Előd Marosvölgyi won in the Best Hip-Hop Video category in the 8th season with his song "Cigerette". We consider his work to be unique, but judge for yourself. We also had the opportunity to meet Előd in person at our outdoor summer screening ceremony, where we presented the award. He will reveal more about himself directly.
"Many times I start the process with a scene in my head or a picture, thinking how nice it would be to make up a story to go with that picture. I have many such images in my mind. And then when an opportunity comes along and one of those ideas can be the „skeleton” for the whole music video. In the Cigarette music video this idea was inspired by the worn, old elevator elevator, where police officers stand in neon light. I’ve been in lot of old, industrial lifts, this idea has been in my head for years" revealed Elod.
HOW DO YOU HANDLE TECHNICAL CHALLENGES IN SHOOTING AND EDITING MUSIC VIDEOS?
With openness and respect. I am open and calm when we are given new challenges. In Cigarette I was an actor too and one of the hardest parts of the shoot was directing myself. It wasn’t easy when the power source was 200 meters further away, then we planned at first. This is not a negligible factor we had to re-plan the lighting and the power supply on set. We ended up lighting for 4 hours instead of the planned 2 hours. I don’t do editing, I leave that to the professionals, but I’m there. I’m thorough, so we always have enough raw footage, so far I’ve only encountered challenges on set.
WHAT IS YOUR APPROACH TO SELECTING LOCATIONS AND SETTINGS FOR SHOOTING MUSIC VIDEOS, AND HOW DOES IT CONTRIBUTE TO THE OVERALL ATMOSPHERE OF THE VIDEO?
I worked on concept music videos and narrative/storytelling videos too, these genres have specific frames. I’m in love with the close-up shots. In all cases, I always keep in mind that the frames, the atmosphere, camera movement must be consistent with the emotion I want to convey and serve the story. For example if I want to show sense of emptiness or simplicity, I don’t clutter the interior with furnitures or accessories, I go for minimalism (etc.). The same goes for costumes, props. I pay special attention to the set. After all, I started making music videos because of the production design part.
HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE YOUR PRIORITIES? DO YOU PRIORITIZE IMPROVING TECHNICAL QUALITY OVER TRAVELING TO DISTANT LOCATIONS, OR DO YOU PREFER INVESTING IN QUALITY ACTORS? WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER MOST IMPORTANT IN YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS, AND IN WHICH ASPECT DO YOU DEVOTE THE LEAST ATTENTION?
I pay most attention to the set and the visuals. That’s what I do best, that’s where I find my joy. I would like the viewers/audience to travel with the music for few minutes and let it take them away. The aim is to forget the „outside world” in these moments. But I am even willing to give up the ideal set to work with my amazing team. Marcell Angler (production manager) and Nimród Nyúl (cinematographer) are wonderful people, they are professionals in their field. I put also out emphasis on the actors, I have had the chance to work with brilliant people, for example I have worked with Szabolcs Ruszina several times or last time with Mátyás Kós, who is also great when he’s on stage. It’s easy to do good work when you’re surrounded by people like them.
REVEAL MORE ABOUT INTERESTING AND HUMOROUS MOMENTS DURING THE FILMING OF THE MUSIC VIDEO "CIGARETTE."
We planned everything, we spent several hours lighting and we figured out the movement. One of the exciting moments of the clip was a blopper, which we incorporated into the final version. The clip is one 3 minutes long scene without any cuts. We rehearsed the whole thing several times, got to almost the end, we sit in the car. When we got there, we started praising each other for how well everything went, maybe even shaking hands, how „great we were” or something... then of of us called out that the trunk was open... I quickly jumped out, closed it and we drove off. The others had so much fun with this that we ended up deliberately leaving it open for the rest of the shoot, thus nuancing the brooding, uncaring Bambi’s character.
HOW DO YOU PERCEIVE AUDIOVISUAL FESTIVALS? IS THERE SOMETHING YOU HAVEN'T SEEN FROM THEM OR WOULD WELCOME IF INCLUDED IN THEIR WINNING PROGRAM?
It’s great that there are festivals for music videos! It helps a lot for the industry to meet new faces, talents and for a less popular clips to get audience. Awesome! I have to be honest, I am very happy with the EMVA. It’s a great honor to be part of it. In time, I hope there will be a Best Production Design category, as a visuals are an essential part of the music videos and often the Art Department is one of the biggest in the crew.
