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LOUIS TOMLINSON - IMPOSTER
From the forthcoming album “HOW DID I GET HERE?”
Commissioned by: Phil Lee @ Untold Studios Directed by: Samona Olanipekun
Produced by: ProdCo
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LEMONADE
The first single from the forthcoming album “HOW DID I GET HERE?” From Louis Tomlinson
Commissioned by: Phil Lee @untold_studios Directed by: Emmanuel Adjei
Produced by: Magna Studios
On 2 October 2000, The Prodigy’s Maxim released his debut LP, ‘Hell’s Kitchen’. Critics praised the record, with some hailing it as one of the year’s standout releases. The release artwork was art directed by Phil Lee (then at XL Recordings) alongside Maxim.
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The cover was photographed by Dominic Davies, who had already shot the sleeve for the ‘Scheming’ single a couple of months earlier, while the portraits of Maxim on the CD inner sleeve were taken by Dennis Morris. To mark the album’s 25th anniversary, we caught up with Dominic, who shared the full story behind the making of the cover.
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The logo was specially engraved onto a small piece of glass made for the cover shoot. The glass was about 40cm square, as Davies remembers. There were two versions: one with fully frosted glass and another with frosted glass but clear letters. The clear-letter version is the one you see on the album today.
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Dominic Davies: ‘The brief was really to make it feel like a three-dimensional object, which is why there are the contrasting blue highlights on the “M”. Without that, it might have looked flat. The model itself was clear glass, so I was able to alter the colour and add the highlight in the centre. We basically experimented to see how it looked under different colours.
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The scale of the shoot was quite small, so I was able to do it at home. It was set up for a few days, and I sent Phil images and made some adjustments. There was a bit of back and forth, but everything came together fairly quickly’.
Maxim’s single ‘Scheming’ came out on 11 September 2000, becoming a massive highlight of his debut solo album ‘Hell’s Kitchen’. The finished tune featured production from Liam Howlett and guitar work from long-time The Prodigy associate Jim Davies, but before reaching that point the track went through several iterations — including an early version with Gang Starr’s Guru.
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Single cover artwork was art directed by XL Recordings’ Phil Lee and Maxim, with photography by Dominic Davies. For the cover, Dominic photographed the ace card from a custom deck created specially for the shoot — a full set branded with Maxim’s logo was produced for the promo. Alongside the main design there was an alternate version, issued on another edition of the single with a different tracklist (photo 3).
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Davies recalls the shot was deceptively tricky: he had to go macro on the ‘Maxim’ logo printed on the ace card, which left a large expanse of white around the subject and made it hard to bring the surrounding environment into frame. On the final cover the ace is pushed right to the top so ‘Maxim’ just fits along the bottom; Davies believes this is why Phil Lee adjusted the colour treatment — to stop that much white from feeling too stark.
📷: @dominicdaviesphoto (photo 2,3,4,6)
📷: @theprodi.gy (photo 1,5)
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Read the full feature on the website.
Inside: the most complete story of the tune, interviews with Jim Davies and Ben Mor (Blood Of Abraham), unreleased versions, and more rare stuff!
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www.theprodi.gy/scheming
. We are so happy to continue our creative relationship with Tom Odell. He and Alex had a vision that we helped bring to life and wow was it worth it…
Director: Alex Leggatt
Director of Photography: Kai Blamey Nguyen
Producer: Mathias Gilay
Head of Music & Brand Partnerships: Annie Ayres
Creative Director: Phil Lee
Production Company: Untold Studios
Art Director: Joe Munro
Set Design & Build: East Productions
Stylist: Daniel D’Armas
Groomer: Christopher Gatt
Artist MGMT: UROK Management
1st AD: Mark McPadden
Production Manager: Tia Varnnard
Shoot Production Manager: Ethan McDowell
Focus Puller: Barney Batchelor
Steadicam: Nicholas Zugaib
Grip: Johnny Donne
2nd AC: Nathan Lloyd
Camera Trainee: Alexandra Brannan
Playback Op: Steven Toft
Gaffer: Elliot Beach
Electrician: Tom Northam
Electrician: Mykola Bulavskyi
Electrician: Michael Fokias
Electrician: Jasmine Suivi
Electrician Trainee: Toby Norman
Master Rigger: Daniel Mechant
Floor Runner: Larah Foster
Floor Runner: Francesco Codardo
Socials: Gina Lipscombe
BTS Photography: Kendal Walker
Stylist Assistant: Leonor Carvalho
Tailor: Audra Budvytiene
Grooming Assistant: Anastasiia Aleksandrenko
Tech: Grahame Rolfe
Drummer: Toby Couling
Bassist: Max Goff
Guitarist: Max Clilverd
Talent: Fyodor Houtheusen & Ditte Ravn
Transport: Craig Moore & Ryan Price
2nd Unit Producer: Fyodor Houtheusen
2nd Unit DOP: Nick Bourdeaux
2nd Unit Gaffer: George Greenwood
Editor: Dave Robinson
Edit Facility: tenthree
Assistant Editors: Jules Bayer-Crier & Alice Payne
Edit Producer: Rachel Goodger
Colourist: John O’Riordan
Grade House: Pundersons Gardens
VFX Artist: Denova Media
Special thanks to:
Panavision
Cinelab
. As the response to our last film went so well we were asked to do it again… 🇺🇸
Creative Director: Phil Lee
Head of Production: Tessa Wood
Head of Music: Annie Ayers
Producer: Helen Gordon
Editor: Jullian Fletcher
AFX Editor: Jac Harries
Sound: Jon Shave
Production Company: Untold Studios
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Nines - Quit While You’re Ahead What a way to bow out…
Creative Director: Phil Lee Photographer: Blacksocks
Retouch: Fliss
Producer: Tia Varnnard
Head of Music: Annie Ayers
Production Company: Untold Studios Commissioners: Ali Neale & Gusto @ EGA
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When you get asked to create a short film to accompany a culturally momentous announcement, of course you oblige…
Creative Director: Phil Lee
Head of Production: Tessa Wood
Head of Music: Annie Ayers
Designer: Rachel Bungey
Creative Assistant: Sara Taleghani
Edit / Online: Tom Herring / Remi Aaron
Sound Design: Jon Shave
Production Company: Untold Studios
Thank you Sam Eldridge and Sarah Mansfield
