Interview with Florian Christopher & Patrick Pichler / Berlin Music Video Awards 2024

Berlin Music Video Awards

Discover the interview with the winners of the "Best Director" category : Florian Christopher, Director, and Patrick Pichler, Director of photography for the music video "Kalte Liebe - Träume Ohne Wert".   Check the full music video "Kalte Liebe - Träume Ohne Wert":  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ky8oSrRI-A  Find more of their work on Instagram:  Kalte Liebe : https://www.instagram.com/kalteliebe65/ Florian Christopher : https://www.instagram.com/florianchristophr/ Patrick Pichler : https://www.instagram.com/patrick___pichler/  Credits :  Interview and edit by Sebastian Sheath and Yannick Solandt (unsigned Berlin): https://www.youtube.com/@unsignedberlin   Do you want to be part of the Berlin Music Video Awards as well? Submit your video here: https://www.berlinmva.com/submit/ We are now taking submissions.

Transcript

00:00Could you introduce yourselves, what are your names, where are you from?

00:18My name is Florian Christopher, I'm from Vienna.

00:22And this is?

00:23I'm Patrick Fischler, I'm from Carinthia originally.

00:29How long have you been living in Berlin?

00:32Almost 6 years now, actually.

00:35Same.

00:36Same.

00:37Also 6 years.

00:38And, what are you here for today?

00:43We just won Best Director for the music video Kalte Liebe, Träume ohne Wert, which is fucking

00:51amazing.

00:52How did you go to win?

00:53Best Director?

00:54I mean, yeah.

00:55Director of Photography.

00:56Yeah, yeah.

00:58Hey, nothing without this man over here.

01:01No, it feels amazing, obviously.

01:05We put so much work into this project and it was really like an up and down project,

01:12with a lot of ups and downs and a lot of emotions involved, a lot of blood, sweat and tears,

01:19I guess.

01:20And so now, you know, I get the feeling that it's some sort of rewarding.

01:25It feels pretty good.

01:28What were some of the challenges you faced while you were filming?

01:42I think the biggest challenge was that we had a location which was one and a half hours

01:49away from Berlin.

01:50We had a small budget and we had basically no electricity there.

01:56Maybe Patrick can tell you a little bit about how we did the whole thing, because, yeah,

02:02I think this was a pretty big challenge for us, right?

02:06Yeah, I mean, this guy called me and he was like, hey, let's shoot it on 35.

02:12He had some film rolls in his fridge.

02:16And yeah, I was super looking forward.

02:19I think we planned for a very high variety of different lights, whatever, to light all

02:26of the locations.

02:27But as soon as we've been there, the location was crazy.

02:31Huge industrial halls with super old windows, everything was diffused already.

02:36We hit the perfect day in the week.

02:39So it was like everything, the sun was right every single minute during the day.

02:46So we just had to help in close-ups or whatever, a little bit.

02:51But yeah, it was amazing, like good location scouting, I guess.

02:57Yeah.

02:58And there's a lot of people in the video as well, like a lot of actors.

03:00How did you cast it?

03:02So I mean, because we didn't have the biggest budget.

03:07And also, you know, shout out to Kalte Liebe, because they were so, so, so, so helpful with

03:11the casting process.

03:12You know, I casted some of my friends, actually.

03:16And then we also did a public, you know, casting basically shout out, you know, over Instagram

03:22and Kalte Liebe promoted it.

03:24And then so many people reached out.

03:27But I think because we were so specific with the looks, because everybody had a bus card,

03:32you know, it was very like this a little bit fucked up look in a way.

03:37A lot of people weren't right for the role.

03:39But, you know, these 10 people were perfect.

03:42Yeah.

03:43And...

03:44Fucked up enough.

03:45You're like, yeah, you could...

03:46Exactly.

03:47Exactly.

03:48Exactly.

03:49But yeah, it was pretty interesting because, you know, it wasn't like this normal casting

03:52process where you would go to an agent or a casting director and say, hey, I want this

03:57and this and this.

03:58And they cast people who, you know, they know have some experience in acting and experience

04:03in front of the camera.

04:05It was basically just fans from Kalte Liebe.

04:08They were amazing.

04:09I mean, they did such an amazing job and we were a really, really good team on set and

04:14everybody, you know, was really in it, in it together.

04:18So yeah, it was a wonderful experience with them.

04:27How long did it take from the first day with the camera to the end of the end product?

04:34Both.

04:35I think around one month, about.

04:39Yeah, yeah.

04:40About one month.

04:41Yeah.

04:42It's some pretty heavy topics.

04:43It's about addiction and consumption.

04:45Did working with that so intensely for a month change your relationship with those topics?

04:51I mean, I guess.

04:52And I already told you that before, you know, I think especially in the music video business,

04:57it's a heavy topic and that's, you know, that's the whole story.

05:00And that's what we wanted to tell.

05:03And I mean, I told you already as well, like I got the concept from a friend of mine who

05:07was in a clinic, you know, and was experiencing all those, yeah, all those, you know, basically

05:16cold turkey, getting away from drugs.

05:20But I also think, you know, we as filmmakers and especially for music videos, we're not

05:26here to lecture, you know, because at the end of the day, it's also a piece that is

05:31entertainment, you know, it's part of entertainment.

05:33So, you know, I think the best what we can do is, you know, make a film that is close

05:38to our hearts and close to the experiences of the person or the friend of mine in this

05:44case.

05:45And but I don't want to, you know, put out the music video and then be, hey, you have

05:50to live like this or this is something that you shouldn't do or should do.

05:55You know, it's everybody has their own life.

05:58And I don't want to be a lecturer in this case and say, hey, this is the way to go and

06:04this is the way to live.

06:06And yeah, at the end of the day, again, it's a music video, it's entertainment, but it's

06:11also, you know, a good opportunity to bring those stories and bring those cases into a

06:19film and tell a story, you know, but I'm not the one who is who is a lecturer in this

06:24case. Do you want to add anything?

06:26Yeah, I mean, it was Florian and my first project together, and like he told me about

06:34the topic, found like super interesting, whatever.

06:37And then like actually filming people, like having some pretty crazy shots, I have to

06:43say, like which are very where people are outgoing.

06:46I have to say it was crazy, like in such a long time that like I mostly do commercials,

06:53whatever. Right. But like I have to say that these people who came from the band or

06:57whatever, like they were performing like crazy, like so good, all of these emotions,

07:02whatever. So it was like and then like, yeah, shooting like this really in your face type

07:07of shots in the toilets and whatever.

07:09It's like, OK, yeah, yeah, it's good.

07:23Are there any shots you're particularly proud of?

07:31Again, sorry. Are there any shots you're particularly proud of?

07:34I think my favorite one must be the intro shot of the room, because, yeah, like

07:41everything played so nicely together because we found this hidden room in this whole

07:45facility where the I mean, the sun was burning onto the windows for must have been like

07:5240 years already and there was a lot of dirt on it.

07:55So it had this yellowish, yellowish light all over the place.

08:00And usually, I don't know, we have to need a lot of budget to recreate this.

08:05So it was like a very lucky shot, I have to say, which just looks very perfect.

08:11And I guess I don't know, I guess for me, because my job is also to like oversee the

08:18whole, you know, outcome of the film.

08:20I love really every shot.

08:22Thanks. Thanks to this guy.

08:24Thanks to this amazing DP shot.

08:26Really, really beautifully shot.

08:28Yeah, it is beautifully shot.

08:29So I really have to say every shot is my favorite shot.

08:32You know, there's there's there's not one singular shot.

08:36Shout out to the gaffer Alex Kain, for sure.

08:40No, but I think overall, they pretty much nailed it and it came together really well.

08:45And yeah, it was was an amazing process for sure.

08:48Can you describe the awards, the festival for people who haven't been before?

08:52What should they expect if they were to come?

08:54Yeah, it's pretty crazy, I have to say.

08:57I mean, I have to admit it's my first day here, so I haven't experienced the first two

09:02days. But what I've seen and the people I met so far, everyone's super chill, is well

09:07organized. It's yes, really such a pleasure to be here.

09:11And I feel like, you know, and this is also something which I think is very close to our

09:16hearts. And we talk about this a lot.

09:18It really also, you know, focuses on independent artists, like very indie artists.

09:23You don't have to be the biggest name or the biggest band to win something here.

09:26And I think and I think this is something which is, you know, truly extraordinary, you

09:32know, and and I really appreciate that from, you know, an artist's perspective in a way.

09:38Great, me too.

09:39Shout out to the ACD's liquor they gave them.

09:43Yeah, shout out to the ACD's scotch.

09:45Isn't that about it?

09:48Thank you very, very much for the interview.

09:49Cheers. Cheers, man.

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