lyrically. Ali was very rarely still. His body and his words were inextricably connected. One of the first things I wanted was for Yasiin to shadow box in the ring and own the stage. It was important that he didn’t forget that he was in a domain of combat. Yasiin came to the project with a very similar set of ideas. He grew up with stories of Ali, boxed a little and did everything he could to channel the Champion’s energy. As a result, our visions were aligned and the interpretation you see in the ring is entirely Yasiin's. All I did was try to make him feel as free and comfortable to express himself. 
 
LBB> In terms of the edit, what was the biggest challenge that you faced?
 
Stephen Sora> The biggest struggle with the edits was to establish a balance between the two performances, never allowing one to overshadow the other. We needed to establish a complement, so that the tone of Yasiin's performance matched the tone of Niels' painting - and that the two fell into a similar rhythm. In the end, I think we got that balance right. 
 
LBB> How did you balance the shots of Yasiin Bey's performance and Niels' graffiti?
 
Stuart McIntyre > At first, it seemed like an extraordinarily difficult task, especially because you don’t want to take away from the singularity of either performance. Really, it came down to establishing a balance of opposites. The two performances were very different: Yasiin embodied Ali's character through his voice and movements while Niels connected through his paint and brush strokes. What editor Stephen Sora and I sought to do was establish a balance between their seemingly dissimilar means of expression, finding shots that mirrored and complemented each other, in order to fashion a unified sense of Muhammed Ali’s poetry.   
 
To view Louis Vuitton "Dream" go here.
 
To view Louis Vuitton "Word" go here.
 
Credits
Agency: Ogilvy & Mather Paris
Client: Louis Vuitton
Director: Stuart McIntyre
Production Company: Steam Films
Creative Director: Kurt Novack
Art Director: Adrien Havet
Video Production: Steam Films
Sound Production: Apollo Studio
Sound Production: Yan dal Santo
Design/Typography: Niels Shoe Meulman
Editor: Stephen Sora
Credits