Gucci has recruited cult classic film director Harmony Korine to shoot two campaigns. The campaigns feature celebrities, wild parties, and tacky vacation vibes.
Harmony Korine's filmography includes the very influential movies “Kids,” “Gumo,” and “The Spring Breakers.” His films tell stories of the harsh realities of the American experience, often through poor youth. This visual signature includes cinema verite style camera work that makes you feel like you are in the room with the actors. When you watch his work for the first time, it often feels like you are watching a documentary.
Gucci's two collaborations with Korine are an about-face to this expression of poor American youth. The campaigns both include bright still photography and campaign videos that tell the story of lavish youth enjoying island life.
This first campaign Gucci Cruise dropped in early October and features Gucci Mane and Iggop going to a lavash pool party. Korine captures energy in this imagery that feels like a party from The Great Gatsby. Along with the film and hero photos, Korine also shot a collection of decadent, colorful jello molds. The Gift-Giving campaign features youth and elderly models enjoying a holiday-themed cruise.
Why is this relevant? While Korine is not known for photography, he is known for creating authentic gritty images that pull you in. He is also known as a prolific storyteller. Personally, I think film direction and the photography industry are melding. Brands want their still content to match their moving content and vice versa. To me, these videos feel like very sophisticated event recaps. I see so many event videos that are filled with the bells and whistles of drone and gimbal shots but fell flat because of the lack of human energy in the actual content. Korine's work should inspire you to worry less about camera tricks and more about capturing an excellent performance and an authentic moment.
I've been saying brands *should* want their still content to match their moving content for years, but it never seems to happen. This is close, but the vibes of the two, to me, feel much different. You'd think Harmony would pull it off to perfection, but I think someone more like Ellen von Unwerth as director for the video would have matched the stills better. Maybe it's actually pretty hard, or at least a unique skill to get the two art forms working together.
The differences between strobes and continuous light are hard to over come.
And if you are shooting on film for both still and motion then you are stuck trying to pick similar stocks.
I think it’s a pretty hard thing to accomplish.
That's what camera/lighting assistants are for.
I doubt they are shooting on film.
It's not that hard to have continuous lights set up for video and then fly in a strobe with a beauty dish or large reflector for a still shot.
Anyways I doubt they're shooting the stills at the same time as the video
Anything is possible on the Gucci budget.
The stills and video are shot using the same on-camera directional light. Same color correction too. Looks pretty matchy to me.