Director: Benjael Halfmaderholz




Director: Benjael Halfmaderholz

Artist: Temples

Video: Mesmerise

Production Company: www.hylas-film.com





How were you approached for the job?

Jeff Barrett from Heavenly Recordings contacted us via email. He had seen some of our work online.


What inspired you on your idea for the video?

First of all the band´s sound. Apart from that, I always like connecting with the boys from Hylas. We share experiences and things that influence us. Such as film, art and travelling. Alot of this shared energy goes into our work.


Tell us about the production process?

It was 3 weeks of production, including weekends. A lot of the sets were created while we were shooting.


What were the limitations you faced with the production?


Time was the big pressure point. We originally were going to have the hero of the video, the ‘floating pyramid’ animated as a model in stop motion. But the time constrains on us lead to it being 3D animated.


What was the turnaround?

One week of conceptual work, 18 days of Shooting and 4 days of post-production. The processes were overlapping, which is not unusual with stop motion animation.


Who were your key collaborators?

I worked with my home crew from Hylas Film. A small team of five, that united in Berlin. The members are: Michael Amstad, Philipp Halfmann, Volker Langholz, Dominik Mader and Benajmin Lützow.


Have you worked with any of them before?

Oh yes, a lot.


How did you all meet?

At the time I was working on a Norwegian ship. We had a day off in Hamburg, when I met this circle of five in a drinking hole close to Reeperbahn. That night became a foray of lucid Inspiration. Naturally it didn't take long for us to meet again and start Hylas.


Do the members all have specific skills?

I consider them alchemists. They know how to transform things depending on their needs. In stop motion this quality comes in as a major advantage.


What did you shoot on? What lenses did you use?

Canon 550d with the standard zoom lense and a couple of old analogue photo lenses.


Where did the production take place?

It´s an old Berlin coal cellar, that is used as the workshop and studio for all the stop motion projects of Hylas, including the mystery series ‘Circus’.


There was a 'Holy Mountain' reference in the video, are there any other influences from any other films in the video?

Not sure I would call it a reference. We love the film´s look and figured it catches the vibe of the song. So we wanted to recreate a similar feel.
The same goes for all the other elements. Working in a team this intense means that there are alot of antennas absorbing everything from movies, comics, videogames, but also personal experiences and dreams.


How involved were the band and label?

The band wanted to be puppets in the video originally. So we pitched the idea of the giant heads and they liked it. Once we came up with the treatment, they trusted us in realising it our way and we were pretty free to go into production.

If you had a chance to approach it again, what would you do differently?
Under these circumstances I couldn´t make too much differently. But given more time, I would have loved to reshoot a couple of shots. But I know that this is a sickness of the creator´s eye.
















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