Today we had the special privilege of being able to chat with writer / director Måns Nyman  about his involvement on the Eating Hooks music video by Moderat. Before we jump into the interview, let’s first take a moment and watch the video:

First of all, thanks for taking the time to chat with us today Måns. You have an incredible portfolio of work and I’m excited to explore this particular video with you in more detail. However, before we jump in, can you just take a moment and tell us a little bit more about how you came into filmmaking in the first place. What was it that drew you in and never let you go?

Thank you as well.

I actually started out as a DJ in the rave and club scene, but quickly became just as interested in the visual side of things – light, form, mood, and repetition. What drew me in was how different images could change in meaning depending on how they were combined – especially in relation to music. I spent years experimenting with projected visuals for clubs and concerts. Much of that material was based on short loops of filmed footage layered with graphics, creating endless variations.

That way of thinking – building in layers and rhythm – still defines how I work today.

Let’s take a moment and talk a bit more about the Moderate video in more detail. One of the things that really stands out to me is that this video might be considered a variation of a dance video. There is a heavy focus on body movement here. However, it’s more stylized and edited compared to a more traditional dance video like you’ve done, for example with [ingenting]´s song ‘(inte)Hem’). From a production standpoint how much harder is creating a video, like the Moderat video, compared to a more traditional dance video (see below)?

It’s harder in a different way. A more traditional dance video lets you lean on bigger sets or multiple environments that can distract or energize the viewer but I don’t really think that applies to the [ingenting] video tough. In Moderats case, everything relied on the details – the movement, the costume, the physical presence – which required more precision in the camera work. We wanted to create a sense of weightlessness, even though Rauf Yasit was clearly on the ground. His movement language is unique. He can twist his body into almost impossible angles and I wanted to capture that in a way that made the viewer unsure of what’s up and down.

That’s why we worked in a studio lit to be either endlessly white or endlessly black, to disorient the spatial sense. I wanted to capture a sense of isolation in Rauf’s performance – a kind of mental space, where he breaks out of his costume, his mask, and reaches outward. Rauf choreographed himself, but we worked through different emotional modes: hiding – literally under fabric and masks – and then moving toward openness through larger gestures.

I enjoy shooting in a studio because it’s relaxed, and you can get through a lot of setups in a day without moving locations. But the studio wasn’t actually that big, so I had to digitally extend the space afterward. Working with a monochromatic background made that easier, but it was also a conscious choice. Inspired by environments like the ones in THX 1138, I found the endless white to be claustrophobic in its own way. Like space or the open sea – sometimes more isolating than a small room. And since we used so many close-ups, makeup and costume had to hold up under scrutiny – which isn’t always the case in my work, but here it felt necessary. Sóley Ástudóttir did a fantastic job on the makeup.

From a production standpoint one thing I love about this video is how you’ve focused on doing more with less. In terms of total visual elements, there are not many that you’re working with here. Your shooting against a white background, but everything else that makes it onto the screen is so well thought out and choreographed. Everything from the fabrics, the textures, colors, the symbol and shape overlay effects, the movement, the makeup and so on. Was this a bit of an experiment to try to do more with less?

Both yes and no. I think it ties back to how I started working visually – with loops, limited elements, and repetition. I still find it exciting to work with just a few components and dig deeper into what’s already there, instead of constantly adding more. That said, I often use a kind of structure when I pitch music video concepts: always save something for the final act – some kind of shift or redefinition of the concept. You can’t milk the same idea the whole way through without offering something new at the end.

From start to finish how long did it take you to conceptualize, shoot and edit this video?

It went pretty quickly in practical terms, but the process started long before the actual shoot. I had been talking with Honza Taffelt from Pfadfinderei (Moderat’s creative agency) about doing something together for years, and when they were commissioned to produce the video for Eating Hooks, everything fell into place.

By then, I had already done several dance videos, and Pfadfinderei were already handling Moderat’s visual identity, through stage graphics and projections, so there was a natural connection. From the time I got the job, it took about a month of concept development and planning. The shoot itself took two days, including rehearsals and setup. Post-production lasted around two weeks. I tried several different structures – first a linear version, and then one where everything was broken up. The final idea really came together during the edit.

Has a technical limitation or accident ever led to a creative breakthrough that defined the aesthetic of a music video?

Absolutely, many times. I think creativity in many cases is just happy accidents that you allow to happen. In this case (Moderat), not so much, but I clearly remember a video I made with Veronica Maggio and Håkan Hellström where that happened. The concept was about a relationship inside a burning house, where both people ignore the fire threatening to consume them. The video was supposed to include many more fire and smoke scenes, but due to various production setbacks, we only managed to shoot about half the planned setups. That forced me to completely change the edit rhythm and reuse shots and variations of takes – which ended up defining the visual language of the whole piece. And it’s actually an approach that’s stuck with me in many projects since.

When working with artists who are known for minimal stage presence like Moderat, how do you capture their essence without relying on performance footage?

I find it interesting not to always have the artist front and center, but instead to find something that reflects the emotion of the music. In Moderat’s case, they already had a strong visual identity via Pfadfinderei, and we quickly agreed that the band wouldn’t appear in the video.

So I focused on creating a world that could carry the song’s emotional weight.

I interpreted it as a need to break out of one’s shell and face the world honestly and with open arms – a story about a man who has lived hidden or masked as someone he no longer wants to be. Themes of isolation and detachment – which are recurring in my work.

Can you tell us a little bit more about how you achieved the overlay visual effects on the video? Also, can you tell us a little bit more about the idea to use those overlay effects? (as a sidenote, do you have any behind the scenes photos that show how this looked before it has gone through the editing process)?

All the overlay effects were created by Honza Taffelt from Pfadfinderei. From the beginning, we had a shared idea of combining Pfadfinderei’s graphic language with my live-action footage, blending animation and real-world elements in the same space.
The animated symbols, to me, reinforce the sense of space and isolation, but also add a layer of mysticism and timelessness to the character – especially in the early part of the video before he emerges from his shell. It became almost like a visual code for something internal, something unspoken.

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Filmmakers always want to know, so I have to ask – what camera did you shoot with and what lenses did you use for this video? Why did you select that camera as your camera of choice? If you had to reshoot this music video today, would you make the same decision, or use a different camera setup?

We used DOP Max Larsson’s personal RED camera (I don’t remember the exact lenses), but it’s a setup we’ve used before, and it worked well for the kind of lighting and movement we were going for. To create that weightless, disorienting feeling -where you’re unsure which way is up, I used a Mini Scorpio rotating camera head. It added a kind of floating, bodily instability that I felt fit the theme perfectly.

Here’s a short behind-the-scenes video:

If you could go back in time and give a younger version of yourself three pieces of advice about being a writing / director, what would those three pieces of advice be?

1. Only do what feels honest and comes from within.
2. Perfection is impossible.
3. Learn to value your work

Thanks for joining us today Måns. We’re thrilled and thankful to have had the opportunity to dive deeper into your creative process. Thank you for being open and sharing all of this with us today. To our audience, if you’d like to learn more about Måns and see a more comprehensive portfolio of his work, be sure to head over to his website here (www.mansnyman.com).