Lockdown or not, Dir. Lx is having a storming year. Hugely prolific over the past couple of years, he has been busier than ever since shooting has started up again, and doing some of his best work.A prime example is the just-dropped video for DC's Tears, Sweat, Blood. It's his second video for the South London grime artist, following Neighbourhood earlier this year, and arguably his most sophisticated work yet, with the charismatic DC squarely at the heart of some intriguing set-ups. We talked to Lx about the making of the video, shot on a very hot day in June, under strict guidelines necessitated by the pandemic crisis. DC has a strong and distinctive presence in this video. Is that something you wanted to emphasise after your previous experience working with him on the Neighbourhood video?Definitely, my main aim was to make this video a level above what we were aiming for creatively with Neighbourhood. If you ever meet DC you’ll realise that he is quite understated in his nature, but his presence is always felt. So I wanted to bring that across in the video in a way that kept it authentic to him. For example, with the umbrella scene, it’s very direct in its meaning and link to the track. I wasn’t sure DC would buy into it but we had a discussion and he was into it. The styling helped too, so shout out to him and [stylist] Daisy Deane on that - a great job.DC is quite understated in his nature, but his presence is always felt.What was the main brief from DC’s team, and what were the main subjects of conversation before the shoot? There wasn’t a main brief for this per se. DC hit me up, like he usually does, with a fire track and said he wants something artistic but mentioned he’d like to keep it feeling British. It's funny mentioning that now because some scenes in this video could be anywhere, but I think we both like the fact that it’s not geographically set in that regard.He’s very creative himself, so usually he’ll send references/ideas he wants to implement and I'll do the same and from there we just bounce off each other creatively. I feel we work well like that.I don't think there were any main subjects of conversation before the shoot. Myself and DC were just excited to get going and see how these ideas would look.We just bounce off each other creatively. I feel we work well like that.Were the composed, almost photographic set-ups influenced by the issues surrounding post-lockdown shooting?Actually no, but I can see why you’d think that. They were influenced by DC’s lyrics and how I felt the track made me feel listening to it. Watching and working with DC over time his videos always have this underlying theme of family/community. That definitely influenced the composed shots. Who and what were your references when creating the moodboard for the video?One of my references for this video was from a campaign for a brand called Daily Paper, which inspired the opening shot of the video. I recently did research and found out that the originator of the idea was a director called Jenn Nkiru. The rest of my references came from a variety of sources, focussing on the themes of tears, sweat and blood.DC's videos always have this underlying theme of family/community [which] influenced the composed shots.When and where did you shoot the video? Did all the set-ups work as you planned? Which one(s) are you particularly happy with? The video was shot in late June. I can’t say the exact names, but we shot in a warehouse and then a place that shall not be named, both in East London.All setups didn’t work as planned. We had two scenes that we left on the edit floor. One was dropped because we realised it just didn’t sync well with the rest and the other one was left because it just wasn’t what we envisioned - a classic case of Time vs Execution.But I’m extremely happy with how the setups turned out in the video. The set up I’m particularly happy with is the umbrella with the rain. It’s the little things that do it for me like the tiny droplets on the umbrellas which grab your attention due to Sam Meyer’s fantastic vision for lighting.Little things do it for me like the tiny droplets on the umbrellas... thanks to Sam Meyer's vision for lighting.How did the shoot compare to other ‘post-lockdown’ shoots?This shoot was a lot of fun. I always have that nervous energy in me at the start of the day just waiting to see my ideas realised but they came out well. Was the hottest day in June, not a cloud in the sky which wasn’t great for some of our shots.Compared to other post-lockdown shoots this had a lot more planning involved. A big big thank you to producer Natalie Steiner, EP Kareem Adeshina and Greatcoat for doing a fantastic job pulling this all together. Almost forgot to mention, thank you Jade Mortimer for your stupendous art direction. You’ve also incorporated subtle VFX in this and the previous DC video. Is that something that’s becoming an increasing feature of your work generally, or does that particularly work for DC?Yes it is. I’m a big fan of having VFX in my videos. I think it adds an edge, or as some say “sauce”, lol. I think this stems from my love for sci-fi films. The lighting, VFX, etc, just takes you to another world. That’s what I want my videos to do.I'm a big fan of VFX... which stems from my love of sci-fi films.Likewise, it’s an interesting edit, a combination of measured slow shots, quick cutting and glitches. How much is that planned before the shoot, or does it happen more ‘organically’ during post production? For me, it happens more organically during post. Though we planned to make sure shots would breathe, that approach didn’t fully work. So I took over the edit and got stuck into it. You have to feel the vibe of the song in the edit sometimes and that’s what we needed to bring to it. That was different to what we envisioned would work.Most times I won’t take a break until I have a solid first edit which is close to the final edit. I’m glued to my screen making sure each shot sits right and compliments or makes the track better. That's when you know you have a banging edit.• Dir. Lx is with Greatcoat Films and represented for music videos by Andy Roberts at Las Bandas Be Brave.

Allie Avital's fifth video for Moses Sumney, released last week, sees the artist with the soaring voice undergo a humbling transformation: he becomes an ancient version of himself. Inspired by the lyrics, Avital has created a quasi-literal interpretation of the song, Me In 20 Years, with Sumney as the very old protagonist suffering in a grim mid-20th century setting, flecked with magic realism.We talked to Allie Avital about the making of the video - filmed at the end of last year - and discovered that in shooting the video in a Soviet-era tower block in Kiev, she tapped into her own family's Eastern European roots. She even had the chance to direct in Russian...For previous videos that you’ve made with Moses - you have sometimes come up with the original ideas for the video and other times built upon Moses’s initial ideas. What happened in the first stages with this one?Initially, I heard the song and texted Moses that I absolutely HAD to make the video for it. On a call, he told me the lyrics and what the song was about, and within a few minutes I said “wait, what if we make you old and then have a pulsing crater next to you in your bed and then eventually you get sucked into it?!” It’s funny because it’s such a literal illustration of the lyrics. But it’s a good reminder that sometimes you don’t need to over-complicate or intellectualize these things; the feeling and the imagery was already there in his words. Once I saw the story in my head, it made me want to cry whenever I imagined it, and so I knew we needed to make it. Luckily he was into it, so we developed it together from there.Once I saw the story in my head, it made me want to cry whenever I imagined it.Was it a conscious decision to repeat that dreamlike and haunting atmosphere that you have achieved with the previous videos?Not really. I do think there are parallels, but they emerged unconsciously. When we work together we never really talk about atmosphere or tone referentially, it just evolves from the ideas themselves. There was a lot of intention in the symbolism of the crater, as well as all the details such as rotten avocados and lemons in the fridge, the spilt milk, the nostalgic shirt. I suspect the dreamlike feeling comes from those elements being meaningful and carefully thought through.Above: Allie Avital on set on the Me In 20 Years shoot (pic: Nastya Roshuk) How did you go about transforming Moses into such a convincing version of himself as an elderly man? And how much older is he than actual Moses?All credit goes to Marta Skalska, who did hair and makeup at the shoot in Kiev. She’s an absolute genius. And then Moses spent all day 'in character' as an old man which helped too. Part of the joke is that obviously Moses wouldn't be this old 'in 20 years', but I suppose it’s accurate in terms of young people’s projection of themselves when they age.Fun fact about the aging: his fake moles were inspired by those of Morgan Freeman.The crater on the bed, is one aspect of the atmosphere of the video managing to be both literal and magical. What does it represent?It’s about absence and negative space. One could interpret it as an absence of someone who was once there, or absence of an 'other' to begin with. It’s also the ever-present pulsing pit of your own mortality waiting to engulf you... uplifting stuff like that.Did you spend much time thinking about the world in which the elderly Moses lives? How would you describe it?Originally we thought of it as a castle, like a modern hunchback of Notre Dame, or kind of a reverse Rapunzel. But then when we started looking at locations in Kiev, we fell in love with the idea of setting it in a Soviet apartment block. We liked that often loneliness exists within close proximity to so many other people, and I love when “magic” is grounded in such a relatable reality.The crater? It's the ever-present pulsing pit of your own mortality waiting to engulf you... uplifting stuff like that.It was especially personal to me because so much of my family lived and died in these Soviet buildings in Russia, cramped with many other families to a single unit, so that added another meta-layer to the whole thing. We knew we wanted a lot of ornate texture in the walls, but then to light it very dark and to age everything. We worked with the brilliant production designer Sergey Vinnichuk to design every inch of the space, with a lot of thought as to who this character was. There are details such as old books and kitchen appliances that aren’t even seen on camera but added to the cohesive quality of the environment.Above: Moses in the monitor on the Me In 20 Years shoot in Kiev (pic: Nastya Roshuk)When did you shoot the video? What were the challenges on the shoot day?We shot in Kiev in December of 2019 with Radioaktive, and it's one of my favourite shoots of all time! I got to direct in Russian for part of it, which is my native language but I’d never been to Russia or Ukraine before so that was quite special. The shoot went relatively smoothly, but getting those opening and closing shots through the windows was an ordeal. It’s three shots stitched together: a drone shot of the building we used for exteriors, a shot of our interior from the outside, and then a shot of our interior from the inside. They all needed to be matched up and from matching angles, so it was a very technical effort. There was also the spilling of the milk over and over, and the physical hole in the bed that Moses falls into. It was a long full day.I got to direct in Russian for part of it, which is my native language [even though] I’d never been to Russia or Ukraine before.The cinematography of the video plays a huge part in the atmosphere. Was that all there in the footage shot by DoP Logan Triplett, or something that you pushed further during the post process and grading?Logan and I were really diligent about creating a look that served the story and kept pushing for something that felt really unique and un-trendy. Our process with Logan is always very instinctual; we’ll look at some images but then try and forget them so we don’t reference anything too closely. We decided to shoot digitally and then run the finished video through a 16mm scan to blend the sleekness of the crater VFX with the footage and give it some texture. The post process was nuts - we had Erik Ferguson the animator building the crater on our digital footage - some of it was fully CGI - then B.Art VFX doing cleanup and compositing the crater, then stitching together the opening/closing shots with the crater in them. Then it was pre-graded, then that was run through a 16mm scan, and then sent back for additional grading on top of the scan. But everything was quite intentional every step of the way.Above: Allie with DoP Logan Triplett on set (pic: Nastya Roshuk)What adjustments to the story, did you make during the post production process, if any?None! If I look back at the treatment and the animatic for this video, they’re almost identical to where this ended up.There’s often an eye roll when a musician wants to direct... but I can attest that Moses really does have the talent and instincts for it. Your videos were for Moses’ earliest releases. This one is your first from his second album. How has he changed as an artist, in terms of what he wants to achieve and/or his capabilities?It’s exciting to see Moses’ artistry evolve not just as a musician but as a filmmaker. When we first worked together he was new to film but was very intrigued by the process, always wanting to learn. I know in our world there’s often a bit of an eye roll when a musician wants to direct their own videos, but I can attest to the fact that he really does have the talent and instincts for it! Him and I are cooking up some bigger plans together as well, and I’m always inspired by his multi-hyphenate ways. It was refreshing to direct a video for someone who understands filmmaking a bit more; it made for a more grounded process.• Allie Avital is with Smuggler, and represented for music videos in the UK by Claire Stubbs at Mouthpiece.

"The whole experience of shooting these videos has been nothing but fun. Just two mates messing around with cameras..."As the world started the indoor endurance test of lockdown in March, Matt Walker was just completing another marathon. For the previous few months, he had been working on a huge project with his close friend, the British grime artist Jme, making videos for numerous tracks from his acclaimed fourth album Grime MC.This was not just a massive challenge for the number of videos that Walker (above right) and Jme (above left; photo by Jordan Hughes) were making. The rapper - real name Jamie Adenuga - is also now working outside the mainstream, without the backing of a major record label. As an outspoken critic of the methods of the music business, he chooses to be completely independent, creating and releasing music himself on his own label. This is an issue that artist and director have confronted this issue head-on in one of the ambitious videos they have made in their series - and crops a great deal in Jme's fiercely polemical work. In that respect what the pair have achieved is even more remarkable: a body of work that showcases the artist's personality, brilliant rhymes, uncompromising viewpoint - and sense of humour - through a range of creative ideas, and made on shoestring budgets. On most of the videos, Walker has taken on multiple roles during production to get them across the line. The project comes to an end with the release of Live, the final, most ambitious, and arguably most impressive video of the whole series. In this video Jme and guest artist Merky Ace play the anchors on a rolling news channel, cutting to various unfolding news stories. - who also feature Jme and Merky in other roles...We talked to Matt Walker about the challenges of making this series of music videos, and bringing the full measure of Jme, the man behind the message, to his legion of fans. Hands down he's the best artist I've worked with.How many videos have you made now for Jme’s album Grime MC?In total we shot eight videos. There was an ambitious plan to shoot a video for all 18 tracks on the album, but I didn't want to bankrupt him.Was it always a plan to make a series of videos for the album? And if so, how did the project start?As any Jme fan will know, he is anything but conventional. After the previous album Integrity > I think he was just making songs for the love of it, with no intention of even making an album. He did want videos though. So he would call me up and we would just vibe to the tracks he had made at his house. I’d pick one that I like and then we’d just go and shoot something. I don’t think we were even counting.Photo: Jordan HughesDoes Jme’s position as an outsider to the established system make it easier or more difficult to make the videos? Presumably you’ve been working on tight budgets throughout?Of course working outside of the industry machine drastically limits the budgets we have to work with. We always have big ideas that are often not possible to execute. On the other hand, the freedom and collaborative nature of the projects far outweighs the cons of budgetary restrictions. Although I often find myself feeling guilty when I have to ask him for money on these projects, knowing it's coming directly from his current account.The plan was to shoot videos for all 18 tracks, but I didn't want to bankrupt him.You obviously have a strong working relationship with Jme. What’s the usual process for coming up with ideas for the videos? It really is pure collaboration. We go back and forth on concepts so often that by the time we start shooting, it's hard to remember who came up with the ideas first. That does lead to fun arguments sometimes when it comes to taking credit though.Photo: Jordan HughesThe songs have these trenchant lyrics but the videos also contain humour and satire. Is that a reflection of Jme’s character? What is he like to work with? I truly believe he gets all his frustration and angst out in his music because you never sense it much in his personality - unless we are having a group debate. On set, I challenge you to find a single crew or cast member who has a bad word to say about Jme. He is hands down the best artist I’ve worked with.He’s always on time, hilarious, extremely enthusiastic and loves people, so is always keeping the SAs entertained. He’ll do a million takes without a complaint if we needed it. Sometimes I think I take that for granted in our action scenes, I run him ragged.Photo: Daniel Ofori-AttaPricks was approached more like a short film, which I've always wanted to do.Videos like Issmad, Here and You Know are studio-based, then it gets more ambitious with the likes of Nang, with its fantastic drone shots, and the action-packed Pricks. What were the main challenges making each video? And what has been the most challenging one to make? It always starts with getting gassed up by an idea, falling in love with it and then remembering that we haven't got the £30k+ needed to shoot it. Jme likes to work with people he knows, so for a while it took me ages to convince him we needed a DoP on some shoots.Nang was a real challenge. We decided to shoot with a drone during a mini-hurricane which made it almost impossible to fly through a window. As if that wasn't difficult enough already.We wanted to get really ambitious with Pricks with fight scenes and chase sequences. But we did not have the money for a rehearsal, so it was a case of choreographing everything on set, which was fun but hard on our AD. The stair chase scene was something we almost didn't get. I really wanted it but had to convince J that it was worth the extra money. I thought we could do it a ‘cheap way’, but was sorely mistaken...Nang was a challenge. We decided to shoot with a drone during a mini-hurricane...The Live video was the most difficult because of how many shoot days we needed. We couldn't really afford to pay a crew so I just did it all myself, from being DoP to doing hair/wardrobe. Painful but well worth it.Has the pandemic crisis had much of an impact on the making of the videos? Luckily we shot everything before the **** hit the fan. We kind of wanted to get to ten videos but those plans got nipped in the bud real quick. The video for Live is the most ambitious video yet in the series. What was the thinking behind the rolling news channel idea? Jme and Merky had an idea of hijacking different news broadcasts ‘blooper’ style. As soon as I heard the track, I could just see Jme as a newscaster with the wig, glasses and everything. I’ve also always wanted to have J play different characters in a video, so this was the perfect opportunity.Photo: Jordan HughesI’ve also always wanted to have J play different characters in a video - Live was the perfect opportunity.The tempo and cadence in the track was so dynamic, I felt it needed to have this manic energy so we tried to think of as many funny ‘news stories’ as possible. The fun part was writing all the fake headlines on the rolling ticker. What are you most pleased with about the whole project? Which parts have worked best for you?I'm really pleased that we shot so many different styles of video, from studio-based shoots to more guerilla-style filming. I think we really pushed ourselves creatively and tried things we've never done which was a great learning experience. I finally got to play with motion control which was as annoying as people were always warning me it would be. Photo: Jordan HughesSeeing This One come off was a really proud moment for us both.What worked best for me? I’d say Pricks was approached more like a short film which I've always wanted to do, so I was very proud of what we achieved all in one day. ‘Live’ was a labour of love, trying to add as many layers to a video as possible while keeping it quite unconventional.I was also really happy with This One as we tried a Memento-style video where the narrative was spliced up and re-ordered. Seeing that come off was a really proud moment for us both.And what were the most fun and memorable moments making the videos?That’s a tough one. The whole experience of shooting these videos has been nothing but fun; just two mates messing around with cameras and props really. I've never choreographed a fight scene before, so smashing sugar glass bottles on people was hilarious.During the Live shoot we stepped out to get lunch with Jme in full costume - wig and all. Some of the looks we got on Camden High Road were priceless.• Matt Walker is based for music videos and commercials at Kode Media and represented by Carrie Sutton. Watch Matt's showreel at Kode here.

In Coldplay's latest video, Chris Martin plays a bullied schoolboy - an unlikely idea perhaps, for pretty much anyone other than French director Cloé Bailly (above right, on set with Martin).In Champion Of The World, Bailly showed that her visual imagination and talent for fusing fantasy with an edge of gritty realism could work for one of the biggest bands in the world.We spoke to her about the project and the challenges for turning Martin into a schoolboy who is forced to repeatedly escape reality, and into his own dreamworld.What kind of brief did you get from the band on this? Did they provide a basic idea of what they wanted to happen?CLOÉ BAILLY: Coldplay’s brief was pretty open. They wanted a whimsical, poetic world away from realism. They also suggested Chris would be up to play the young boy.What were the important ideas that you presented in your treatment that really appealed to the band?I think they liked the narrative which really worked with the lyrics of the track, but also the surrealistic take. Dreams, fantasy and imagination were a major part of the concept which I guess really appealed to the band.Chris really trusted me... he is a natural performer, even though he’s not a professional actor.Did Chris Martin take any convincing to play a young schoolboy?He was very much up for it, not questioning anything, not overanalyzing or anticipating at all. He really trusted me which was extremely motivating and productive on set! Honestly, I didn’t have to direct him that much. He’s a natural performer, even though he’s not a professional actor. He adopted the body language and the facial expressions of a bullied boy very easily, without ever overacting.You’ve created something that is both sad and uplifting, as we move from reality to fantasy world. What were your main references (films, etc) for achieving that mix of sadness and feelgood?Definitely Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Danny DeVito’s Matilda - but also Wes Anderson’s Rushmore. These are three masterpieces which, even though they’re very different, carry the same whimsical melancholy.Dreams, fantasy and imagination were a major part of the concept which I guess really appealed to the band.The location was obviously very important for the right tone. Where did you go to shoot this?L.A. We mostly shot east side and downtown.What were the biggest challenges leading up to the shoot?We thought we’d never manage to shoot everything. There was so many shots, so many locations and so many constraints: shooting with kids, operating a drone over a school, switching from Chris to his child’s version in each location. Just thinking about it I want to go take a nap :)Sounds stressful! How long was the shoot, and did you end up with everything in your original script/storyboard? Was there anything that happened that didn't really work out on the day(s) - and anything that ended up being a bigger part of the video than you originally planned?The shoot was two days long and - obviously - absolutely packed. Everything had to be shot twice - the Chris version and the kid’s version - and shot with the normal camera as well as with the drone. On the first day we shot in a studio - the bedroom, the kitchen and the greenscreen. On Day 2 we shot the school scenes, then the streets scene, then the house.Surprisingly and against all odds, we shot everything that was planned and storyboarded. We never thought we could achieve it. Of course there had to be some tweaks and readjustments but overall everything just worked out.Chris was riding his bike in the street on his own, I was running after him… quite absurd but hilarious.The whole video is lovely, but was there any part that was particularly enjoyable shooting, and you're really pleased with?I totally underestimated the street scene until we edited and VFX’d it, which is only when I realized how much I loved it. When we shot this scene, the atmosphere was light and fun at this point because we were reaching the end, which made us relaaaax. Chris was riding on his bike in the street on his own, gone with the camera rigged on the bike… I was running after him… It was quite absurd but pretty hilarious.The scene where the vehicles start to take off around Chris on his bike, is probably the most spectacular part of the video. Was that the biggest challenge when it came to the post production, or was it something else? The challenge on set was shooting everything we needed before the sun went down because we shot it at golden hour. Then second and biggest challenge was definitely post-production. The incredible Martes Studio from Barcelona, Spain, absolutely nailed it. For them the challenge was dealing with a magical/surrealistic element in a daily environment, and making it look integrated. 3D Lighting and compositing was the key to make it work. Also colour treatment helped to make the cars look more real...The drone shots were done for real... Drone Dudes navigated the drones with incredible ease, even when they had to aim for a tiny mouse holeThe latter part of the video features a series of drone shots where the viewer sits on top of Chris's toy rocket - including inside his kitchen at home, and into a school hall where the boy is playing has a full house. How much was the drone footage done for real, how much was created in post?Everything was done for real. The wonderful team of Drone Dudes absolutely nailed shooting these precise and complex shots. They used a GoPro on a small racing drone as well as flying the big drone with the Alexa Mini. They navigated the drones with incredible ease, even when they had to aim for a tiny mouse hole (in the kitchen). What we created or smoothed in post is the transitions, then the topshot at 3’ over the street with the surrealistic moon decor, and then everything was created by Martes Studio from the exit of the mouse hole till the end.The band performance footage in Chris's Viewfinder creates a different, more handmade aesthetic. How did you create those environments around the band? Again, the wonderful Xavi Trilla, Roger Amat and Joan Molins at Martes Studio created the environment. I gave them directions - I wanted something more vintage-looking that contrasted with the rest of the video and looked more homemade - then we brainstormed and the guys proposed me ideas. They found some footage on reference banks and tweaked them.What’s amazing with the guys from Martes Studio is that they’re not only strong technicians. They also have a lot of humour and are very creative, so they push the VFX to another level. It is wonderful for a director who isn’t technical like me, to be able to brainstorm and talk creatively with VFX artists.Martes Studio in Barcelona nailed the challenge of dealing with a magical/surrealistic element in a daily environment, and making it look integrated.Filmmaking is always collaborative, so apart from Chris and the band, who were the important collaborators with you on this project? Definitely the guys at Martes Studio, as mentioned above. As soon as I got the brief, I contacted them to discuss my ideas and improve them with their input and technical advices. All along the creative process we’ve been going back and forth which was extremely reassuring and inspiring.Then Patrick Meller, DoP, of course. I had already shot an Axe campaign with Pat and absolutely loved working with him. He’s an incredibly strong technician who also has very good taste in terms of cinematography. A true artist. It’s very inspiring to exchange references with him. Pat challenges your choices and pushes you as a director to always make your piece better. He has been a very supportive and invested collaborator on this project.The stylist Bex Crofton-Atkins was a key collaborator as well. Not only because she creates worlds and characters just with one outfit, but also because her investment and vibe on set was such a game-changer. Definitely makes the whole experience a better, more pleasant, more inspiring process.Fernanda Guerrero, Production Designer, has been a great collaborator on this project too. She really has created powerful, cinematic worlds in each location.And finally, Daniella Manca, EP, has been a key collaborator. From day one till the release she has advised me and supported my ideas in the best possible way. She has believed in this project and has done everything in her power to make it exist, which I’ll never be thankful enough for!• This episode of Behind The Video is a co-production by Promonews and Caviar

The remarkable video for Hak Baker's Dopehead is really a short documentary in disguise. The East London singer-songwriter teamed with photographer and filmmaker Will Robson-Scott to explore the lives of the people that many of us wish to ignore.For more than a year, the pair documented the lives of Londoners gripped by serious drug addiction. They show us how they deal with their world, including their own families, and their continual battle to retain their dignity and humanity.We talked to Hak Baker, Will Robson-Scott and executive producer Saskia Whinney about how it happened - and how they feel about it now. How did the project come about? Hak Baker: The project came to fruition initially through coincidence. I didn’t reply to many emails then however this one I did. Which led to me meeting Will. Once I figured out I didn’t mind the geezer, lol, and that he was the Guerilla lens man I needed to capture this near-impossible thing, we just hit the roads.Saskia Whinney: I’d heard Hak's music and really liked it, so I messaged him. He rang me out the blue and then we ate some food and chatted about the sort of videos he wanted to make. Authenticity was really important to Hak and he wanted someone to tell the real stories about where he lived and the people he knows. Will is very good at spending time with people and in the past has made some 10/10 docs. I introduced them and Will took it from there.I figured out [Will] was the guerilla lens-man I needed to capture this near-impossible thing. Will Robson-Scott: Me and Hak were introduced through Saskia at Somesuch about a year ago, and we had a loose plan to try shoot something, a music video or short film. As me and Hak got to know each other, this idea came up. It was a long process, as we had to gain access and get people to trust us, a lot of it was spur of the moment. They would let us know with very short notice when they where available and we’d just have to scramble.Who had the idea of filming the subjects? HB: MeselfWR-S: Hak had the idea, wanting to get into people's lives and show the full spectrum of addiction. It was just me, Hak and a couple cameras. It wouldn’t have worked with a big crew, or any crew at all. The limitations and constraints helped form the relationship and trust.How long did Dopehead take to make, start to finish?SW: I hit Hak up in January 2018… so 18 months. Will spent that time chasing down opportunities to shoot more footage. With this sort of project it doesn't really work to have a 12 hour shoot day with crew, etc. So Will and Hak just shot whatever and whenever they could over a year or so.How did you find your subjects? HB: It’s not that hard when you’re actually from a place and don’t just move there and claim it, like most bods these days. It's very common place in the manor. Drug use in families. It's not hard to know someone who is in the midst of all that. They’re very local; people have some weird misconception that they’re aliens. LolWR-S: Addiction is everywhere, it’s not hard to find. The sad thing is when addiction defines someone’s lives, they can’t see past it at points. The goal was to show their faults, but also their human sides.What were the challenges of filming them?HB: Making them feel comfortable at first. You’d be surprised how open they were when they realized we wasn’t trying to sell 'em down the river. They were quite keen to show, how it were a part of their life and not their whole lives. Like myself and alcohol as an example. I like it, but it ain't me whole being.But yeah, normal shit. Not being there when they said they would and stuff. That were it really. [A couple had] second thoughts but when they see what we was doing and listened to the music they were sweet.I’m proud of this piece. It was a grind. It brought up a lot of feeling along the way. But it’s a part of society that is often misrepresented WR-S: Gaining trust is always difficult, we had to approach this with sensitivity. At the end of day people are people, we wanted to show the quieter side of life as well of the harsher side. The last thing we wanted to do was to make something that felt overly voyeuristic. It was important to feel present, show their dark side alongside their funny and caring side. Everyone can relate to that.What were the positives?HB: Everything was positive there was nothing negative in sight. Awareness was achieved, my eyes personally were opened and I learned even more.WR-S: I’m proud of this piece. It was a grind. It brought up a lot of feeling along the way. But it’s a part of society that is often misrepresented and I think we’ve managed to make something that feels a bit nuanced.• Will Robson-Scott is represented by Somesuch in London for music videos. More work here* A Promonews and Somesuch production. Behind The Video is a series of sponsored content on Promonews. For more information, email info@promonews.tv

Thank God for Boasty. Henry Scholfield's video for Wiley, Stefflon Don and Sean Paul's track - featuring the one and only Idris Elba - arrived last month, and duly smashed through the doom and gloom of Brexit Britain. It's a hugely entertaining, non-stop expression of the vibrancy of modern London, a celebration of street culture, and, perhaps above all, a statement about the musical powerhouse that is Grime. And with the absence of Wiley, the mainman himself, from his own video, it's a precocious 9 year old Londoner called Brooklyn who plays a massive role in its success.So we spoke to four people crucial to the making of the video - director Henry Scholfield, executive producer Daniella Manca, editor James Rose, and commissioner John Hassay - to ask how they did it, particularly with the problem of Wiley's non-involvement, to make a probable contender for Video of the Year. Questions by David KnightPhotos by Claudia De La Mata So starting at the beginning. How did it all get going? JOHN HASSAY: I’ve tracked Henry’s career for 10 years. I knew he'd be great for this, so I sent the brief to Caviar for him. They said he was on holiday, so he was very unlikely to do a treatment. But then, the next day he sent a video pitch he made, from Sri Lanka. It was so good.What made you go for this one, so quickly, Henry?HENRY SCHOLFIELD: The track! I listened to it before knowing who was on it. I’ve always been a big Wiley fan anyway. The idea literally came into my head that first run. Then I realized who was on it, and was like, 'this is killer quartet of awesome artists'. So I shot a little video treatment/test an hour later - and that was it.I wanted it to feel like a very much heightened version of ‘A Day In The Life Of’.You learned the ropes directing grime videos back in the day for Professor Green (like personal favourite the Upper Clapton Dance). Was it a case of drawing on that experience, and/or wanting to get back to that world, and raising the bar on classic grime videos?HS; Nicely put. Like you say, it was the scene that first inspired me into music video making in the first place - stealing my sister’s Handicam, going to venues to shoot battle raps, and try to interview artists. Working with Spyro on his videos a couple of years ago was a real re-inspiration. To me grime’s about being inventive and maybe that’s why it’s a great medium for videos.Daniella, Henry must be getting tracks all the time. Do you have a rule about what is worth sending on to him?DANIELLA MANCA: Generally when that track lands in your inbox you’ll know pretty quickly if it's got legs. Ultimately it has to have something that can spark a killer idea. Doesn’t matter the genre, featuring artist, or potential hurdles.He was first into casting, playing a Nintendo with a comb stuck in his Afro. We knew we had our prince.How did you plan out the production?JH: When Henry did his animatic - playing all the different parts - we knew a technical approach would work. He is a mega talent!All the parts? When can we see it?HS: It’s under lock and key, especially the Steff bit! It’s true, I do this a lot on mapping out timings and transitions in vids. Not always playing the parts myself, mind.So the shoot with Sean and Steff came first?JH: We shot Sean and Steff the day after another video for them both. It's fair to say Steff was slow out of the traps, but it was worth it! Peckham High Street was literally at a standstill for her performance. And Idris was a dream. Captain America levels of charisma. He rattled through his parts.Peckham High Street was literally at a standstill for Steff's performance.We find the different stars in different situations, as if it’s part of their normal lives, and we’re cutting into it. Were you able to give them ‘back stories’ for their roles?HS: Totally. I wanted it to feel like a very much heightened version of ‘A Day In The Life Of’. A little back story goes a long way, and all of the artists were very much up for it. Like Sean P never asked ‘what’s up with me in the back of this van?’, and Idris loved the idea of his (wonderful!) missus Sabrina dropping in the ‘Jeeez’ when he gets a bit uber-Boasty.Did you know places you wanted to shoot when you created the treatment?HS: Yes and no. I knew to have Steff in a salon, then owning the South London streets. And Idris is a Hollywood reporter-style photo shoot. But we were gonna shoot a bit more all over the place – or rather the world. But then luckily we found a window to have all the artists in London. Then it was just a case of coming up with ideas of what worked best for the story, and upping the escalation of the clip.Idris loved the idea of his missus Sabrina dropping in the ‘Jeeez’ when he gets a bit uber-BoastyIs there a key or trick into making regular London locations (ie the hairdressers, the pool hall, the chicken shop…) into more ‘music video’ versions of themselves?HS: For sure. An excellent DOP - the very talented Kanamé Onoyama - and skillful set dressing - thank you, Mr. Oian Arteta. Beyond that, just a bit of imagination to re-see what you’re used to with fresh eyes.The transitions are hugely important. How difficult was it to get them right in the edit?JAMES ROSE: Henry’s great at seeing both ends of the transition, which means there’s more room for me to have fun. There's always a bit of finicking, but when the timings are good from the off then you're free to noodle through options, rather than have to work really hard to make the 'one' work.Now the obvious question: was the original plan to feature Wylie with his co-stars?JH: Yep. Fair to say the big man was indisposed. I knew we’d have limited time with all artists, but didn’t realise how it would pan out.HS: Unfortunately Wiley missed his flight, then wasn’t around for a bit…JH: We tried to shoot a stand-in, but it didn’t work not enough charisma to stand up to talent.HS: It kinda made sense to get in a big character in the shape of our little man. And Brooklyn (the boy) totally killed it!It kinda made sense to get in a big character in the shape of our little man. And Brooklyn totally killed it!JH: Henry just said: ‘It’s a Wiley video! This is what happens.’ Facebook reminded me that a decade earlier Wiley failed to show for ‘what do you call it’ a video I was producing for Adam Smith. So we cast Brooklyn.He was first into casting, playing a Nintendo with a comb stuck in his Afro. We knew we had our prince. He's a very cool kid - a wee man in a 9 year old’s body. Then we shot two weeks later. We had to fit round a big commercial Henry was doing on the DL.How did the shooting plan change?DM: Despite shooting an extra day, the plan stayed pretty close to the original. We had to keep it as a well-oiled machine to maximize all of Henry’s transitions and set ups.What stands out as the biggest challenges?DM: The beauty of promoland is in part the constantly changing goal posts. I can maybe count on one hand the promos that have been consistently smooth, but actually I prefer the challenging ones. It means when you finally deliver it, there’s an even bigger sense of achievement! On this one, probably getting all of the footage with Brooklyn was a challenge. But he smashed it in rehearsals with Henry so on the day we rolled on through.[Grime] was the scene that first inspired me into music video making in the first placeSo when did you shoot the intro convo between Brooklyn and W. Was that always planned?JH: The intro was bootlegged on the day. We felt we had to both own and explain Wiley absence. The video game fits the narrative, and Boss Baby Brooklyn completely nails the tone.When did you get Wylie’s audio contribution? That is Wylie, right?JH: That’s Henry sampling other interviews with Wiley. He is quite the fan. I don’t think I’ve ever had a director so across the artist and music before.And likewise with the other cast members – there’s always something going on in the background, so its interesting to watch again and again. What was their brief? HS: Things like: ‘You gotta be super-serious on these mini-motors’, ‘Mr. Elba, would you mind handwriting some lyrics to put in the beak of this falcon?’ ‘You bro, when you see Steff you’re gonna be falling off your bike’… etc. That kind of thing pretty much.Even if no-one else notices, I really get a kick out of details in the background. Big Up to Ruben Dangoor for letting us feature his excellent Wiley work.Did you have much leeway in the edit to get the best bits of different takes without affecting the flow of the whole video?JR: When you’re dealing with long takes, the flow of the video doesn’t come from the cuts, but from the transitions from one take to another, so choosing the best takes is doubly important.Did Wiley shock everyone by turning up for the edit?JR: No, didn't meet Wiley. I have met Wretch 32 before though.• A Promonews and Caviar production. Behind The Video is a series of sponsored content on Promonews. For more information, email info@promonews.tv

Have OK Go faced their most difficult challenge yet? Okay, in the past they may have battled against the perils of treadmills, marching bands, Rube Goldberg Machines, dogs, and weightlessness (and won). But until their new video for Obsession, they had never pitted themselves against the least reliable form of machinery known to man - the domestic printer. And for Obsession, they were working with 567 of them. The Obsession video was the co-directing collaboration of OK Go's lead singer Damian Kulash and Japanese director Yusuke Tanaka, who talked to Kana Yamamoto about making this overwhelmingly impressive exercise in 'paper-mapping' - made in association with Thai paper company Double A. Translation from Japanese by Rika Yamamoto.KY: This music video has a visual surprise and explosive beauty. How did the project begin?YT: I was given a brief of “printer 3D projection-mapping”, which was the theme of this video. The client for the project was a Thai paper manufacturer called Double A and their 'extra smooth paper' [which is specifially designed to eject smoothly from printers]. And rather than projection mapping, which projects objects onto walls, we started with the idea of “let’s show visual illusions by using the paper. We can build walls of printers.” This was an OK Go video, so it had to have visual surprises. [And] with a very pop perspective of graphic design, the combination of printer 3D projection mapping and OK Go’s performances, we created fun and excitement.We cut the music into 13 blocks and everyone contributed all the ideas. How did we choose which ideas we were going for? We just did test after test."Damian is very clever. I had to be on my toes all the time because he would ask me electrifying questions" Yusuke Tanaka (above)Is it true that this took two and half years to complete?They came to Japan twice before the actual filming. We built a 'small' wall of 100 printers and ran simulations, projected the images onto the screen, and checked OK Go’s performance of their flying scene, etc. Ideas require technical tests, physical tests and visual tests - just repeatedly testing and testing. And during the tests, more new ideas came up or needed to be changed. This helped us move the project forward.Tell us about the real filming. What was it like?It was filmed alongside the song at 36 times slower than the original. In other words, the camera movements were incredibly slow and OK Go moved incredibly slowly too. It was just impossible for a human to handle such slow camera movements, so we used a motion control camera."Ideas require technical tests, physical tests and visual tests - just repeatedly testing and testing"It must have been mentally and physically hard work to shoot 36 times the length of the song?Technically speaking it is one take. Overcranking at 36 times speed means taking 36 times more time. We had to keep feeding paper into the printers, and therefore, we paused the take at certain points. We knew exactly which frame to stop thanks to Rhizomatiks Research, who calculated when exactly we would run out of paper, so we could stop and feed in the paper and start it again. We tip-toed across the room trying not to disturb any paper on the floor.At the scene where the bandmembers of the band throw the graphic ball projected on paper mapping, the alignment was slightly wrong. But when we realised it needed to be fixed, we could correct the position and it looked fine at normal speed. We were constantly shouting: “Damian, right”. I had to do it, too, especially as it was so noisy in the studio. Although I'm known as a quiet director, I did shout in this music video.It's a brilliant feature that the camera moves and the ball from OK Go gets sucked into the black hole of print animation at the background...It was a key scene of this “printer 3D projection mapping”, where the planar expressions translated into 3D. We matched the viewpoint to the paper mapping images which then gave an illusion of a hole on the wall with an endless depth. We always made previsualizations and validated the camera work and visual movements.You also used stop motion. It gave a good accent to it.Yes, it was when the camera panned down to the printer on the floor and it started spitting prints out, the image on the paper was OK Go performing which we filmed beforehand. Another one is when the papers pile up and sync-danced with the music. It was a race against time.“The smoothness is a massive selling point of Double A papers. In fact, we didn’t have paper jams. I was so happy about that”To resemble 3D, OK Go members flew in the air. Where did the “wire work” idea come from?Right after the break in the song the tropical island appeared. This island is called Maiton Island and is owned by the client. They requested us to let it appear on the video. OK Go flying away from the island was elaborately planned to make it appear natural. But if they just flew away, it wouldn’t be impressive. Then we did the combination technique of wirework and projection mapping. We moved the camera from horizontal to a downward view from the air. In order to do that, we needed to add some camera work by CG. Staff actually went to the island and filmed 360 degrees scenery by a flying drone camera. You can’t film like this with normal aerial shooting.OK Go’s previous video, for The One Moment takes the opposite approach, doesn’t it? It was choreographed to stretch a few seconds into a whole video. Do you think this video is the response to the last one?Possibly. But this one took three years from the initial planning, so I’m not sure. OK Go, are a creative group with both art and scientific ways of thinking.What was it like working with OK Go?Damian is just very clever. He is a musician and a creative director. Also he is a client. He is very bright in the field of arts and sciences, or probably any field. I had to be on my toes all the time because he would ask me electrifying questions.When we were testing the camera work for motion control, we didn’t have enough arm lengths for a machine. We were saying that this is the closest we could get but then Damian said “why don’t we move like this so that it can get closer” and drew a brief illustration. I feel that I’m cleverer now after working with him. He stimulated my brain cells. “Damian shock (lol)”.It wasn’t easy to film this music video at all. Sometimes people are timid and unsure but he wouldn’t give up easily, always wanting to make it happen because he believed that they were great ideas.Above: Tanaka (left) with Damian Kulash Jr (centre) and technical director Daito Manabe, Rhizomatiks Research (right)"Damian wouldn’t give up easily, always wanting to make it happen because he believed that they were great ideas" Did you enjoy it?Yes, it was fun. I like to collaborate with creative people overseas. I found that the larger parts of the creative processes were very different to what I normally do, even though the small parts can be similar. When I direct music videos, I normally listen to music lots of times and try to interpret it first. And then I start to create visual images. I’m not sure it is just because of OK Go and that they are special. Their approach was completely different and it was a new experience for me. I was excited to challenge new innovative ways of working.What would you like to try next?I’d like to do dramas. I’m still learning about it though, I would definitely like to make a feature film.• Yusuke Tanaka's career has included work in graphic design, art direction, stage choreography and video direction. He is represented by Caviar in Tokyo. Full credit list for Obsession hereKana Yamamoto : instagram @torinekko

You've seen the video. You may have watched the BTS films. But now we have the full inside story on the making of the amazing video for OK Go's Upside Down & Inside Out from the source - co-director Trish Sie.Trish has been OK Go's prime collaborator on their remarkable series of music videos for a decade. She's been choreographing the band since their early days, when they would drop occasional dance routines into their live shows (she's lead singer Damian Kulash Jr's sister). When she shot them practising to the song A Million Ways, it became a viral sensation. Then came the first deliberate attempt at a one-shot choreographed video - the 'treadmill' video for Here It Goes Again. Ten years later, with so many videos and having gained so much experience, she and Kulash have devised the most ambitious video they have ever made, and arguably the most jawdroppingly brilliant – which is really saying something. This is the 'zero gravity one'. So how on Earth did she, Damian and the band pull it off? On-set photography by Sergey PolishukPromoNews: First of all, when and how did you come up with the idea? How long as have you been working on it?Trish Sie: Damian and I actually hatched this idea back in 2012 when we took a ride on Cape Canaveral's 'Vomit Comet' – the plane that simulates weightlessness by flying in parabolas. At the time, it was instantly apparent to us that there was nothing in the world quite like weightlessness (obviously), but also, that getting anything worthy of OK Go in this environment was going to be nearly impossible.Controlling momentum and objects in zero-g is tricky and unpredictable. And weightlessness comes in very short increments – about 25-30 seconds while the plane is arcing and diving toward the ground – so to create the kind of precision and choreographic flow for which we're known was going to be a big challenge. And VERY expensive. But it was hard to let the dream die because there was so much promise inherent in it. Who are we to turn our noses up at a good challenge?As usual for a OK Go video it seems like it took weeks of rehearsal. But was this even more difficult than normal, considering where the action happens? Could you rehearse ‘on land’ or did you have to do it all airborne? We did a week of testing at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center outside of Moscow. We brought all kinds of props aboard the plane – from sequined stripper shoes to basketballs – and played in zero-gravity for six flights. We filmed everything, using cameras mounted at a variety of angles. We began to develop a vocabulary for what worked and what didn't work, what was possible and what wasn't, what felt impactful, what was disappointing. We knew heavy objects that have no business floating in the air would be more astonishing than confetti or feathers; that sort of thing."This badass plane does a very sudden and steep uphill climb, which places you in double gravity. When it begins to nosedive, everything goes into a freefall that feels like Zero-G."But we learned a lot about how things look and behave; how much control we would be able to muster; and very importantly, how we might be able to time and coordinate the whole thing so we could have a single choreography rather than a "highlight reel" of sorts. We didn't simply want a collection of cool moments in weightlessness. We wanted a real dance.So that meant cutting the song into chunks that would fit within the weightless segments... coordinating with the pilots and Cosmonaut trainers about when we would be pitched into zero-g and figuring out how to time the playback of the correct portion of the song, etc. It was a bit of a math mindfuck, to be honest.How exactly was it done? You are in a plane, falling from how many feet, creating the weightless effect - is that right? Do you have to work with special planes? Is it all done with one falling movement?The plane is a giant behemoth with a VERY powerful engine, obviously. Legend has it that this particular aircraft, the Ilyushin 76, doesn't even need runways to take-off or land. It just kinda goes wherever it wants, whenever it wants. It's also rumoured to be the LOUDEST aircraft ever. I believe both of those rumours. And I can vouch for the fact that it takes TEN pilots to fly it at any one time. The thing is truly insane.Anyway, this badass plane does a very sudden and steep uphill climb, which places you in DOUBLE gravity for about 20 seconds. This move has the effect of essentially "tossing" everything inside it into the air. When it reverses its trajectory, crests the top of the curve, and begins to nosedive, everything goes into a free-fall that feels like zero-g inside the plane."You feel another 20 seconds or so of double gravity as the pilots pull out of the maneouvre. Which is nice. Hitting the ground at that speed would be a bummer."Over the course of about 25-30 seconds, the plane dives from about 30,000 to about 15,000, then it "scoops" you back up. You feel another 20 seconds or so of double gravity as the pilots pull out of the maneouvre. Which is nice. Hitting the ground at that speed would be a bummer. Then, you climb back up to do the whole thing all over again.Once we had an idea of what sorts of moves and props were most effective in zero-g, we worked out a choreographic roadmap on the ground, then went back to Russia to rehearse and shoot in the plane. We did 21 flights in all, with 15 parabolas per flight.You worked with Russian airline S7. Are these guys usually working with astronauts? We made the video thanks to the gracious sponsorship of S7, the Siberian airline. They were an awesome partner in this – they really trusted us to do our thing, even when our process was terrifying and unlike anything anyone was used to. They had never worked with cosmonauts, either. This entire adventure was new for everyone."There were just so many challenges - how do you communicate with a crew that needs to work together like a well-oiled machine, but doesn't speak your language?"How many takes before you got it right? Did you have to land and clean up the plane after every take? On shoot week, we allotted ten flights to shooting full takes of the dance. Each take took about 45 minutes in real time, since we had to wait for the plane to regain altitude so we could resume the dance. We cut all those boring waiting periods out in post-production, of course. Our editor, Meg Ramsay, was a godsend is smoothing over the morphs so it all looks seamless.We ended up getting three decent and usable takes on the final day of shooting. And one take on that last day just felt clearly better than the others. No take was flawless, but the one we used was by far the most magical.And yes! We had to hose the plane down between each flight! It was such a mess. The plane was always soaking wet and freezing, like a frigid hell-swamp... and by the end of the shoot, it seriously smelled like ass.Was there anything from your box of tricks that you thought about dropping because it was difficult to get it right? Or things you had to change? I was sure that foods would be more useful – chunky soups or Bloody Mary mix or sandwiches flying around. I dreamed of these thing erupting from the beverage carts. During our test week, our props master, Sergey, actually quarantined himself in the back of the plane in a spot that we affectionately called his "Dexter Killing Room" because it was all encased in plastic sheeting.A Go-Pro mounted on the wall back there captured him opening all kinds of horrific stuff into the air – Pepto Bismol, chili beans, hair gel and shaving cream, spray cheese. He was often forced to stop and barf in a bag – that's how gross it all was... on top of the intense motion sickness this sort of flight elicits. But in spite of his valiant efforts and some excellent work with toothpaste, paint balloons were the only liquid that made the cut.We also had to drop a lot of the synchronized moves that we had imagined. It's simply impossible to coordinate ANYTHING up there. People doing the same thing at the same time is virtually unthinkable."Our props master, Sergey, was often forced to stop and barf in a bag – that's how gross it all was."Presumably you were confident going in that you could make this happen, but its a different order of difficulty than your early OK Go videos. How different is this experience to the one when you were making the A Million Ways and Here It Goes Again videos, back in the day? Are you kidding?! I was petrified of this one! Besides the physical terror of flying for days in a plane that accelerates TOWARD THE GROUND, the creative and technical limitations and restrictions of the parabolic flights were daunting. Weightlessness was much harder to harness than I had imagined. I wanted the flow and the precision that OK Go pulls off so well, but that seemed far-fetched in this situation. And I wanted it to be musical and expressive, not just a mash-up created in an editorial suite. There were just so many challenges - how do you steady a technocrane in both weightlessness AND in double gravity? How do you power all your equipment when you can't bring a generator with you? (We melted the plane's battery at least once, by the way. ACK.) How do you communicate closely with a crew that needs to work together like a well-oiled machine, but doesn't speak your language?How do you create texture, impact, and contrast when everything is hanging in the air and therefore appears to be in slo-mo all the time? How do you and your crew hit buttons, pull focus, and do other filmmakerish things when you're also floating around and possibly barfing and/or passing out yourself? How do you assign parts of the song to different parabolas when the song breaks neatly into 21-second increments, but weightlessness comes in 27-second-bits, to the extent that you can count on those weightless bits being consistent in the first place...?!So it was a lot to think about and a lot to tackle. But what an adventure. I wouldn't trade it for the world!• Trish Sie is with Bob Industries in the US, and now represented by Good Egg in the UK. Full credits for the Upside Down & Inside Out video here