Urbanist Guide


New Matthew Dear Video by San Diego Director Charles Bergquist

Dayna Crozier by Dayna Crozier | 8.22.2011

Charles Bergquist's new video for Matthew Dear elevates black-and-white filmmaking into the usually color-lavish realm of synesthesia. The San Diego-based director and photographer (he lives in Little Italy) edited layers upon layers to build an atmospheric accompaniment to "Slowdance," relying on the lyrics and sounds for visual inspiration. Architecture, liquid, and the sensual-yet-lonely footage of a woman combine to actually slow dance to the droning music while colliding as they flicker in fits and starts to the beats and the bass of Dear's voice.
 
 
Still from "Slowdance"
 
While Ghostly International released Dear's album Black City a year ago, the Slowdance EP came out this past April, and the video followed a few months later. Bergquist talks about his aesthetic, working with Ghostly, bringing his layers to life, and the oily residue that overlay left behind:
 

Q: How did the music inform the creation of the video?
 
A: It sounds simple, but I'd sit there, close my eyes, listen to it, and write down what I thought it looked like. That's what dictated the flashes and cuts. From there I went through the lyrics and came up with this scenario about a moment of remembering, and how it's all fractured through recollection. The woman and the building were driven by the lyrics and the liquids embody the organic element of memory. I didn't want to get too metaphorical or narrative with it, that's not really my style. I just wanted it to be visual, a moving series of beautiful things. But it's overloaded as well – all those quick flashes are unique, each one is different. If you pause it on one frame, the still holds aesthetic value on its own, separate from the video. I described it once as a moving poster. 
 
Importantly, I tried to not impose too much meaning on any one section. Like a song, even this song, it's each person's own interpretation, and I tried to make it easy for each person to interpret it how they would like. 
 
 
Q: How long did it take to create the "Slowdance" video? 
 
A: In February of this year, Ghostly asked me to send them a treatment for the project. They were into the concept so I started creating storyboards and figuring out how all the layering was going to work. The quickest sections to shoot were the live action with Nicole [Lively] and the city elements.
 
The most hours I put in were for post production and layering. A lot of late nights were spent editing and scanning. There's actually a lot of footage that never made it into the final piece. The guys at Ghostly were super patient and supportive while I was locked away editing. This was more of an experimental piece for me. I was afforded time that I wouldn't normally have to tinker with different things.
 
 
 
Q: What was the process of creating the layers? 
 
A: The treatment and boards called for a lot of layering. It's something I've been obsessed with for a while, laying heaps of images on top of each other to create a new image. Almost like fitting puzzle pieces together. You have to make each image reveal another or overlay each other in order to reveal the full image. Also, each has to be complimentary and not distracting, or it feels like it doesn't fit.
 
The end count for all the layers was something like 800. There were 5 passes to get the different composite and overlay modes to be negative in one spot and positive in another. It was a challenge, because if I changed one layer it would have a ripple effect downward. There was a lot of fun experimentation. We shot everything with a Red One and a Canon 5D, so the actual footage editing took a bit. Lastly, everything was edited, colored and animated in After Effects.
 
I always make everything from scratch. If there's a film effect, that's either me shooting a bunch of 35mm film against a wall and animating it or scanning paper and animating it. It's all done in the studio. I try to stay away from "effect" plug-ins or anything pre-made. It's most rewarding when I put in the hours to make some texture and it fits right in the video. Something that I tend to obsess about is the grain and textures. Unfortunately, that can't really be seen on Vimeo or Pitchfork or YouTube. I spent a couple days editing in and rendering out grain textures until it looked how I wanted. You might see some of the specks in the final video on Vimeo.
 
The liquid effect took a while because I was fitting it with the song. There were a lot of takes and overlay tests until I finally found what worked. It's really easy to have stuff like that look cheesy or like stock footage. So I kept messing with it until I got sections that fit the video. I have a bunch of glass frames that I sandwich stuff into, then I light them in different ways. I also have a couple of fish tanks. It's interesting while I'm filming it, but clean up at the studio is always a mess! I still feel like there is vegetable oil on the floor.
 
 
Charles Bergquist. Photo by Josh McWilliams.
 
Q: You often combine photos or footage of a distinct style (the minimal fashion-style footage of "Slowdance," the retro summertime footage in "Liquid Tunnel") with abstract, translucent layers and bursts of light and color to create a work that is more a mood than a narrative. 
 
A: When it comes to music I don't tend to think narratively. I think of imagery, tied to a feeling of what the song is. To me, music creates imagery more than it does a story. Design is a big part of what I like, so whatever it may be, I'm always focused on the image or the photography first and foremost. The feeling comes through that.
 

A thank you note from the director:
 
From the first emails with Ghostly and Matthew Dear, I was truly excited to work on this. I want to thank everyone who helped me on this project: Mark Shonka (co-DP), Nicole Lively (model), Chantall Northrup (make up), Katrina Adair (stylist), Andy Martin (PA) and Tommy McAdams (PA). And all the guys at Ghostly: Jeff Owens, Danny Scales, Sam Valenti and Matthew Dear.


Tags: music, film, music video

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