New Directors: Oleg Trofim

“Everything was sudden and unexpected,” says Oleg Trofim, on how he ended up directing a video for Russian rap talent L’One. “The job came through the Black Star Inc. music label, which is the biggest for urban artists in Russia.”

Honing in on Moscow’s gritty urban street scene, the promo takes the viewer on an abrupt tour of the city via architecture and extras scattered about the various locations. The video is dominated by the presence of L’One and animated effects from Bristol-based artist, ruffmercy.

“I tried to play with the many faces of Moscow,” explains Trofim. “Soviet constructivism, industrial forms, the lack of any glamour, the vast corridors of the streets covered in graffiti. This kind of Moscow exists in many parts, which is why we shot in many different locations, from unimaginable heights and the trunks of cars, fighting against the infamous traffic most of the time.”

Despite being a fresh addition to the books at Moscow-based Hype Production, Trofim can clearly hold his own on set, judging by the results but he insists on shifting the praise for his raw and unapologetic promo to his collaborators and crew.

“The DP on this project, Michael Hasaya – this was our first collaboration – is one of the most important people on our team,” states the director. “We achieved what we did largely thanks to his sense of style and vision. It was his suggestion to shoot the whole thing on 16mm film, which worked beautifully with our concept.”

The idea was developed with L’One, a popular rap star in Russia, and was created with inspiration and support from Nike, who wanted to promote a local cage football competition.

“We spent a lot of time with L’One, discussing the story, our childhoods, playing in the cages as kids and what we felt at the time,” adds Trofim, who took a shine to film at the age of 17 after being exposed to the work of Michel Gondry and Chris Cunningham.

Coming from a musical family, it was inevitable that he’d end up bridging the two forms of expression. “I realised that to be involved in music I didn’t necessarily need to play an instrument or sing. I’m making music when I direct music videos; I love being together with the track and increasing its potential.”

ruffmercy’s many contributions to the music industry have seen him add his distinctive animations to videos for artists such as Lily Allen, Pusha T and Disclosure, and the animator clearly stamped his signature style on Trofim’s film, much to the delight of the director.

“I needed to control the overall flow and direction of the project,” he muses. “However, there are absolutely no rules in the genre that ruffmercy works in – style and form are what matter. He had the freedom to do whatever he wanted. We mostly discussed pivotal moments and then I just let him do his thing.”

As for Trofim, having successfully served up a slice of real Russia with Korobka, he’s just happy to be at Hype. “A year ago, I couldn’t even imagine being amongst these guys. I’m 100 per cent certain that this is the best possible place to be for me,” he concludes, before revealing that he’s currently nurturing an idea for a feature project – about music, obviously.