Mortal Kombat 2 Movie Premiere After Party With Louis XIII x Lewis Tan

Not every commission comes with a brief like this one. Louis XIII — one of the most celebrated cognacs in the world — wanted content for the Mortal Kombat 2 premiere after-party, with Lewis Tan as the face of the evening. The venue: Gilgamesh. The priority: make the decanter the star, without ever looking like you tried too hard.

The Brief

The production guide was detailed and the creative direction clear — Louis XIII in frame at all times, Lewis Tan as the anchor, and well-defined guidelines on exactly what they needed. I appreciate a client who knows what they want. It makes every decision on the night faster.

On the Night

Low-light event work is one of those things that sounds romantic and is occasionally genuinely stressful. Gilgamesh gave us a beautiful backdrop — moody, layered, the kind of venue that does most of your art direction for you — but getting sharp, clean product close-ups in that environment meant moving quickly and committing to every frame.

I split my attention between the formal service ritual — the uncorking ceremony, the first pour, the crystal crowning — and the more candid atmosphere around Lewis: the greetings, the toasts, the energy of the room. The primary deliverable was a 30-second 9:16 vertical cut for Instagram Reels and Stories, with PR stills alongside for press and digital.

Kit

For the main video I was on my Canon EOS R6 Mark III with the RF 24–70mm f/2.8 L IS USM. A reliable combination for this kind of work — versatile focal range, capable in low light, and sharp enough to hold up to a client who'll scrutinise every frame of the product.

Product close-ups and detail shots went to my trusty Fujifilm X-H2S with the newly acquired Viltrox 27mm AF F1.2 Pro XF — a lens I'm quite happy with already. At f/1.2 on APS-C you get a rendering that's genuinely lovely: soft falloff, good subject pop, and that slightly filmic quality that suited the aesthetic of the evening perfectly.

I also had a handy pocket LED light to help me with the dim, intimate environment for getting beautiful lighting and reflections on both the talent and the decanter. I also used a flash for those classic party shots with complimentary lighting on people.

Post-Production

I graded in DaVinci Resolve using Dehancer's Kodak Vision3 250D as the base film profile — a natural fit for an evening shoot. It brings warmth, a grain structure that doesn't read as digital, and a tonal quality that earns its keep without being obvious about it. It was a great match for a luxury product. Music fully licensed via Epidemic Sound.

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