OFFF 2013: Dvein

Dvein delivered a captivating talk this evening, here at OFFF 2013. Directors Teo Guillem and Carlos Pardo took to the floor in the Roots room to share the secrets behind some of their most inspiring pieces, including 'Magma', the mesmerising music video created for the studio’s own band, The Vein (scroll down to see it). We caught up with in-house producer Marga Sard to find out more…

Computer Arts: Dvein's music video for ‘Magma’ is insanely inspired. Where do you start with a project like this?
Marga Sard: We had a couple of references in mind when we did it, like some of the desert sequences in [Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1970 film] Zabriskie Point. We wanted to use black and white as a starting point because we wanted a transition from a monochrome landscape to a colourful world full of paint. To that end, we looked to the black and white cinematography in Woodkid's single ‘I Love You’, Michael Haneke's film The White Ribbon and the title sequence of Tarsem Singh's The Fall.

We researched volcanic landscapes, like the ones you can find in Iceland, with all these organic shapes and intricate paths, and shapes of rivers and glaciers. Also, we looked into some artists that we like who work with the idea of paint as a raw element, not just a tool, like Yago Hortal or Caspar David Friedrich. Overall, it was technically pretty challenging, especially when we had to integrate the old men's faces into the landscapes.

CA: You guys are known for thinking outside the box: you've melted a plastic toy helicopter, directed ants and snails, built a miniature music festival... What's the most 'out there' project you've ever worked on?
MS: Both TocaMe and Magma were very experimental. TocaMe was made in 2008 and it was pure experimentation. We were working while we were trying new things that amazed us and brought us to the next. Magma was a chance to do things that we'd been longing to do for a long time. It was the chance to put all that we had in mind in one piece, but at the same time they were just ideas so we put a lot of experimentation in to make them alive.

CA: What cool projects can we expect from you next?
MS: We're working on a couple of personal projects that are much more live-action based while we search for a commercial work – we have to make a living as well!