Cass Vanini On Marley, Major Lazer & Mixing It Up

Audio equipment company, House of Marley, has just released this spot - their first ever ad campaign - and it is a bombastic amalgam of striking live-action images, colourful animation and a great music track from Major Lazer.

Shot by directing collective Psyop, the film was edited by Work Post New York's new recruit Cass Vanini and here, Vanini [pictured below] gives us the lowdown on the project and explains the importance of the director/editor relationship.

Tell us a bit about the Marley spot and your involvement with that? 

The House of Marley project was a very unusual and exciting one on many levels. Gerald Ding at Psyop and I have a long and close working relationship and when he was approached directly by House of Marley he immediately came to me. I have a great love of reggae music, Jamaican culture and the Marley legacy so for me it was imperative that I find a way to be involved.  

Working directly with the client was another exciting opportunity I couldn't pass up as this is an exciting brand which is about to begin its first major advertising campaign. From day one I knew I wanted to be a part of this project.

What was the most difficult part of the job?

Oddly, scheduling was probably the hardest part. The shoot happened in Trenchtown and Rosetown in Jamaica in a very compressed single-day shoot with footage flying back to NYC for the editorial process the next day. We had an aggressively compressed editorial schedule and then it was off to the 2D animators.

I say schedule was the hardest part because, in truth, every other aspect of the project went as smoothly as could be hoped for. The footage coming back from Jamaica was incredible with great range and opportunity. The House of Marley group was open and experimental and wanted to tell the story of the Get Together device as excitingly as possible.  

They also approached Major Lazer about using this phenomenal track and got the go ahead without delay or drama. It was a thrill to cut such fantastic footage with such a motivating track and such a likable and well integrated product.

How did you first get into editing?

When I first started in film I was drawn to the story telling and opportunity to create emotion but working on set felt a little too isolated within one part of the mosaic. A dear friend who was an editor introduced me to the post process and I was thrilled to find an outlet for my interests in story, emotion, music, etc. I also found it to be the ideal place to be involved in the creative process.  

As I grew as an editor my voice found more confidence and the collaborations became even richer.  As I continue on my path as an editor I find the creative intimacy of the editorial process - be it with the director, client, effects artists, actor, writer - to be one of the most satisfying aspects of my career

How important is the relationship between an editor and a director?

I’m blessed with one of the best roles in storytelling. Ideally the director and I get to plan, conceive, adjust and experiment well before a frame of footage is shot. And then in the post process we work hand and glove to rethink and rework the structure, story and imagery to come up with the most satisfying results for everyone. It’s an amazing relationship and one I’ve been lucky to cultivate with many amazing directors over the years.  

I believe it’s the role of the editor to actualize the director's ambitions as well as provide alternative options that we can develop together and then find a way to unite that with the agenda of the client. Hopefully the editor can be the strong shoulders that the director can place some burden on and maintain his or her creative focus.  

As an editor I have to be free from the entanglements that come from a tough shoot or a long pre-production process, I have to be open to visions other than my own and I have to be respectful of all the opinions in the process. Together with the director we create the final piece that satisfies all the goals of everyone in the process in the most creative way possible.

You’ve cut both features and commercials.  Which projects, long or short, are you most proud of and why?

There are several types of projects. The really challenging projects are the ones where the story has to be discovered after the shoot. That’s really inspiring to me. There are other projects where I have had a large visual and creative hand in the project, e.g Converse My Drive Thru [below]. It was an exceptional project, wide open creatively, and developed in the suite. I’d say it was collaborative in that sense and a pleasure to work on because of that.

Similarly with Happiness Factory for Coke, that was an example of discovering and refining the story after a lot of the creativity had already begun. I worked with the directors and agency to help build a narrative that could be applied to all versions of the campaign. It gave me an opportunity to approach something with animation that really had no limits to it. There was a kind of freedom to it. What if we combined these two characters? What if we opened this door… It was an exciting way of thinking for me.  

Recently I’ve had more and more opportunity to work with a mix of beautiful, live-action and incredible visual effects such as the FedEx Enchanted Forest [below] or LG Something’s Lurking spots.  In both cases I was part of a larger team where editorial needs had to combine with visual effects and character creation.  I love working with and as a part of the team, understanding and lifting up all stages of the post process and being the hub through which all things can pass. 

You recently joined Work; what attracted you to the company?

An absolute sense of awe at the quality of the people and the creativity of work that they do and an opportunity to collaborate with people I respect so greatly.  Just knowing that the Work crew will see what I do pushes me to challenge myself to achieve my absolute best. I want to inspire them as they inspire me and hope to do the same for them. There’s a creative cross-pollination that can happen as we all strive to be our best. It’s a unique and exciting place to be.

What’s your favorite thing about working New York City?

The energy. An energy that comes from the people. New York has a powerful energy that you can’t help but be infected by. It’s like spicy food, the first bite is painful and your eyes tear up, the second bite is tasty and the heat’s fine, but by the third bite you just want more. 

You get to interact with all types of people, you are forced to be part of a bigger group. There’s an energy like an organism at times, changing and moving and you’re tied up in it.  Whatever you’re into, NYC feels like you’re in the right place for it.