Ask the Director: Gabriel Hyden

You are a musician, as well as a photographer yourself, in how far does that help you as a director? What can you take from that?

Engaging with multiple art forms always seemed natural to me. I never woke up and decided to be an artist within a certain field. I guess you don't think of becoming an artist as a profession when you start. Music is just something I like to do, and it sometimes makes me wonder what kind of different characters I am for an audience on and off stage, that's always a funny thing to reflect on, being rather introverted myself.

Photography on the other hand is pure magic silence. Looking at places and people in all different kind of moods and situations is the best teacher for any director. The best way to learn it, is with a photo camera.

There are thousands of analogies between the arts and how arts help you to achieve certain things, but actually it rather helps you to look from a different perspective.

How do you see a music video to its music?

I think we need to press a refresh button on how we make and consume music videos. In the past I would've said, I needed to fit the vibe of the film to its music. Although the video was nothing special, in the end it did fit the music and created a vibe, therefore a scene, therefore a culture....

Nowadays there's interesting stuff, but we are all doing the same thing over and over again (also because bands and labels request that) and we end up with the same kind of music videos to musically quite diverse bands. It's a cultural phenomenon in general: Everything is normed to "cool". It's hard to have people stare at 4 minutes and we shouldn't waste their time with a commercial for a Band-Corporate-Identity anymore. 

I took some time off making music videos this year, but I guess I figured out a new way of doing them for me and I'm looking forward to working in that new way.

What role does natural light bring to your work? What is it that fascinates you with it?

It's the love of my life. It takes patience, a lot of scouting and sometimes a lot of nerve but it's always worth it. Like Edward Hopper says: "If I could say it with words there would be no reason to paint."

How do you start your creative process and what tools do you use?

I'm mostly inspired by single scenes from movies and then i start to paint around them in my head. For my latest project I took a scene from Paul Thomas Andersons "The Master" and wondered how I could get this vibe in Austria. Then I mostly scout for days. It's quite relaxing driving around unknown areas and forbidden roads to look out for locations. It's the calm before the storm. Stories pop up in your head and you try to pin them down to what you have found and thought of. The dots start to connect and if you're naive enough to believe your sanity, you write it down, scene by scene.

I guess we've all done things for money we wish we wouldn't have done and we all wish we would've done things for nothing we didn't do after all. 

Is there a different approach between doing music videos vs. doing commercials?

Music videos are a lot more work for a lot less money. The approach is really up to the project though, I guess we've all done things for money we wish we wouldn't have done and we all wish we would've done things for nothing we didn't do after all. 

What do you need to get a perfect or close to perfect picture? Does a big budget help for a perfect image?

It can be perfect at a moment, when you see it for the first time and it unleashes everything it has at you. The more often you look at it the more it loses its power. For me, a good picture has a lot of secrets in it. Maybe people in the distance escaping routes, things you'd only see if you look at it one more time and therefore demystify it. So I guess the perfect picture is more of a feeling than an actual picture. Also, I don't think you can really measure a good picture budget-wise, but it definitely helps if you think running a Porsche into a wall might come close to a perfect picture.

Is there such a thing as freedom in film?

Last month, getting up at 4 AM to get the last breeze of late summer, on a field at 6 AM to get a wonderful shot, and then watch the sunrise definitely came close to a feeling of freedom.

What makes a good collaboration?

The understanding that both sides love what they do.

Role models?

Paul Thomas Anderson, Luca Guadagnino, Matisse, Helmut Newton, Schlingensief... too many I guess. It also changes. I'm easily inspired by people. This is good and bad, haha.

Advice to your 20 years old self?

Get an apartment with a view.

Tips for aspiring filmmakers?

Don't fall into the capitalist TechHole of Youtube. The gear you have is more than enough. 

Any guilty pleasure tv shows/ movies?

Goddamn Mrs. Maisel (I love you Mrs. Maisel).

Spirit animal?

I can't think of one now, but I'm going to make this the search of my lifetime. Thanks for the push.

Cool instagram accounts?

https://www.instagram.com/brudi_karrell/