‘The Performers’ is a series of highly creative and unusual films produced in conjunction with GQ and Vogue, which give an insight into the world of individual actors and musicians via the minds of visionary directors.

As the production company, Condé Nast’s challenge was to create a sound world that fit with the sophisticated yet hallucinatory feel of the films without drawing attention away from their stars. On each film in the series (click right on the carousel to see all three) we worked closely with the director, engaging deeply with the conceptual world they were creating and producing thoughtful sound design, complimenting the film in every way.

For films like these, atmosphere is key. What we needed to create was a sense of unreality, of dreamlike hallucination, at times a pleasing reverie and at others uncanny and unsettling.

The key was to consult early with the director, get to know one another and define the aims of the project. We all wanted to be on the same page creatively and have a shared understanding of what we wanted to project to achieve. As always, if we get that right then experimentation can happen within lines we have drawn collaboratively.

Once this had been done we were able to try things out, and with open and frequent dialogue get to a place everyone was happy with quickly. Our production team was just as important as the sound designers when it came to creative ideation.

The final results are visually stunning. They sound pretty good too...

Contributors

Agency - The Condé Nast

Sound Design - Nimrod Sound / Will Ward