With his new music videos Maxim Kelly returns to previously explored territories, further testing their boundaries. The Spindle director spoke to Promonews about his latest excursions into drama with choreography, and toying with stock footage... with the help of AI.

As his distinguished output of music videos has shown, Maxim Kelly is very good at very different things. He is adept at character-based live action narrative of various kinds, examples including a nostalgic sci-fi comedy for Black Country New Road and a feverish vampire Western for black midi. He's also inclined towards choreography, as he's demonstrated memorably in the video for Belief's Dreams, and an idiosyncratic approach to VFX and the use of stock footage, particularly in his video for Shame's Nigel Hitter. 

These latter preoccupations find new expression in his latest videos, both released last month. Firstly, for New York based producer Prefuse 73, Kelly does something new with vintage film footage, and with the judicious use of AI he subtlely implements an alternative version of 20th century history - based on paranoia. Then for the intriguing LA-based Belarusian goth-synth band Molchat Doma, Kelly builds another alternative world, with a few characters in a gloomy bar, and one memorable dance performance.

We spoke to Maxim Kelly to get the lowdown on the making of these fascinating, highly creative projects.

Prefuse 73 - Complete Rejection

Guillermo talked about his fascination with how the media reports and sensationalises crime.

How did the project come about? And who is Prefuse 73?

MAXIM KELLY: Prefuse 73 is the artist name of New York-based producer Guillermo Scott Herren. I got the job because I've previously worked on a few projects with his label, Lex Records.

Was the soundtrack-like nature of the track an influence in the story you wanted to tell?

MK: Yes, it was. The video brief was based on an interview with Guillermo about his album New Strategies for Modern Crime Vol.2. He talked about his fascination with how the media reports and sensationalises crime, and how he watched New York slasher movies while making the music. This inspired me to use online PSAs in the video, and the music’s bed-like quality made it perfect for adding soundbites to enhance the story.

You have manipulated 20th-century public information film archive material before - notably for the Shame video for Nigel Hitter. How does this one differ from that video in thinking, and in the execution?

MK: For the Shame video, we needed to incorporate the band into the archive material, which required using a greenscreen studio and finding specific clips with space for the band. This added complexity. For this project, it was easier since we could use any clip and then figure out how to modify or add elements afterwards.

The aesthetics of old archive material are impossible to recreate.

Where does your interest in this type of old archive material come from?

MK: My interest in old archive material comes from its aesthetics - which are impossible to recreate - and the creative opportunities it offers. Working with archives is like having hundreds of hours of footage, and the challenge is figuring out what I can do with each clip instead of deciding what to shoot.

This approach lets me create work that would be too expensive to produce from scratch. Additionally, this project allowed me to explore AI and improve my skills in After Effects. I'm excited about the future of filmmaking, so any opportunity to experiment with AI in these early stages is great.

Where did you source your footage?

MK: From various online archives. It can be tricky since some places charge for clips that are actually in the public domain. A great starting point is archive.org, and from there, you can find many other sources and footage by exploring further.

What was your framework for using AI? What were the references for creating the AI-generated inserts?

MK: I used Dalle-2, which was discontinued right before this project started. Fortunately, I bought credits in advance to avoid any issues since I had used it to make the treatment. My framework was based on creating a false sense of security from the police and government, imagining them as inflatable, blow-up officers. This idea evolved into making everything bulbous, inflatable, rubber, blobby, and grotesque.

I didn’t have specific references; instead, I knew what I wanted and let the AI generate several iterations. I then adjusted my prompts or selected the best results.

Looks like you used it quite sparingly, subtly integrated with the footage. Was it easy to control to get the results you wanted?

MK: Yes, it was. I simply erased a tiny part of the image and let the AI fill it in, blending it seamlessly into the shot. For me, AI videos all look the same and quickly become dated. But using AI this way felt like doing VFX, similar to creating something in 3D and then compositing it back in. It’s such a simple idea, I couldn't believe that it hadn’t been done before.

It was really easy and fast, and the AI came up with things that would have taken me ages with loads of references. For instance, the inflatable police car on an empty road and the inflatable Statue of Liberty at the end look so good and funny. I can’t see how I would have come up with those designs on my own in the time I had.

Molchat Doma - Ty Zhe Ne Znaesh Kto Ya (You Don't Know Who I Am)

I wanted the video to feel similar to turning on the TV late at night and finding yourself three-quarters through a film without knowing anything about it.

How did this project start? How did you connect with Molchat Doma?

MK: Their label in New York, Sacred Bones, recommended reaching out to me. They had seen some of my previous work with Secretly Canadian. And Robbie Morris, who works at Secretly Canadian, put in a good word for me.

What help did you get from the track (with lyrics in Russian) and the band’s brief in developing your idea?

MK: Initially, I didn't have much to go on besides the lyrics and the song. My first concept was very different - it involved a B-movie parasite attached to a dancer's body, singing the song into her ear.

When the band saw this idea, they mentioned that they had always envisioned a man dancing jive when they wrote the song. I decided to change the concept, as I didn't think I could do justice to the original idea with the budget we had.

Above: On-set at Molchat Doma shoot.

Where did you shoot the video?

MK: We shot the video in Walthamstow at a working men’s club, which required us to become members in order to film there. Although I live a bit too far away to visit, the club also offers cheap pints!

How did you cast your main character – and is he a proper ballroom dancer?

MK: Our main character, Spike King, is a contemporary dancer who had a background in ballroom dance from his younger years. He was recommended by our choreographer, Arran, whom I've worked with several times. Arran is great at consistently finding the perfect dancers for our roles.

All my choreography-based films are my attempts to recreate Denis Levant's dance at the end of Beau Travail.

The cast is all-male, some are in dresses, while the band and more stock footage is beamed into the bar/club on an ancient TV. So how would you describe the backstory – ie, what’s happened at the point the film starts?

MK: The concept revolves around an apocalypse scene or a pandemic. But the aim was for the video to feel like a small part of something much larger. Similar to turning on the TV late at night and finding yourself three-quarters through a film without knowing anything about it.

The all-male cast felt appropriate because, as I get older, I've noticed my male friends becoming more nurturing and compassionate with each other, probably due to the responsibilities of children, marriage and work. So, I wanted to reflect this softness and kindness among men, showcasing them being gentle and caring with each other.

Were there specific influences – cinematic or otherwise – on your approach to the narrative? Did you talk about certain films, or videos, in your treatment?

MK: My references for developing the narrative and idea were Béla Tarr and Aki Kaurismäki. I just looked at their entire filmographies to shape the concept and direction for the video.

What was the thinking behind the choreography – is it purely Strictly Come Dancing stuff, or with something extra added? (And was he dancing to the MD track during the shoot?)

MK: We wanted to do a jive that flips into madness and back again. My primary reference for choreography is Denis Lavant's dance to Rhythm Of The Night at the end of Beau Travail. Essentially, all my choreography-based films are my attempts to recreate that scene, and through my repeated attempts and failures, I end up creating something new each time.

Above: Spike King (right) performs the jive, on-set of the Molchat Doma video

What were your main instructions to the other actors, to get the performances you were looking for?   

MK: I don't like to over-complicate directing on set. I prefer to do most of the work beforehand, telling the story through the shot list. However, I usually have one specific idea in mind for the actors. In this case, I told them to remember when they were children, and their parents had guests over. After being put to bed, they keep sneaking downstairs. When the adults notice, they run back to their rooms, hide under the covers, and pretend to be asleep. That's the feeling I wanted them to capture.

Was it always the plan to shoot some kind of band performance – and how did you shoot it?

MK: The band live in LA and hadn't been featured in their previous video [for Son], so they felt it was important to be included this time. Fortunately, the DoP working on their third video in LA did a pick-up shoot for us on greenscreen in his home. So that I could composite them into the TV shots.

The black and white and the emphasis on black and darkness fits the tone of the track. Was that mainly achieved in-camera or in the grade?

MK: I have to say that Michal Babinec did an excellent job. And we achieved the look mostly in-camera. We shot on the 16mm crop sensor, on the Alexa. Michal added a lot of diffusion over the lens and shot at an incredibly high ISO to get a heavy noise effect.

There really was no going back or fixing it in post. And then Richard Fearon [at Black Kite] did a beautiful high-contrast grade over the top.

• Watch more of Maxim Kelly's work at Spindle here; Maxim is represented by Claire Stubbs & Connie Meade at Mouthpiece.