Beeeeen Steiger Levine and his Beast
Ben Steiger Levine creates a buzz from his latest music video for acclaimed indie band, Beast. Produced by Montreal-based NuFilms, Levine delivers a swarm of stunning visuals and cinematic charms.
View Mr. Hurricane HERE
So Mr. Levine:
Why the bees?
“Not the bees” – there is a particularly funny clip on youtube of Nicolas Cage that was rather inspirational. Really though, bees were part of the band’s image, so I felt I should do something with bees. I knew it would be a challenge and a cool platform for creating something unique. The lyrics and title of the track Mr. Hurricane inspired the idea of a bee-man.
What were some key production hurdles?
The right location was absolutely key. We found a fantastic abandoned house, thanks to the DP who had shot a small project there before. Getting the wax everywhere was fun. The production designer was sticky for a week and did a great job of dressing the place. She brought in all the furniture and accessories as well. We went to an apiary and got real sheets of used bees wax. We really got in there with swarms of bees to recuperate the sheets of wax. I was surprised at how chill the bees actually were. You could brush them off things/props as long as you stayed calm. That sight was very beneficial for me, it helped gauge the overall vibe of the piece, something we would later aim for in post. The band was great. The Crew was great. The hurdles really came in post-production.
What was your over all focus in this project?
I think tone and rhythm. The track is beat oriented but visually I wanted to balance this with slow, lyrical camera movements. Of course technically a lot of work went into the postproduction, but I think everyone artistically involved on the project wanted the universe we were creating to feel very cohesive. Nothing should stand out. The floating camera work, the set design, the almost ghostlike way the band inhabits the space, and the strange bee-man who discovers his humanity. It should all feel very natural.
How was the post-production process?
Postproduction was insane. Hats off to Josh Sherett who pretty much brought the bee-man to life single-handedly. We jumped in there knowing it would be a little monstrous for one man, but we acted kind of blind because we were both excited to tackle the project. I think the biggest hurdle was getting cool simulations with realistic render times. Sach, at Nufilms who produced the video in Montreal was really great support, always patient and understanding.
On set I had a great actor friend of mine clomp around the house in black lycra clothing (mostly woman’s exercise garments) with little bits of tape stuck to him. He was mad and verbally abused me, but then again, I made him wear woman’s undergarments for 12 hours. In post, we replaced our poor-man’s motion capture suit with a 3D model and covered the model in bees.
At the end of the day, I really like things to feel cinematic, so I hope the bee-man feels more like a lost soul rather then a pile of cool effects.
View Ben Steiger Levine’s REEL HERE
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