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6th March 2014
Off the wall
Title of film: Editors, Sugar
Director: Joe Vanhoutteghem
Czar director Joe Vanhoutteghem knocks up a few clever tricks for Editors' performance piece

Sugar is a performance video with an inventive plot to it – how did the idea come about?

I always refused performance videos until now, that was the challenge. The idea was to create a kind of documentary feel in a shabby rehearsal room.
Then that room transformed with the people in it and you turned up into a surreal kind of world, while the next door rooms remained static with the real-life sound to keep a feeling of reality.

How did you achieve the tricks? Was it mainly shot in camera with collapsing sets or is there a lot post production?

It was all shot in camera. The art director did wonders with the smallest budget. He re-created the room and the spaces behind it making a kind of smart cube out of the room, which we could lift, turn and slide while the walls were fixed and could be unscrewed very fast.

We used some free runners to play the roadies part. They were hung up for a couple of scenes. We also hung up Justin, the guitar player. In post the wires were removed and it was a very good and crucial grading work (thanks Moxy).

What were the main challenges of the production and how did you resolve them?

Besides the budget it was to integrate the band in the story and try to take it a bit further then those boring performance videos. The Editors were nice and really professional but I only had them for one day out of three. And it always takes time to break the ice. There are always things that could have been better and I’m trying really hard to like my first performance video 😉

Credits
Editors, Sugar Director: Joe Vanhoutteghem Executive Producer: Eurydice Gysel Producer: Lander Engels DOP: Lieven Van Baelen Art Director: Geert Paredis Stuntteam: Hammy De Beukelaer (Marco Maas) Editor: Martin Leroy Postproduction: Moxy Sound: Indra Sierra