Bark — Home

‘A young girl breaks free from her faceless abuser and discovers how empowering freedom can be in this music video for “Bark”’.

The Genesis

My best friend Arseniy, who is the director of photography and co-writer of this music video, was referred by the actress to the artists (they know each other from a previous project), and then he in turn recommended me as the producer and director for the project. Because this is BARK’s first album, I hadn’t heard of them, but after they showed me some of the tracks I fell in love with their music and was sold.

It was a very collaborative effort. Arseniy (the director of photography) and I tried our best to understand the style that the artists wanted, and then we both came up with the concept together. When we pitched it to the artists, they loved it, so we just kept working on it, figuring out the shots that we wanted to capture, etc.

On Visual Style

I guess I would consider my style in most of my work to be very surreal. I like to come up with concepts that combine the raw beauty of nature, and very realistic locations (like the dirt road that we found was not “perfect” or “beautiful” in the sense that there was trash lying around, and I’m pretty sure that’s where people go to deal drugs or hide bodies), and then add an element to it that makes it not ordinary — like a girl being dragged by a Porsche. I really enjoy doing music videos (as opposed to films — although I love shooting movies too) because the best music videos are highly symbolic — everything is built from one powerful concept. I love the progression to be slow, building up tension, so that when it becomes explosive in the end, it’s very emotional. I think my style comes from my fascination with a literary genre that we call “fantastique” in French, which I guess is like magic realism…? But I think I’m also influenced by the artists whose work I am most drawn to. For example, my favorite photographer is Gregory Crewdson. His photography is very dark and poetic, but kind of uncomfortable — mixing very real settings with very disturbing and bizarre components, making the final product very dreamlike. For this video, I was also very influenced by the pacing of Terrence Malick’s movies, and his expertise in shooting magic hour, as well as Emmanuel Lubezki’s smooth cinematic style. We’d probably have to dig deeper into my mind though to find out why exactly I’m so attracted to this vibe… but I think in the end, I like putting beautiful but haunting or out of the ordinary elements in my work because I think it really leaves a mark on the viewer’s subconscious.

On Improvisation

This shoot was actually a lot of last-minute improvisation! We were actually hired to do another video for another track (which is out now you youtube, if you go to the band’s website, http://bark.mu you can check it out), but the day before, we had a huge logistical problem. However, we already had the camera, so we just figured, why not take advantage of it and just shoot a second video for another track? So we brainstormed that night, working with what we had (an actress, a Porsche, some rope, and the camera) then drove out to Rockaway Beach, found a dirt road, shot at sunset that night, pulled an all-nighter planning shots for the next day, then went back to shoot the sunrise. These circumstances — the fact that we had to think fast and that it was all very much unplanned — but that it all turned out so amazing in the end — makes me feel like it’s the kind of shoot that I will always remember. My heart was pounding that whole weekend, and that rush felt really amazing.

NYC Hustle

We just won our first festival with the music video! (Hollywood International Moving Picture Film Festival) I love being a filmmaker in NYC. You really have to hustle, you have to love being productive, and be a go-getter — otherwise you won’t make it. It’s very competitive and you don’t get much sleep, but it’s very rewarding in the end.

Words by Panita Chanrasmi-Lefebvre

To View more of Panita’s work visit her website.

Credits

Bark is Alexey Artemov & Alessio Casalini (http://bark.mu)

Directed & Produced by Panita Chanrasmi-Lefebvre

Cinematography by Arseniy Grobovnikov

Starring Veronica Nolte