we are the dead: backstage videos

I worked for a long time on this series and it pushed me to try so many new things, that I thought it would be interesting to film the shooting process. I had no fancy crew to help me out, I just pushed the record button on my old camera and let it do its thing. I didn’t even use a tripod at first. The video quality is rather poor, but it is the best I could do and I tried my best at editing too.

This post is going to be updated with the release of each video. You can also subscribe to my YouTube channel to stay updated. You can also check the speed edit videos I made. Enjoy!

making of “bb”

This is the first image in the series and it was also the first one that we shot. It was the the most demanding to set up, as we had to attach all those strings to the set walls. I hadn’t realized how much time consuming it would be. We ended up attaching the strings for hours. Then we wrapped my model Stathis in yarn and I quickly took just a couple of shots and we were done! I have to say, Stathis has won my eternal appreciation for enduring all that torture I put him through, not once complaining! It is a gift to be able to work with people like him.

making of “doublethink”

This one called for all of the participating models having their heads wrapped in yarn, so Kiki and I started wrapping them one by one. This took a while and I have to once again admire how patient they all were! This was a long exposure shot, so I had tested my settings and the models’ positions and movements beforehand, to avoid torturing them longer than needed.

making of “ownlife”

The objective here was to get a shot of Stathis’ reflection in the mirror, while I was standing right behind him. Of course that wouldn’t work, but I was stubborn enough to try (twice) until I finally decided this would be a composite.

making of “doubleplusungood”

This was going to be a composite for safety reasons, so first I photographed the couple holding the umbrella and then we lit the umbrella on fire!

making of “thinkpol”

This is a picture that I had envisioned somewhat differently in the beginning. However, the technical aspects of my initial plan proved too hard, so I made room for some changes.

Backstage fun

This project took a lot of hard work. Nothing would have been possible however, without these lovely people that came to help out and made things so easy and fun! You are the best team! Thank you!