Not many music videos will make your hand and jacket glow in the dark while going through a TSA checkpoint, unless your music video centers around people blacklight-lit twerking in florescent paint, in which case its actually pretty likely. Awkward airport experiences aside, director Ryan Staakes concept for "Sweat" by Major Lazer fits the song perfectly, and does a great job of capturing the energy of the music. We talked to Ryan about his relationship with Major Lazer and Diplo, toning down some sexiness in exchange for a more visually appealing video, and some of the controversy that has arisen since the videos release.
Doug: You have been working with Major Lazer and Diplo for some time now, how does that relationship work out at this point? Do they trust that you're going to be able to capture their style in video form and just let you do your thing, or are they more heavily involved with the process?
Ryan: Yes, we've been working together since Major Lazer was formed and I created visuals for their first tour. Since then I've been doing a mix of projects with both Major Lazer and Diplo, the most prominent being the music videos for Diplo's "Set It Off" and now Major Lazer's "Sweat." In all of these cases, the brief is incredibly open ended, and I'm given the creative freedom to explore some pretty new territory for myself and my crew. I've always enjoyed the graphic look of blacklight and fluorescent materials and wanted to explore a video that made heavy use of this method. Major Lazer seemed the perfect avenue.
Doug: What was it about using blacklight-lit dancers covered in florescent paint that you thought would fit best for this song?
Ryan: There's this weird almost alien quality to the early vocal and instrumental in the track, and I liked how blacklight and fluorescent paint/makeup has this inherently alien quality - everyday things just don't look at all like we're used to seeing in a normal visible light. It began with that connection, and then I began to recall these print ads of the Michael Jordan era, in which a black & white Jordan would be sweating orange sports drink. That idea of sweating fluorescent liquid seemed a perfect visual analogy for the track.
Doug: In your treatment for the video, things are a little bit more sexy, and it talks about the dancers being fully nude in the video - to the point where they would be completely blacked-out if not for the paint. Why did you guys ultimately decide to go with the more clothed approach?
Ryan: Yeah, the treatment was a bit overtly sexual and nude. I dialed it back for the final piece for multiple reasons. Namely, we began to realize in testing that the form of the body was hard to discern purely through a thin film of sweat. You see alot of definition from the body when you start to add clothing and accessories. Even something subtle like a bracelet or watch can do wonders to communicate the movement of an arm and hand. It's a bit similar to the principle on which motion capture suits/rigs are based, in which ping pong balls are placed at key joints, which communicate the position of the body.
TS Pfeffer, my DP on the project, had a subtle but critical addition to the UV lighting approach, in which we added gelled tungsten edge lights to to further pop the skin and emphasize the skin of the dancers
Doug: Things get pretty messy in this video, is the equipment ever at risk? How about the crew? Did you go home covered in glowing paint after shooting this video?
Ryan: Yes. It was a complete mess. We did our best to cover equipment with visqueen (drop cloth), had plenty of mops, towels and brooms on hand, and ensured the studio we were shooting at had a shower for talent. Despite our great care to stay clean, we still had to stay at the studio cleaning 4-5 hours after the shoot was wrapped. All of the equipment was thoroughly cleaned, so that only minor smudges would show under strong UV light. I thought I'd cleaned my clothing of blacklight paint until I was flying back east and the TSA agent at security used his UV flashlight to check the watermark on my ID. Clean under normal light, the UV light caused splatters of liquid burst to life under on the sleeve of my jacket and a bit on my hand. Awkward.
Doug: There is another video, "#SWEAT" by Chilldren, that is visually similar to this video. Some people have gone as far as to accuse you guys of stealing the idea. As far as you know, was it all just some really unlikely coincidence?
Ryan: Yes, thanks for bringing this up. I became aware of this via Twitter literally the day of the Major Lazer "Sweat" release. It is 100% false, I'd never seen the Chilldren video before, and ontop of that, I would never, ever think of stealing from someone else's work. I strongly value everyone's ownership of their own original ideas. Furthermore, I delivered my "Sweat" treatment to Major Lazer way back on March 3, 2013, and Chilldren's video was released on June 5, 2013. So I'd come up with my idea a full 4 months before their's was even out. Both songs in question having the same title is an extra bizarre coincidence, but stranger things have happened. I see where they were coming from, but the accusations are simply incorrect. I've published a detailed statement on the situation here.
Ryan's email to Major Lazer's management with his treatment for the video.
