1.
Camille, this is your directorial debut as a solo director. What would you say
are the advantages and disadvantages of working as a solo director versus
collaborating with another director (as you did with Erick Zonca on the Golden Bear nominated feature film
"Julia")?
This is such an interesting question, because in
film making, everything is collaborative.
You never make a movie by yourself, you rely on an entire team to make a
film, and that's both what makes this medium so exciting to work with because
you are supported in so many ways and it’s also what makes the role of the
director so challenging because you have to choose the right people for each
piece of that puzzle and then coordinate all those voices so that one single
clear vision comes out of this teamwork process. On “Julia”, Erick Zonca was really the main
experienced director and I was getting my training wheels, so I’m eternally
grateful for the opportunity I got to work with him and learn so much during
the writing process, the shoot and the editing.
I was really supporting his vision and I carried that onto the set of
“RUN” by making sure I surrounded myself with the best, most experienced people
I could find. In relying on me, Erick
really taught me how to rely on others when I was at the helm of this project
with IVA — understanding that there is no single person making the movie, but
there is one person who takes on the responsibility for the project and being a
director is really being willing to take on that responsibility.
2.
IVA, what inspired your song "Run" and how much input did you have in
the making of the music video?
Run was inspired by a friend who jogs in the north
of Sweden in the winter when it is dark all day long. I remembered my winter
days of feeling depressed, trapped indoors in dark, cold Sweden and felt this
song was about overcoming what we were all feeling during the pandemic lockdown
in the States. We were not allowed to leave our homes save for grocery shopping
and caring for loved ones, and didn’t have contact with friends and family living
close and further afield. That time was painful for so many. My friend Tracy
reminded me that running in the darkness can help us find the spark of
inspiration that we need in difficult times. I wanted to share that possibility
through this song by showing how the act of running, and its symbolism of
committing to something we love and seeing it through, can help us find our
fulfillment.
Camille had been coaching me on my acting during the
recording of the song, and we decided to turn it into a video. It was a
complete collaboration so I could give as much input as I wanted to, yet
Camille’s vision was well thought-out and I felt in good hands, letting her
take the lead. She had the brilliant idea of making much of it about my eyes,
as they are the windows to the soul. I’ve been through a great deal of loss in
my life and have found a way to make it through with love and strength, partly
thanks to friends and colleagues like Camille. She captures that spirit in the
video.
3.
Camille, the music video complements the song quite well. There is always a
challenge regarding resources (time, money, etc) so if you had more time and
money, what would you change about the music video? What would you not change?
Our superpower as humans is adapting to
challenge. The most creative part of
being a film maker is figuring out how to meet challenge, so I love that part
of the process. Embracing it is what
makes us grow as artists. I like to remind
myself of the pinnacle moment in Indiana Jones where he faces a bad guy
wielding a saber and just as all seems lost, Indie pulls out a gun and shoots
the guy down. This quintessential moment
filled with humor all came together because Harrison Ford was sick and they
lost a couple days of filming so they had to cut the big sword fight number
from the script and get creative with the scene, and it’s my favorite moment in
the movie. Limited time and resources
force you to get creative. I wanted to
make an "in camera" movie as we were referencing classic 1980s music
video making, so I didn’t want to use any special effects. We shot one day on a sound stage and half a
day guerrilla-style in the streets of LA and through my bathroom window to
create the visual layers. And we used
mashed potatoes to create the effect of snow falling, with my ADs were
furiously sprinkling IVA with mashed potatoes and moving branches above her to
create shadows and the impression of wind.
IVA was very patient with us, getting mashed potatoes in your eyes is nobody’s
idea of having fun!
With more time and money I would have maybe wanted
to tell a more narrative story, that we would have set in snow-covered
landscapes in Iceland for example, but that would have been way beyond our
budget! But with analogue photography
coming back to the forefront, I’m excited we got to work on this project with
old school spirit.
4.
IVA and Camille, how do you find your inner strength in a world and an industry
that can be quite challenging for women?
CAMILLE:
I’m excited to see things are changing in our industry, I think it’s an
inspiring time to be a woman in our industry right now. While only 22% of Hollywood directors are
currently women, we’re still making changes faster than other industries like
neurosurgery where less than 10% of neurosurgeons are women. I have made an effort to surround myself with
smart women in my industry (like IVA) who have been so generous in sharing
their experience and supporting me.
Because of the importance of mentorship in our industry, we still have
some way to go. When you consider that
twice as many main characters are male than female and then you break it down
further, you see that in films with at least one woman director and/or writer,
females comprise 57% of protagonists, whereas in films with exclusively male
directors and/or writers, females only account for 19% of protagonists, it
becomes very apparent that, as women, we still have great need of a greater
pool of role models and it’s so important to support each other. I’m grateful to be part of the female
directors who can lead the way for the next generation of filmmakers, I want to
be there for them, to encourage them.
The daily practice of showing up is also something
IVA and I worked on together. We’ve had
a ritual of warming up our voices together every morning for the past 18 months
and it just set us up for success. It’s
kind of like meditation, but we did it together, so it added a dimension of
showing up for another person so you double up on your accountability and also
your sense of achievement as a team.
IVA: We had a beautiful, wild ride creating this
video together, and we have collaborated many times, which made our working
relationship even more powerful on this film, both when things went right and
if things went wrong - like losing a much desired makeup artist at the last
minute or facing a large budget and finding ways to make it smaller while
holding true to the vision. We had inner strength from a mutual trust and
respect for each other’s artistry, and from having each other to lean on.
Camille and I have a very strong friendship. We lift each other up when our
self esteem is damaged by the industry, and help each other navigate through
when life and work becomes challenging. We have a pact to be fully honest with
each other, and we can hash through differences and fight sometimes and then
discuss openly what happened with no hard feelings. As a musician, I focus on
sharing my truth in the most effective way I can, which I find is through my
music, and Camille helped me emanate a deeper, stronger version of myself in
this video. A few years ago I lost my mother suddenly, and was also in a
romantic relationship where I was a victim of domestic abuse for many years. I
was grieving for a long time and felt somewhat defeated, and Camille helped me
feel ready to “Run” with passion again. Camille and I also provided firsts for
each other with this video, she as lead director and I in having the creative
direction of someone of Camille’s caliber and deep knowledge of me as an
artist. I was able to look into the camera with my full being, unafraid of
being seen. That has given me a new perspective on my artistry, and about who I
am. I know most of all that standing together is our strength, and I am
grateful to have a friend and colleague like Camille who gives it to me
straight and loves me with all her heart, as I do her. I hope that as two women
creating this music video together we will be able to reach many more people
and inspire other women to realize their creative visions fully, and as often,
as possible.
5.
IVA, what advice would you give to musicians who want to make their first music
video?
Find a director that you trust who also has the
skills and vision necessary to make an effective music video. Also be sure to
prepare yourself for the screen as it’s quite a different means of
communication than through music. Most of all, enjoy the creative process.
Camille and I absolutely did, and it was hard work! I have an even deeper
respect now for all those who work in film and feel very lucky to know multi-faceted
artists like Camille (who also did an incredible job editing the video.) And
she respected our budget and did her best to keep things economical, which set
my mind at ease. Also, work with the director to put together a great team who
can help you realize the vision. And, if you can, raise a budget that allows
you to take care of everyone well, making sure everyone has the equipment,
space, and food necessary to do their best work. It makes a big difference for
rapport on the set, and for the film itself.
6.
Camille, what advice would you give to directors who want to make their first
music video?
Have fun, take the time to experiment. Music videos really allow for a lot of
experimentation.
Also, STORYBOARD.
I cannot underline how important storyboarding is, especially in short
format story-telling. I’m grateful to my
first AD, John Claflin, for forcing me to storyboard the entire video, phrase
by phrase, and really thinking through the musical changes, rather than just
the broad strokes. This was so helpful
when I was editing, so I wouldn’t end up stuck because I was missing one tiny
shot. The moments where IVA is spinning
for example are four different shots for each turn and she had to start and
land those movements very precisely while singing the song and looking
natural. And the layers where multiple
versions of her are floating or flying by her all had to be shot on exact
moments of her singing and timed with the music and lyrics, every single one of
those is a different shot with multiple takes, it you look closely at her lips,
you’ll see none of them is a repeat shot.
All of this had to be precisely calibrated and storyboarded in advance,
otherwise it would never have worked. I
also had to make the decision on set to cut several shots from our shoot day as
we ran out of time and the precise storyboarding allowed me to make the
decision of what cut very quickly in the moment, without compromising the
editing.
The other piece of advice I would give is make sure
you have people on your team who really understand music, because you're
cutting a film to support the music, to enhance the audience’s experience of a
song, so it’s very helpful to have people in your crew who understand what’s
going on musically. RUN is a complex
piece of music. IVA makes it look easy,
but there aren’t many pop artists who have the chops to do what she is doing
musically in this song. She’s a full on
opera singer by training, so her voice and the musical choices are complex and
mature. So it was important to me to
surround myself with a team who could really appreciate the complexities and
challenges of the music.
7.
Camille, what three things, places, events and/or people stood out for you on
your trip to Kenya?
I was very young, I visited Kenya as a toddler. I know my parents hiked up Mount Kilimanjaro
and I am fond of this picture of me with one of my uncles, clearly excited to
be coming along for the ride. I have
memories of the rain and dancing, and eating ugali and irio — which is dream
food for a toddler as you eat it with your hands ;). I hope to visit Kenya again soon, maybe I’ll
be flooded with early childhood memories.
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