Director

Ben Strebel

Promonews talks to Biscuit Filmworks' director Ben Strebel about the combination of passion, ingenuity and trust that went into making his remarkable video for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2021/06/29/skrillex-starrah-four-tet-butterflies-ben-strebel/71628" target="_blank">Skrillex, Four Tet and Starrah's Butterflies</a>.&nbsp;In Strebel's video for the track from Skrillex's long-awaited new album, as a group of teenagers burst out of their high-rise lockdown confinement,&nbsp;the pent-up frustrations of&nbsp;the past 18 months are expressed through dance, and dressing up as ghosts. But then things take step towards the transcendent - the ghosts fly, and their dance takes to the air.We spoke to Ben Strebel about the making of his tour de force,&nbsp;and the working partnerships that were crucial to its success, from choreographer Holly Blakey, to the VFX team at Electric Theatre Collective, to the artist himself,&nbsp;Sonny John Moore - aka Skrillex. He reveals that this ground-breaking project really was a step into the unknown, which eventually became a joyful experience in itself.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[vidtoken data:0]Promonews: How did the process begin for making the Butterflies video?Ben Strebel: Sonny texted me few a years ago buzzing about his forthcoming album, which ended up being multiple years in the making. We were about to shoot a video for a different track when Covid hit and our shoot - which was supposed to shoot in Thailand - couldn’t go ahead.Another few months passed, during which we talked regularly on Facetime. In this time he sent me four more tracks to choose from, of which I decided to go for Butterflies. I mean, Skrillex and Fourtet = Banger.[imgtoken data:1]<blockquote>I felt&nbsp;for that generation of kids who had been robbed of a year.</blockquote>Is the subject matter at the core of the video – the stress of young people cooped up during the lockdown – something that’s close to your heart?The track is all about love and closeness between people, which resonated with me in the pandemic. I couldn’t help but feel for that generation of kids who had been robbed of a year with very little support.So&nbsp;I wanted to spin in a positive way and celebrate what it would feel like when those restrictions were lifted and people could be together again. It’s about freedom and expression.[imgtoken data:2]<blockquote>Sonny [Skrillex] stressed the importance of it being positive.</blockquote>What discussions did you have with Skrillex about the idea and how to approach the subject?When I presented the idea to Sonny, he connected with it and stressed the importance of it needing to be positive. It’s a point of view we both shared.He was excited at the prospect of reinterpreting the metaphor of the Ghost - from something about loss and disconnection, to hopefulness and liberty that thrives in the imagination. In this instance the ghosts represent the feeling of being released from Earthly restraints.[imgtoken data:3]<blockquote>We realised that the ghosts had to go up...</blockquote>When did you know you wanted it to be a dance piece - and that it would cross over from featuring the real dancers to virtual ones?&nbsp;&nbsp;The track begs for movement, which to me was apparent from the outset. I’m interested in how physicality can convey the repression we feel and build to that sense of freedom. I realised there was a limit to how far we could push that feeling of euphoria and release with grounded dance.This is where the supernatural comes into play. The ghosts are CG - but the dancing is real. We recorded their every movement using Mocap, and then manipulated the Y-axis to further effect. We realised they had&nbsp;to go up.It’s about escape and release and there’s no better way to convey that than through an upward trajectory. Reaching the skies.[imgtoken data:4]<blockquote>[The dancers] have had next to no opportunity to&nbsp;express themselves for so long.</blockquote>How did the main members of the cast bring their own experiences to the video?I started the process of casting by doing a series of interviews with the dancers. In order to make the film as genuine as possible I wanted to gauge their experiences of the past year, and draw on this in the narrative. It was important to me that these kids’ stories and feelings were captured in this film.As I got to know them and understood their struggles and desires, it became apparent that not only was this as much their film, but an actual vehicle for them to express themselves. They’ve had next to no opportunity to do so for so long.[imgtoken data:5]<blockquote>Holly Blakey's choreography became instrumental in bridging from the real to the virtual.</blockquote>When did choreographer Holly Blakey become involved and what did she bring to the project?Holly’s amazing. I love her style, which is pared-back at times - less is more, in my opinion. I’ve always wanted to work with her and love working with choreographers from the start. She totally understood the emotion of the piece and became instrumental in helping us bridge from the real to the virtual.&nbsp;How did you develop the ghost VFX with ETC? The realism of the sheets is amazing – something they had in their armoury already or needed to develop for the project?ETC smashed it. Having worked with them on most&nbsp;if not all of my films, we’ve developed a shorthand and level of trust with each other. I couldn’t have made this film without that.&nbsp;They were so instrumental and pushed themselves so hard to create a piece of CG magic.[imgtoken data:6]<blockquote>Seeing the final sequence&nbsp;evolve was incredible.&nbsp;</blockquote>The passion and energy that they brought to this one is both humbling and amazing. I feel like they carried me through this with their creativity and expertise.They’re never shy of doing impossible. The development of the ghosts and cloth was an evolving conversation, which took place over months. In the end they decided the best approach would be to do it all in CG rather than painting feet and hands.This way we could instil character and personality into the movement of the cloth, which I believe in a shot such as the falling cloth at the start gives it an energy and personality, which is what this film is all about.Any time you see cloth moving in the film - when it’s not attached to a real cast member -&nbsp;has been created from scratch by ETC. Masters of cloth and lighting and everything else.[imgtoken data:7]<blockquote>Any time you see cloth moving... it's been created from scratch by ETC.</blockquote>What were the main challenges of the shoot itself?&nbsp;And the biggest challenges - and surprises -&nbsp;that came out of the post production process?Visualising the end sequence without ghosts was definitely the hardest part of the shoot. It’s never inspiring shooting a load of empty plates. And then assembling a load of empty plates in the edit was definitely the trickiest part – especially when you have to lock the edit so that the plates can be tracked.We cut the entire final sequence without knowing how the ghosts would react to the Y-axis movement of the ghosts. Seeing it evolve was incredible.It was brilliant to see how what once was choreographed according to gravity could suddenly be taken into another realm where physics is defied.[imgtoken data:8]<blockquote>Sonny's trust and belief in the process were humbling - a joyful collaboration.</blockquote>How close is the final work to your vision for the video? And what was the artists’ response to seeing it?&nbsp;Sonny cried. Literally tears of joy. His trust and belief in the process were humbling. Such a joyful collaboration when working directly with such a intelligent individual.I always wanted this piece to feel raw and honest. It’s a sensitive subject that had to be addressed in a sensitive way by all of us. I think we achieved it. &nbsp;• Ben Strebel is represented by <a href="https://biscuitfilmworks.com/uk/music-projects" target="_blank">Biscuit Filmworks</a> in the UK and US. Contact&nbsp;Andrew Law, Biscuit UK's Head of Music + Projects, about new projects.&nbsp;

Biscuit Filmworks

Electric Theatre Collective

Behind The Video: Ben Strebel on Skrillex's Butterflies - "The ghosts are CG, the dancing is real."

Skrillex, Starrah & Four Tet - Butterflies (Official Music Video)

Ben Strebel makes a stunning return to music videos with his wonderful&nbsp;video for Skrillex, Starrah and Four Tet’s new track Butterflies - an impressionistic portrait on the impact of a year of Covid crisis upon a generation, which builds to a simply transcendent&nbsp;climax.With some hugely talented&nbsp;collaborators, including choreographer Holly Blakey, DoP Ben Todd, and the&nbsp;VFX team at Electric Theatre Collective, Strebel channels the frustrations of a generation of youth, whose relationships and&nbsp;opportunies have all been curtailed by the successive lockdowns, into a very contemporary work of visual art.On a London estate, an edgy teenager is a ball of energy as they sit in their room, and when a group of youths gather, the group immediately combine to&nbsp;performing Blakey's intricate, physically demanding choreography. Sheets float in the air, at the Chinese takeaway&nbsp;the youths&nbsp;also play ghosts, covered in sheets - and then the path from gritty reality to heightened sensibility spins into outright&nbsp;fantasy, all within the same concrete world.[imgtoken data:1]The climax of the video is wonderful - and that is partly because you do not see it coming. The kids have now become real ghosts, soaring into the air above the concrete,&nbsp;freed&nbsp;to cavort to the strains of this epic electronic collaboration between Sonny John Moore (aka Skrillex), Keiran Hebden (Four Tet), and Brittany Talia Hazzard (Starrah). This is a brilliantly conceived ballet - created with an ingenious execution of VFX work and camera movement.&nbsp;&nbsp;Strebel has created a wonderful visual for Butterflies, the result of not only his own skill and vision, but the ambition and support of Skrillex. The artist and director&nbsp;had been talking for a long time about working together, and Skrillex took&nbsp;a hands-on approach throughout the process, sanctioning the lengthy&nbsp;period in post production required to make it happen.It was well worth the wait.&nbsp;&nbsp;

United States

Adam Farley

Andrew Law

Rupert Reynolds-MacLean

Samantha Chitty

Roma Nesi Pio

Ed Bellamy

Christopher Mears

Titus Penate

Ben Todd

Sean Lomax

Dan Jenner

Simon Wood

Wolf Wasserman

Ben Manwaring

Oliver Hogan

Kate Forbes

Anna Wild

Holly Blakey

Kharmel Cochrane

Matt Nee

Metal House Edit

James Sindle

Luke Morrison

Antonia Vlasto

Hannah Clark @ Metal Edit

Electronica

Dance

Alternative

Skrillex, Starrah, Four Tet 'Butterflies' by Ben Strebel

Having drawn visual comparisons to the likes of FKA twigs and The Blaze for his&nbsp;video for enigmatic band <a href="https://www.promonews.tv/videos/2019/03/22/hour-wasted-ben-strebel/57928" target="_blank">The Hour&#39;s Wasted</a>, Ben Strebel makes a remarkable director&rsquo;s cut for their second single Answer.Following the theme of the last film and the band&rsquo;s own distinction, masks are once again used to examine The Hour&rsquo;s belief in the freedom through anonymity. The setting is more controversial than in the Wasted video, with masked community coming to hospital, where one member is giving birth.Of the release, the band state: &ldquo;This video is about choice, or lack of it. It&rsquo;s about the contrasting opinions in the decisions we make for our children and the lasting effect it might have on them.&rdquo;

United Kingdom

India Lee

Skunk London

Kate Taylor

Miri De Villers

Chris Malin

Piotr Perlinski

Jecery Rosini

Stefan Lissner

Amy Exton

Verity May-lane

Billie Kermack

Paul O'Reilly

Homespun

Futurekind

Alt Soul

The Hour 'Answer' by Ben Strebel

Ben Strebel has created a strikingly metaphorical and intensely visceral&nbsp;video for The Hour; a harrowing look at disenfranchised Britain and the exploration of freedom.The film features faceless, masked figures engaging in a dramatic event, which appears ominous and threatening. But Strebel invites the viewer to explore their perceptions, as the lack of sinlge identity is shown to be liberating:&nbsp;&nbsp;no class, no gender, no race, no disability. Everyone is the same, and ultimately a supportive community.The Hour is a collective of anonymous artists who themselves wear masks when performing live on stage, allowing the group to change freely over time. The mask is about being free and equal, also captured in Strebel&rsquo;s film.&nbsp;He explains:&nbsp;&ldquo;I wanted to examine the almost utopian idea of anonymity in the face of a society crazed by nihilism (social media driving us to extreme antisocial behaviour and mental illness).&rdquo; &nbsp;&nbsp;

Benjamin Todd

Silvio Bersani

Ben Jones

Nick Leishman

Edie Ashley

Lucy Clements

Sadaf Nazuri

Oliver Whitworth

The Hour 'Wasted' by Ben Strebel 

The-Hour-'Wasted'-by-Ben-Strebel-

Denim blue is the new black in Ben Strebel&#39;s new video for The Kills.Strebel presents an impressionistic take on mass incarceration with Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince as the handcuffed, still bolshy leaders of a gang of choreographed convicts.It&#39;s a new,&nbsp;more sinister take on that classic stylised take on prison life,&nbsp;Jailhouse Rock.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Ava Yazdani

Wondros

Lucas Strebel

Bryan Smaller

Company 3

Dilly Gent

The Kills 'List Of Demands (Reparations)' by Ben Strebel

The Kills - List of Demands (Reparations) (Official Video)

Ben Strebel has directed a striking music video for Italian duo Parisi and Wu Tang Clan&#39;s RZA that highlights the desperate situation faced&nbsp;by the millions caught up in the global refugee crisis.&nbsp;In a collaboration with US creative agency Stay In School, Strebel&nbsp;the trauma experienced by ordinary people forced to leave their homes is expressed by the actions of a group dropped in a misty nowhere by a coach. They start to move, which then becomes a dance that becomes a reaction ot the endless movement, and seemingly hopeless journey to an unknown destination. The strength of the piece is how it highlights individuals as well as the group, offering a window&nbsp;into the desperate world of the refugee.&nbsp;&quot;I wanted to create a film that showed each individual on a journey forced upon them, ceaseless, restless and without a destination in sight,&quot; says Ben Strebel. &quot;My interpretation of the song drew on the persona! history of forced migration that my family experienced sixty years ago.&quot;Ail proceeds from streams and sales of the song will be donated to the UNHCR - the United Nations Refugee Agency - to aid the ongoing refugee crisis.&nbsp;&quot;lt sits uncomfortably close to home seeing innocent families who have escaped war and destruction only to be ill-treated and regarded like criminals when they&#39;re in need of safety.&quot; says Feh Tarty, a native of war-torn Liberia and Creative Partner of Stay in School. &quot;This project is a perfect marriage between awareness displayed beautifully and effortless action. Simply play or purchase to help.&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Sovage Paris

Willy Morence

Victor Seguin

Fanny Sage

Roli Records

Stay In School

Feh Tarty

Russell Weekes

Swee Lyn Nah

Houmam Abdallah

THE (France)

Parisi ft RZA 'No Refuge' by Ben Strebel

PARISI - No Refuge (Official Video) ft. RZA

Three years after the project began with the videos&nbsp;for <a href="http://www.promonews.tv/videos/2013/09/18/javeon-mccarthy-lovesong-ben-strebel" target="_blank">Lovesong</a>&nbsp;and <a href="http://www.promonews.tv/videos/2014/01/21/javeon-give-ben-strebel" target="_blank">Give Up</a>, Ben Strebel&#39;s ambitious narrative to accompany the work of Bristol singer&nbsp;Javeon - originally an unfulfilled four video project -&nbsp;has come to fruition as a short film that features three new tracks from the artist&#39;s new EP&nbsp;Show Me Something.Featuring Katy Sage as a bride pitched into an unfolding nightmare, Strebel brings us back to the moment when the unlucky bride&#39;s wedding descends into family feud-fuelled anarchy, following her into her hellish job in a roadside café and becoming caught up in an armed heist. And finally, a shot at redemption.Strebel has reshaped his gutsy bride&#39;s adventures as a modern day epic and surreal R&amp;B opera - a satisfying form of redemption in itself for the original project.&nbsp;

Somesuch

Tash Tan

Kate Evenden

Sara Sensoy

St John O’rorke

Katy Sage

Caroline Clayton

Virgin EMI

Javeon 'Mercy' by Ben Strebel

Javeon-(but-Is-More-Of-A-Short-/-Rnb-Opera-Than-A-Typical-Music-Video)-'Mercy'-by-Ben-Strebel

Ben Strebel and his crew travelled to Uganda and what he describes as an &quot;emotional, harrowing and humbling experience&quot; shooting the new Naughty Boy video.On one level it reveals how skateboarding is as popular (and as watchable)&nbsp;in the Kintale district of&nbsp;Kampala as London&#39;s South Bank or Venice Beach. But there&#39;s also a strong human angle that comes mainly&nbsp;from the arrestingly charismatic presence of the director&#39;s young lead, played by a local boy called Trinity. The emotion is all there on screen, and it adds up to one of the best videos that Ben Strebel has done.

Katie Lambert

Caviar

Ore Okonedo

Ahmet Husseyin

Max Windows

Houmam Abdullah

James Hackett

Universal Music

Andrew Fletcher

Naughty Boy ft. Kyla, Popcaan 'Should've Been Me' by Ben Strebel

Naughty-Boy-Ft.kyla,-Popcaan-'Should've-Been-Me'-by-Ben-Strebel

What happens when two people&rsquo;s worlds collide for a brief moment in time and there&rsquo;s an unbreakable attraction and chemistry between them? This was the question Ben Strebel asked when pitching his idea to Majid Jordan for his new single Learn From Each Other. What came out of that question is a sensual and intimate story of two people falling in love.&quot;I really wanted to describe the sensations of a stolen moment,&quot; says Ben Strebel. &quot;It&#39;s a universal experience, we&#39;ve all been in a situation similar to this one, I believe...&quot;

Matt Power

Kim Dellara

Iva Golubovic

Mario Scenna

Kristof Brandl

Alvin Sun

Ryan Hernendez

Veronica Riera

St. John O’Rorke

Ovo Sound, Warner Bros

Mad Ruk Entertainment

Mauricio Ruiz

Majid Jordan 'Learn From Each Other' by Ben Strebel

Majid-Jordan-'Learn-From-Each-Other'-by-Ben-Strebel

Bristol-based duo Icarus get their name from a character in&nbsp;Greek mythology who took to the air, but Ben Strebel references another Greek hero for his video&nbsp;for their Don&#39;t Cry Wolf. Shot in Folkestone, Kent, it follows the story of a young&nbsp;fisherman&nbsp;whose&nbsp;banal routine is disrupted when he finds a naked young woman on the beach.In Homer&#39;s Iliad,&nbsp;Ulysses orders his men to tie him to the mast&nbsp;of his ship so that he could listen to the sirens&#39; (more commonly known as mermaids)&nbsp;song without being tempted to jump towards them to his death. And sure enough, upon hearing the sweet, deadly calls,&nbsp;Ulysses is driven temporarily&nbsp;insane and tries to break free.&nbsp;And we discover that the girl the boy finds&nbsp;holds a similar disorientating effect on him. Even in gritty real life settings, Strebel communicates the mystery, intimacy and unearthly&nbsp;seductive power of the mermaid.

Rohan Scully

Rob Franklin

Benjamin Cohenca

Ellie Williams

Hannah Hopkins

Emily Bilverstone

Andrew Bowerman

Eleanor James

Michael Brackenbury

Ben Rogers

Helo Hendrix

Parlophone

Electronic

Icarus 'Don't Cry Wolf' by Ben Strebel

Icarus - Don't Cry Wolf (Official Video)

Set against the desolate and beautiful landscape of Kiruna in Sweden, Ben Strebel&#39;s first project since joining Caviar late last year is a mysterious and engrossing promo to partner Higher by acclaimed new band Kate Boy.Filmed in extremely testing&nbsp;conditions - including having only five hours of sunlight per day, and sub-sub-zero temperatures&nbsp;-&nbsp;Ben&#39;s metaphor for a &#39;society under the watchful eye of an oppressive force&#39; focuses on several characters fight against heavy dictatorship who stamp out any individuality.&nbsp;

Katie Dolan

Zac Moss

Salmon Fox Sweden

Matthias Fjellstrom

Susanne Karlsson

Néstor Salazar

Nichlas Samuelsson

Victoria Karlsson

Adam Rudegran

Kascha Walker

Sophia Petterson

James Rose

Final Cut

James Drew

Taran Spear

Fiction Records

Lisa Ward

Louise Gagen

Sorcha Shepherd

Indie

Kate Boy 'Higher' by Ben Strebel

Kate Boy - Higher

Ben Strebel&#39;s video for&nbsp;Gorgon City&#39;s&nbsp;Unmissable&nbsp;charts two interconnected parallel worlds, and what happens in one affects the other.It&#39;s a surreal journey for a couple&nbsp;on a night out, in a mysterious club environment that throbs to the pulsating beat of Unmissable...

Licia Conn

Beki Henderson

James Amos

Steve Annis

Mike Linforth

Sam E Riley

Lee Parfit

James Early

Poppy France

Ryan Boucher

Marshall Street

Rewind

Johnny Blick

Kate Bracken

Billy Howle

John Moule

Gorgon City  'Unmissable' by Ben Strebel

Gorgon-City--'Unmissable'-by-Ben-Strebel

Moko wants Your Love&nbsp;in Ben Strebel&#39;s latest promo, as she sings and dances&nbsp;through a series of rooms in a single continuous shot.And it works brilliantly well. For her first solo release&nbsp;Moko exudes confidence and&nbsp;gives a transfixing performance - and has fantastic pigtails.&nbsp;All eyes firmly on her.

Ben Strebel

Director

Interviews featuring Ben Strebel

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