London, 20th December 2021: Leading creative technology and content production studio Happy Finish today announces the creation of virtual environments for the video launch of luxury fashion brand Pierre Balmain’s Pre-Fall 2022 Collection. 

For the production of the new Balmain Collection Films, Happy Finish were approached to create numerous virtual environments using Unreal Engine. Working as close creative collaborators with Lalaland Productions and Director Norbert Schoerner, Happy Finish supported in a new and highly innovative way of shooting, by owning the process of the environment creation for an XR virtual production. Inspired by various futuristic references including Stanley Kubrick’s iconic 2001: Space Odyssey they designed five environments, including a descending space ‘lift’ and a 360-degree spinning ‘centrifuge’.  

Each of these virtual environments were projected onto the stage on high end LED screen walls and floor behind and below the models. These sets then react to the real-life camera moves and using Unreal Engine the content on the LED walled background and LED floor change to complete the scene being filmed. This technique completely removes the need for green screen compositing to produce the final result. The shoot, filmed in Paris, used Camera tracking technology allowing for the perspective of the environment to alter as the models moved around the stage. 

Daniel Cheetham CTO at Happy Finish, says: “This was a great project to be involved with, allowing us to flex our real-time content production muscles for one of the world’s greatest luxury brands. The luxury sector is at the creative forefront when it comes to utilising the latest virtual production techniques to maximum effect, as Balmain has demonstrated by taking this approach to its pre-fall collection launch. Virtual production is transforming content creation across multiple sectors, we love working on these projects.”