Timothy Saccenti Interview
So today’s the day! Some of you may remember my posts about Timothy Saccenti’s video work a few weeks back (here and here).
Sure enough, guess who it turns out reads the blog and agreed to do an email interview about his work? (Hint: The post title gives it away.) Psyched? Me too.
First, for the uninitiated, a little background info:
Timothy Saccenti has been taking photographs since the age of 16. His first batch of photos, experiments in the darkroom with light, were strong enough to earn him admittance to the School of Visual Arts. After moving to New York City in the mid nineties he had the opportunity to work with many great artists and travel the world learning his technique, being featured in art shows and magazines along the way. In 2002, Timothy Saccenti Photography officially began with an idea of creating sophisticated, thoroughly modern portraits. Acclaimed underground art magazine REFILL gushed recently “His crisp, color saturated compositions are marked by stark simplicity that’s unnervingly real…his meticulous, minimalist style has proven to be uncannily effective.” With a combination of sets, art direction, and lighting he creates a unique universe for each of his subjects.
Recently his work has spread from portraits to fashion, still life, and moving images. He lives and works in New York City.
And now, the interview! Enjoy!
–How did you get started working in music videos?
I have been a still photographer creating artists portraits for magazines and album covers in New York city since around 2002. From working with those artists I was asked to create music videos, but I didn’t have any experience, I hadn’t ever even been on a film set. Over time I collaborated with friends who are great directors, Alan Bibbay, and Patrick O’brien amongst others, and learned the process of film making, that led to me directing my first music videos.
–What size crew do you usually work with?
As small as possible, it changes depending on the project needs, but every time you add an element to the idea that usually involves adding at least 2 more people to deal with it. For instance having the alien in this video added 4 people to crew, the alien actor, main special effects artist and his 2 assistants. In the end I believe we had about 20 people on that crew including the production assistants.
–Do you have a favorite camera/lighting package, or do you change it up depending on the concept?
We change it depending on the needs of the project. For the Battles “Atlas” video we used an Arri 20D, an incredible HD camera, because we were in the studio under very controlled situations, and we wanted a sharp and cold look. For the Peacebone video we wanted more of a semi-documentary style, not ultra-sharp, and wanted to mix the look up, so we shot 16mm film on a combination of bolex cameras and Arri 16mm cameras with prime lenses.
–Have you ever butted heads with a label over video content?
Not yet, no, I’ve been very lucky so far. The people who run Domino and Warp records are great at what they do and very much dedicated to creating high calibre visuals for their artists.
–Do you keep a pile of ideas that you draw from, or do you let each video concept come to you through repeated listens of the song?
I have notebooks that I fill with random concepts and to record dreams and such, which I will reference back to often. Also I and my collaborators have many interests outside of film(science, psychology,etc) so they are an influence, but the ideas for the videos always come from listening to the track and paying attention to what images come up. Serendipity often strikes during this process.
–Do you edit your own videos?
I’m part of the process, but I don’t edit them myself, there is a real art to editing that Ryan McKenna, my frequent collaborator, is very talented at. He edited the Peacebone and Atlas videos, as well as other projects we’ve work on together. Coming from a still photography background editing is the part of the film making process that I find most challenging.
–For the Animal Collective video, did you do the creature design or did you collaborate with an FX team?
Dopepope concept designed all the creatures, they were then special effect designed and fabricated by Monster In My Closet( a special effects house), Tom Hurlburt and Mark Szumski created the 3D special effects for the “FaceyFace” scene where the smaller alien comes out of the girls mouth, it was a very large collaboration.
–Finally: favorite music of all time? Or is it a toss-up between a few?
Sorry, I can’t pick just one. I have one favorite film though, “La Planete Sauvage” from Rene Laloux.
Many thanks to Timothy for his time and great answers!
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