At his website, Bucci says the video is a metaphor about addiction in general, but the flickering, fast-paced and highly conceptual clip seems to explore the weird spaces that computer users can imagine being inhabited just beyond the display panels on their desks. Bucci’s collaborators on the clip were Marco Morano, the audio designer and producer who co-wrote the music, and Paola Rocchetti, an animator, designer, and make-up artist who stars as the woman behind the screen. “I am an esthete,” Rocchetti said, explaining her role on the project. “I love eye-catching, beautiful, well-executed, stylized, glamourous, weird, fascinating imagery and to me it’s a natural thing to translate an idea into a whole look.”
Watch “Addictions,” below, then read the Q&A with Bucci, below, to learn more about how it was created.
Giovanni Bucci: The idea came from today’s prevailing lifestyles. Because of my work I use technology a lot and I like the results you can achieve with it. It’s also true that I get frustrated because I spend so much time in front of a screen; even when I’m not working I’m in front of a computer for social media, phone calls, shopping, etc. It’s nice to meet people face to face, but recently it has become more frequent for people to interact more and more through technology instead of in the real world. And when you actually meet people in the real world, much of the time they are not really with you because they are likely to be busy with their smart phones on the internet… or on other occasions, when you are with people, you end up watching TV.
I don’t know if “Addictions” is a music video or a short film, I just had in mind an idea for an audio/video project and this is the end result, which worked out very well for me.
How was the work divided with your collaborator, Paola Rocchetti?
Paola was perfect for this project; she’s been in the alternative scene for many years and is really talented in combining fashion elements and design.
A lot of things that are now considered trendy and new, such as the “trademark” chameleonic style of Lady Gaga, or the fetish look that many other artists embrace, are “stolen” from the underground scene worldwide. Paola lived in London for many years and she was experimenting with alternative make up and styling well before this big trend exploded. She also played an important role in “Addictions,” designing other elements of the video. Together we designed the male character, backgrounds and other graphic elements, visuals and animation.
Are any of the backgrounds and environments practical, or was everything done on green screen?
All the backgrounds are made in post production, apart from the subjective camera view, where you see the computer screens, which are real.
Why did you shoot with a Canon DSLR? Did the compressed image make it more difficult to pull keys from the green screen?
I used two Canon 7D because it was practical to use and they did the job well, but you are right, compression made things harder to key details out.
The music was written between me and Marco Morano. I personally played and recorded the guitar tracks and Marco played some synth riffs. The actual music production was then done at Hoxtonlab, Marco’s audio-visual studio in East London, UK.
What was the toughest part of the project?
The hardest part was using so many different elements and technologies and making them work together well. I wanted to achieve a final product where everything was well integrated, part of one piece and fine tuned with music and visuals.
What do you hope viewers take away from “Addictions?”
I hope people will experience and feel a need to rebel against their worst addictions.
Whose work inspires you?
Really inspiring artist for me are: Ray Cesar, Matthew Barney, Chris Cunningham, Floria Sigismondi, M.C.Escher, Salvador Dalà¬, and Hieronymus Bosch.
For more information: Giovanni Bucci; Paola Rocchetti; Marco Morano.
Sections: Business Creativity
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