Behind The Scenes of DeLaurentis' "A Big Part Of a Big Sun" Music Video

An alien, a little girl, a crime scene. Camille & Clément, the directors behind the name AB/CD/CD, describe it as “a classic shooting situation”.

Their last futuristic music video directed for the single “A Big Part Of A Big Sun” by DeLaurentis, reminds us of a “Black Mirror” episode and closely sticks to the cinematic, lunar and ethereal electronica pop style of this french singer-songwriter and producer. Between the vocal works of Laurie Anderson and the cinematic universe of Lana Del Rey, DeLaurentis’ influences are nurtured by Ryuichi Sakamoto’s and Jóhann Jóhannsson's film scores, Brian Eno’s synths, as well as Max Richter's work. 

"A Big Part Of A Big Sun" has been used in the latest episode of US TV show "How to Get Away With Murder". LA PAC conducted the following interview with directing team AB/CD/CD to mark the occasion.

Q> Could you tell us about your collaboration with DeLaurentis?

AB/CD/CD> Jérôme (our producer) played us the song “A Big Part of A Big Sun” and we thought it was really cinematic. He suggested taking a short-film approach, we found the idea appealing, and we wrote a scene. DeLaurentis and her team went along with it and gave us their full trust.

Q> A summary of the video?

AB/CD/CD> A “classic” shooting situation (laughs)

Q> How did you come up with the idea for this video/scenario?

AB/CD/CD> We wanted a simple situation, with just a few faces. The situation needed to be tense and frozen. A weapon and 2 characters, one of them being an alien, seemed perfect for it.

Q> What was the biggest constraint?

AB/CD/CD> The limited shooting time. We had to find solutions so that it would all work out well, with a limited number of shots. Having said that, it was completely along the lines of what we had in mind.

Q> What was the coolest thing?

AB/CD/CD> The alien! He’s great, and really believable. Fun fact : Michael Beaupere, who played the part of the alien, arrived early to the shooting to prepare. He spent the whole day wearing his mask and becoming his character. We worked with him for 12 hours and never saw his “human” face. He’s a real alien to us…which incidentally is the purpose of the film.

Q> What does AB/CD/CD mean?

AB/CD/CD> Achtung Baby, Coming Down, Coming Down ! (laughs)

Q> How would you define yourselves, in just a few words?

AB/CD/CD> Young directors not so young anymore.

Q> What are your inspirations?

AB/CD/CD> Just like Verhoeven : sexe, violence, and God (and also robots)

Q> Your favourite film?

AB/CD/CD> John Carpenter’s “They Live”.

Q> What kind of projects do you dream of working on?

AB/CD/CD> The NASA and Boston Dynamics.