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L: The Balvenie 14 year old Caribbean cask
R: The Balvenie 16 year old French Oak cask

Were there any challenges to overcome?

OG: The biggest challenge was refining how the flavour elements would look and be crafted. We wanted them to represent the flavours of the whisky in a graphic and abstract manner, whilst also being easily readable to the viewer. It was a fine line to walk, but I feel that we managed to achieve it in this series.

Behind the scenes at Owen's studio, photos by Jon Green

On shoot constructing the set for the 15 year old Madeira cask   

What was it like on set, capturing the creations in camera?

OG: Shoots are always really exciting and pretty nerve-wracking, as it’s generally the first time a set of mine has fully been pieced together. Although there’s always a lot of pre-planning, to make sure that everything is sized correctly, there’s always a fair bit that needs to be worked out on the day. So I was really pleased with how smoothly these sets came together, especially considering that we needed to shoot the stills and videos for each set per day. That moment when the sets were all complete and then The Balvenie bottle was positioned snuggly between the layers was extremely satisfying!

It was also exciting seeing Mitch working his lighting magic, which really brought these sets to life. The added light refractions perfectly added that warm honey glow to the sets, as well as giving the images a sense of intrigue, which I feel helps to heighten the series.

How did you go about creating that lighting, were there any problems to solve?

Mitch Payne: The honey light was an important part of bringing in warmth to the mood, so we used warm reflective materials and pin light to create abstract refractions that, by hand we cast over the set as the camera moved.

Owen had brought so much dynamism using his layered approach, however the challenge was in the tight space between the layers giving us little room to get lights in without casting nasty shadows. We used lots of small light sources and bounced light using cards and mirror to counter any unwanted shadows and shards of light.

The Balvenie 15 year old Madeira cask animation 

Can you tell us about seeing your sets come to life as a digital animation with Parallel? 

Thomas Lacey at Here Design discovered Parallel’s work whilst we were on The Balvenie shoot one day. I remember being immediately blown away by how well they were able to recreate that paper feel in their digital animated work. Most of my work is tied into the handcrafted realms of possibility, so I was excited about the idea of these sets being recreated and then being able to push what was humanly possible. It’s wonderful to see what the Parallel team have created, with the layers and flavour elements twisting and turning and the sets growing in front of your eyes.

Has there been anything unexpected that came out of the project?

OG: The most unexpected part of the series is how much the project has grown and developed over the past few months! It began initially with just the series of sets, with the first 3 shot with Mitch back in April 2021. That then developed into the amazing animation collaboration with Parallel Studio, bringing the sets to life. I was then also asked to rework the set designs for a series of pop-up books which were to be gifted to important friends of The Balvenie, each housing a miniature of the various whiskies. They have now also been developed into a series of large scale airport and department store takeovers, recreating my sets as walk-through installations. It’s all very exciting and wonderful to see my work used in such an array of applications!

Pop up display boxes, designed by Owen and produced by the Imprimerie du Marais 

And finally, do you have any personal highlights?

OG: I’m particularly proud of the videos of the sets captured in collaboration with Mitch Payne and The Forge. They nicely show off the detail and craft behind the sets, which you often can’t fully capture in a still image. I guess it’s because a still shot can be easily retouched and cleaned up, whereas for the films the sets needed to be perfectly finished. So I’m really proud of how well the videos came out, capturing that handcrafted finish as well as the attention to detail that I really try to hone in my work.

MP: Working with Owen is always a pleasure as his process is very considered and precise and creates amazing potential to concentrate on the job of lighting and bringing the set to life, which I think as a team we did well on this series.

Digital animations of Owen's designs, by Parallel

Links

About Owen Gildersleeve

An expert in hand-crafted illustration and set design, Owen’s creations are carefully constructed from paper in a variety of scales. His bold and graphic works make use of light and shadow, and hand-rendered typography, for clients including Ninja Tunes, Vanity Fair and NASA.

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