Single-shot Music Video Turns Bridge into a Stage

Written by: Murray Suid

Beraat Gökkuş is a jack of many genres. A Turkish-born journalist by trade, his body of smartphone videos includes a docudrama (“The Lost Pen“), a fantasy (“Take a Breath“), and now a single-shot music video (“Sweat”). An interview with the director follows the movie.

Interview with Beraat Gökkuş

MobileMovieMaking: How did you connect with Joseph Langley?

Gökkuş: Joseph Langley is my close friend. He is an American painter, singer and song writer who lives in Paris. Once we were at D’Orsay Museum and he asked me if I could film him while he walked backwards. He said that he would use it for his song. When we did it with his camera, the images without a stabiliser were not good. So I told him I want to do it in a proper way. I said I have an idea. You find a girl who dances good and I will come back with my gimbal and my smartphone. We will do one long-take music video.

MobileMovieMaking: How did you come up with the concept of a single-shot music video set on a bridge?

Gökkuş: I just followed my feelings. The place, that bridge gave me that feeling. And Joseph, in his music video usually wears his headsets. So I imagined a man who puts on his headsets, starts to listen to Sweat and dances. And of course you can not find a better place than Paris as a background. For Olivia and Constantine I gave them a little story. I told them you are two tourists on the bridge who take pictures. When we are close you should be together, looking at the pictures that you took. Then Joseph comes and asks to dance with Olivia and then they dance. I also showed them where to start to dance and stop.

MobileMovieMaking: How did you choose that particular location?

Gökkuş: It’s Pont Royal, the nearest bridge to D’Orsay Museum. As I told we just left the Museum and went to nearest beautiful place around. When you film on the bridge you have chance to film the Seine River and her little ships. It’s beautiful.

MobileMovieMaking: Could you tell us about the couple on the bridge?

Gökkuş: Olivia Kdom is a great French painter and novelist. And as you see she dances great ! What she did was incredible because she dances there without hearing the music. And Constantine is her friend. Olivia is a friend of Joseph. When I said I need a beautiful woman who will dance with you, Joe called Olivia.

MobileMovieMaking: This looks like guerrilla filmmaking. Did you warn the people in the background that you were shooting a video?

Gökkuş: Yes, it is guerrilla filmmaking. The team consisted of me (the filmmaker), Joe (the singer), Olivia (the dancer), and Constantine (Olivia’s companion). We did not warn anybody. I was controlling the smartphone and gimbal so I said to myself: I can adapt to people’s movements. If they look at Joe, it’s normal because if you see a man in street who dances and sings probably you will look at him.

MobileMovieMaking: How did you work out the lip synching?

Gökkuş: That was easy. Joseph was listening to “Sweat” from his headsets. Passers-by heard nothing.

MobileMovieMaking: Were there any special challenges in shooting this in a single shot?

Gökkuş: No problems, but we did several retakes.

MobileMovieMaking: What gear did you use in addition to the iPhone?

Gökkuş: I used Osmo Mobile Gimbal.

MobileMovieMaking: If you were to shoot another music video this way, would you do anything different?

Gökkuş: It would depend on the song and the feeling. And of course where we shoot.

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The editors of MobileMovieMaking have chosen “Sweat” as the Mobile Movie of the Week.

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