Happy Finish Provides a Haunting Retouch for Airbnb's 'Night At...' Dracula's

To support their newly-launched and already hugely talked-about campaign — 'Night At...' experiences, Airbnb approached Happy Finish to retouch photographs taken by ace photographer Peter Guenzel. This was for their unforgettable once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to stay in Bran Castle, where the legend of Dracula was born, penned by Bram Staker in 1897. Our retouch artist Rob Dewey, having already worked on a number of campaigns for Airbnb, got up to task on these superb photographs to make them stellar.

Talking about objectives of the project, Ekaterina Kukureko, PR Manager, Airbnb says: "A mythical castle, a haunting legend, and a literary classic—the result? The chance to dazzle the world. Few tales have captured the imagination as vividly as the myth of Count Dracula, and we needed imagery that is Gothic, evocative and atmospheric as the horror story itself, and fit for multiple purposes such as press and social media engagement."

Explaining the brief, Rob Dewey, Retoucher, Happy Finish mentions: "From the initial briefing, it was clear this project would be a great undertaking to retouch within the timeframe. Once I gained momentum with the physical retouching on the sets, the story evolved, adding atmospheric twists tailored specifically to each scene - the moonlight, lighting effects, mist and smoke, followed by a colour grade familiar to the look of Game of Thrones. Tight direction from Peter Guenzel and Airbnb ensured my job ran as efficiently as possible to produce the results."

Commenting on Rob's work on the photographs and their success, Ekaterina happily mentions: "Clearly a tricky brief, Rob worked tirelessly to craft this balance and we were delighted with his work on both the interior and exterior shots. These images formed the basis of our most successful 'Night At...' campaign to-date, which received 88,000 entries and was covered extensively in international press."