Diamonds, pianos and a language course!

Since I'm quite busy working on a documentary feature (research stage, nothing to see yet, move along!), I have to confess that I have been neglecting this space here.

Let's see... I have been lingering about in São Paulo for a while. And while it was shot in autumn of last year, we finished the (presumably) last ever clip for Berlin's CRIME months later. So maybe it is only fair to post it here now, again some months later. What a poor excuse...



This video is all about Bronie Lozneanu caught in a fading fame fantasy, shot by Dácio Pinheiro and Denis Giacobelis, while I stayed in the back making more or less useful comments.

We shot it at NN Antiques, thanks to Tadeu Nasser and Raphael Nasralla with styling by David Pollak and make-up/hair by Bruno Miranda.

Apart from that I've been working on some things that are not that showy, like sort of a beer ad and an instructional video starring an emergency watch.

Also I've been doing some voice work for various clients. Like this:



...or this...



...as well as touristic audio guides in Mexico City and Pula (Croatia) and the narration for the acclaimed Meteorite Museum in the Atacama Desert in Chile. Also: you can learn German with me here!

Ah! One more thing! Dácio and I have also been shooting a small bit for the PIANOSOFIA project, which brings live classical music to your home. And if you don't have a piano, they even bring that with them.

The latest batch of videos...

Just a quick look at some of the most recent things I have done...

As mentioned before, I have done a considerable amount of stage visuals for the Crime tour last year. During the course of that tour we didn't want to put out too much of it on the internet, but since now they are touring with a different program I have to admit: I'm too proud of them to let them go unmentioned.

And why not start with what I consider to be my favourite work yet.



The visual to the song "The Call" was inspired by a 2012 commercial for a french department store featuring Catherine Deneuve. It used different shades of grey as colours are usually used to create a psychedelic effect. I took this idea and played around with it a bit, creating a fantasy language and epileptic flickering along with graphic rhythms common to 1990s music videos.



Quite unexpected by me, the visual for "Frame by Frame" proved to be one of the most popular ones out of the 35 minute program. Snake skeletons and found footage of open heart surgery seem to make for an attractive combination.

Aside from the visuals, which allowed a quite experimental approach to clip making I also worked in more conventional ways as I directed two more music videos during the last months.



Jim Hickey's debut video "Everything" was shot over three days in a room full of strings and edited over many weeks. Anne Haight's debut clip "Seaside" also took three days to shoot and was edited (and I know how posh this might sound) in Tuscany as I didn't want to edit it in grey Berlin. Flights and accomodation were cheap and the view beat the one out of my busy room.

Half-Year Round Up 2013

I've been too busy to notice how time flew by...

In November I shot a clip for a new song of my friend Kaya. It actually depicts the way from my Berlin home to the area around Rheinsberg, where I grew up in the countryside outside of Berlin, so it features a lot of places I have known since I can remember.



In February I edited two research-heavy image film loops for Radio Fritz (rbb). One to be used around the 20th anniversary of the station and one to be used as sideshow entertainment at Fritz presentations.



Researching the material involved a couple of night sessions alone in the TV archive of rbb in Potsdam and going through the VJ archives at Fritz itself. The quality of resolution of the footage varied quite a lot, but I think the Fritz spirit comes across.



In April Stefan Fähler directed a promo clip at Con Men for Berlin event series Gegen as part of their "Gegen Innocence" party. I only provided location, set up and VHS transfer but his work turned out so nice, also thanks to the flowers provided by Mark Colle and the performance of Claudia Kent from the Crime Video "This Party Blows", that I feel it cannot get enough exposure.



Speaking of Crime. The show featuring the visuals mentioned below has travelled on a tour around Europe and have even made it to NYC. Here's a little one shot take of them performing "Other Kids Lives" at Berlin's Südblock that I shot some months ago, that you might like if you like them. Which you should, because they are great.



Last, but certainly not least I have been doing something for the first time. Doing presentations at a conference, the radiofestival "Vmeste - Radio" in Moscow talking about my work as a morning host and reporter at Radio Fritz.

© Pawel Kartaev

I really have to thank Natalia Vlasova and Ekaterina Solomina from the foundation for independent radio broadcasting (FNR) for the invitation to this event at the end of May. Those were really some great days in the russian capital with a lot of new friends and many interesting points of view on the profession we share. 

Crime "This Party Blows"

Crime is heading your way!

Sissters' Mika Risiko and Scream Club's Sarah Adorable have teamed up for a new project that involves keyboards and floor toms and from here on you should discover for yourself what it is they are making.

Crime is gearing up for a European trek with Dischord recording act E.D. Sedgwick in November/December and this is a taste of what you are about to see onstage:



No, the girls will not be attending the show bored and undressed, but each song is set to feature an individual video to be projected on Mika and Sarah accompanying the music. Aside from me, clips were directed by Stefan Fähler and Mika; they feature actress Pau Pappel, film maker Ester Martin Bergsmark, dancer Prince William Morris and many more.

"This Party Blows" received its premiere in the shorts section of the Berlin Porn Film Festival in October and will kick off the release of some more music videos based on the visuals of the show.

If you have time, we strongly advise you to go see the concert. And if you do, please write back and say, how you liked it. Tour kicks off on November 23 at Berlin's Marie Antoinette, check out Stefan Fähler's poster!

11-23 Berlin (GER)- Marie Antoinette
11-24 Hamburg (GER)- Centro Sociale
11-25 Marburg (GER) - Trauma
11-26 Potsdam (GER) - Black Fleck
11-27 Aachen (GER) - AZ
11-28 Trier (GER) - Exhaus
11-29 Würzburg (GER) - Cairo
11-30 Nürnberg (GER)- K4
12-01 Leipzig (GER)
12-02 Prague (CZ) - Klub 007
12-05 Wroclaw (PL) - Lykend Club
12-06 Olomouc (CZ) - Mitril
12-07 Brno (CZ) - Yacht
12-08 Jihlava (CZ) - Club Jezek
12-09 München (GER) - Kafe Kult
12-10 Heilbronn (GER) - Mobilat Club
12-11 Giessen (GER) - AK 44

Mumford & Sons! Ellie Goulding! Nude girls! National TV! Q Magazine! Wow, September....

It all started with the first official music video for the new electronic outfit of Sissters' Mika Risiko called Crime. Together with Mika and Stefan Fähler, we filmed with 5 beautiful undressed girls, being bored and gorgeous. The clip had it's premiere in the shorts section of the 2012 Porn Film Festival Berlin starting October 24, 2012.



Only a few days later I, together with Stefan Fähler and Michael Bauer, had the honor of producing the generic TV interview for the sophomore album "Babel" of Mumford & Sons at the Michelberger Hotel in Berlin. Marcus and Winston were absolutely darling, laughing, telling stories and behaving as if we all (including the team) had been buddies for years. It's always so nice, when musicians are this accessible and we want to congratulate them on what looks likely to be one of those 1 Mio. + worldwide sales debuts, that have become so rare in this day and age.

Right after the shoot with Mumford & Sons we went over to Volkspark Friedrichshain to shoot a clip for up-and-coming band Pickers. They take part in the nationwide battle of the bands "Bundesvision Song Contest" created by TV host and Eurovision alumni Stefan Raab. This clip serves as their introduction on the show, has been broadcast nationwide on the popular show "TV Total" and is being used for promotion leading up to and during the event on September 28, 2012. The guys played their new single acoustic and gave us an insight into their motivation to make music.

Last, but most certainly not least, on September 24 I shot a very intimate gig of UK songbird Ellie Goulding shortly before the release of her new album "Halcyon" at Radio Fritz in Potsdam. It's interesting how she translates the electronic album versions into very soulful live renditions that do not make you miss the sometimes heavily processed and cut-up vocals. Rather they make you realize, what an amazing voice she has underneath all that production.



Update: the above clip of Ellie Goulding unplugged has been re-blogged in USA, UK, Sweden, Poland and Lithuania and made the Daily Hot List at Q Magazine!