How STUCK IN MOTION Continues to Meet the Fast Paced Demands of the VMAs

Deb> This year Toyota sponsored Shakira’s Video Vanguard award and performance, so the 90 which led into her award piece really needed to be a centrepiece of the night. The treatment beautifully described the Prius driving on the streets of NYC at night as Shakira’s music is playing, and then transitioning into different ‘worlds’ full of performances shot in a studio. Both the running footage and footage of the car parked in the studio was stunning, and Toyota loved the energy of the first cut, but they wanted it to feel like the car was driving through the performances too. We had a VFX team at the ready and got to work surgically cutting the car and performers out of shots, frame by frame, to blend the worlds more seamlessly. We put performers into reflections and mirrors, and made static wheels look like they were moving. It was a lot of long days and (over)nights, but it turned out great!

Burger King’s VMA piece this year was a music video for a remix of the earworm “Whopper Whopper jingle featuring Steve Aoki. Paramount brought back director Kajal who we had worked with on last year’s award winning Latto music video. Working closely with Kajal on that shoot, with its VFX heavy 11 day turnaround, we fostered a wonderful trust and understanding of her sensibilities and workflow. This year we had to cut that turnaround time significantly, delivering a teaser for air just four days after shooting Steve Aoki over the Labor Day weekend. Tommy had a supervised edit session in a hotel room with Kajal and creative director, Brittany Greene, and was able to turn around a very strong rough cut for Burger King in just three hours. We also had a small team working in Ukraine on light VFX overnight. Tommy then continued editing the longer :75 on the plane home, with a rough cut ready the very next day.

Tommy> There were also location related challenges that came up. Kajal saw Steve’s location and felt the two worlds were just too different. She came up with the idea of using a tunnel to connect Steve’s speaker to the pool party. Introducing 3D so late in the game, under a tight timeline, was ambitious but we contacted our good friends at Glassworks in Amsterdam for help, while we focused on the edit and other VFX. Being on the East Coast, it meant a lot of very early morning calls, but it was all well worth it.

The skateboarding scene also ended up needing a VFX solution which only came up once the camera was rolling. The skateboarder struggled to perform an impressive-looking trick on camera. I had to come up with a post solution in the moment that wouldn’t throw off the AD’s schedule but would also make the trick look cool. We’re pretty proud of how that scene turned out.

Tommy> We’ve been described as the ‘secret weapon’ when it comes to post. We are able to adapt to everchanging creative while also moving ultra fast and keeping a very comfortable review process for the multiple tiers involved. It’s an extremely delicate balance that we get better at each year.

We get involved early on and build a unique team for each project as soon as we get briefed.We’ve been really fortunate to build a tight community of relationships over our combined multi decades in the industry. Even before Covid, we were tapping into talent and relationships all over the world. This has allowed us to streamline our processes and also means there’s very little we can’t execute when it shows up in a brief. A strictly editorial piece versus a heavy compositing, illustrated or 3D piece needs a totally unique post team. We have no egos and take full advantage of the best talent available, integrating them into our workflow. This means we can execute a wide range of creative styles by leveraging really great talent that’s not directly under our roof, giving clients a unique opportunity when they partner with us. 

Deb> Branded and talent deals for the VMAs often happen close to show day. As a result, creative in post often needs to turn around quickly. These projects are all hands-on-deck for prep and execution and we always plan to be on set too. Even when there is no VFX to supervise, our editors are watching the monitors, taking their own notes and available for creative discussions in real time. This approach has allowed us to catch any evolving problems while there’s still time to correct them in camera. It’s a win-win for everyone and should be done for every project, not just the VMAs.

Tommy> We need to figure out ways of condensing a 6-8 week post production schedule under normal circumstances down to 2 weeks, so we look at each project uniquely. Some projects are going to be more VFX heavy than others. Some may need a teaser version delivered within a day or two of the shoot. Getting our hands on the creative brief and running through the deliverable schedules as early as possible allows us to run different scenarios and customise the workflow to ensure it caters to the specific needs of the project. If the schedule demands, we can even set up a remote pipeline across multiple time zones so post never stops moving. 

Deb> Also, the value of laying down a sound bed and cutting and reviewing animatics prior to the shoot is hugely important. It not only helps the director pace their shots and inform production’s run of show, but we may even identify post solutions that look great and save production valuable time and money. We are not exaggerating when we say ‘post starts long before production.’

Tommy> Our core team is made up of a small, very skilled group of folks who each wear many hats and juggle a lot of complicated tasks. We begin any project by looking at the brief or treatment, breaking down what’s needed to achieve the best creative. We then get our internal and external resources organised quickly. Sometimes directors want to use their preferred colourist, sound designer, or perhaps a special skill set is needed for a specific visual effect moment. Once we have all our resources lined up, we lay out a carefully coordinated post calendar that places them into the pipeline. It’s about clear communication and organisation for the first phase as this is the foundation that carries through the project until delivery. This allows us to work simultaneously on two, three or even more spots for the big show.