Playlist: Vedran Rupic

What’s the best promo you’ve seen recently and why?

I remember watching Justice - Stress by Romain Gavras and I was shook and impressed at the same time. 

That video ties so well to the song. It feels like a score. It's pretty far away from the things I do, but it's just undeniably great.

What’s the first promo you remember being impressed by?

I think it would be the Jonathan Glazer one for Levi's Engineered Jeans: Odyssey where they run through walls. 

That whole era feels like a golden age of great commercials and videos. It just feels like simpler times, I see huge budgets, great creative freedom, no pre-testing of ideas and no focus groups. But then again, I have no idea, I'm just guessing. 

And what’s your all-time favourite music video?

This one is hard to answers since there are so many. But Hot Chip – I Feel Better by Peter Serafinowicz is definitely up there. It just has a very creative sequence of events that unfold. I like when there is an unpredictable yet logical chain of events in videos.

What other directors/artists do you look to for inspiration?

Andreas Nilsson, Tom Kuntz, Megaforce, DANIELS, Traktor, Tim and Eric. These would be the folks that dominate my inspiration folder. I think the common ground between these would be that there is a certain level of playfulness that really inspires me to create stuff. I don't think I'd be making films if these people didn't pave the way with their films.

What are you listening to at the moment?

I’m listening to the Mindhunter series soundtrack by Jason Hill. I'm really obsessed with it. It's really good. The whole thing is pretty eerie and minimalistic. It makes me want to shoot something in a longer format, maybe even a different genre. Like a thriller. 

What’s your favorite bit of tech, whether for professional or personal use?

I'd have to say noise-cancelling headphones, both for work and when I'm just chilling. It's basically magic. It's just such a shame that it looks so silly when grown men wear these huge headphones in public. I still do it, but it would be better if that wasn't a thing. 

What artist(s) would you most like to work with and why?

I hope to work with Eric Wareheim one day. A collab maybe. Or if he'd like to be in front of the camera for one of my things. I think when it comes to humour, he does it so well. 

And musicians, beside the ones that I'm so fortunate to work with: Kanye. 

How do you feel the promo industry has changed since you started in it?

I feel like I'm just starting in it. But I do feel there is a change coming. In Scandinavia, we have had a period of moody, collage-like films. Beautifully shot, handheld and always brought home with a strong tagline. Very Terrence Malick-like (post-Badlands Malick). 

That era seems to be fading and I think we are sliding towards more classical narrative structures again.