Stabbed, But Saved by an Octopus: L’ÉLOI on Conducting Surreal Kitchen Chaos

The story behind the scenes of Yves Jarvis’ ‘The Knife in Me’ is almost as wild as the chaos that’s unleashed on screen.

Directed by Derek Branscombe through L’ÉLOI, the music video is set in a fast-paced restaurant kitchen with musician Yves in the role of head chef. Synchronised choreography and camerawork guide our focus through the environment as the energy swells: slices and sauce splatters grow more furious, the edit gets choppier, and sous-chefs appear to move at hyperspeed. Until a pan catches fire.

Amid the commotion, a cook stumbles and accidentally thrusts his large knife into Yves stomach. The others anxiously escape the smoke-filled kitchen leaving Yves on the floor, alone – save for the octopus on the chopping board slowly coming back to life. Floating over, it wraps a slimy tentacle around the knife and pulls it out. And then they share a meal – of course.

It’s a true feat of filmmaking, from concept to creation. With the support of L’ÉLOI and his team, Derek was able to pull out all the stops, mastering a hefty robotic arm, crafting a mostly CG hypnotic octopus, and supervising the studio build after the production designer cut his foot open the day before.

Eager to uncover all the juicy details, LBB’s Zara Naseer sat down with Derek. Here’s what she learned…

LBB> What was the initial concept for the music video and how did it come about?

Derek> From the start, Yves and I connected on the idea of having aggressive camera movements that were timed to the music, as well as the idea of him performing while being occupied by a completely unrelated job. We hesitated between different ideas: should he be a doctor performing surgery? A CEO or stock trader walking through a chaotic office where everybody wants his attention? In the end, the chef idea is what stuck.

The octopus came later – originally he was just going to get stabbed and then eat his little meal while bleeding out – but I knew I needed an extra kick at the end. Of course I picked something incredibly complicated, which seems to be my toxic directing trait – always pushing for something that I honestly have no idea how to do, and figuring it out on the fly.

LBB> The dynamic camerawork, sped-up cooking sequences, and fast-paced edit in the first third really solidify the sense of chaos in the kitchen. What technology and techniques did you use to pull this off? 

Derek> It was a bit of a puzzle, but in the end we got access to a robotic camera arm which did a lot of the heavy lifting (no pun intended) with the camera movement. It was the perfect tool to get the feeling I wanted, and despite it being usually pretty cost-prohibitive and complicated to work with, L’ÉLOI and I pushed to make it happen. 

Even with the robotic arm, some of my movements were still too fast, so we slowed down the song and shot the main shots at 18fps. It helps create that feeling of speed and urgency. We also used the arm to do some motion control, comping together two shots at two different speeds  (24fps on Yves and 4fps on the sous-chefs), giving the impression they are working at hyperspeed!

Above: Behind the scenes of the music video

LBB> Talk us through the process of creating a CG octopus.

Derek> My idea was to use stills of a real octopus and use AI to help it come alive – I had actually done some tests in pre-production and was pretty impressed at the results. 

But when it came time to do the actual VFX, I wasn’t happy with what my AI tools were giving me. I tried many different techniques, but the look never felt right (although I did have some completely wild results – maybe I’ll share them someday!)

I ultimately ended up doing it in CG, using a premade octopus model. I don’t have a lot of character animation experience, and managing the 100+ ‘bones’ in the animation rig was certainly a learning experience. 

I went with my intuition and tried to keep it simple. Luckily, the shots are relatively short. I think it passes!

Above: Behind the scenes of the music video

LBB> You also handled colour, using silvers, reds, and blues to varying degrees throughout. Did you have a particular source of inspiration? And what’s the story you’re telling through the shift from cool to warm for the last portion of the video?

Derek> The cinematographer, Harley Francis, and I went back and forth on the colours. I didn’t want it to look too natural or classic – especially since the show ‘The Bear’ is so hot right now. This was never a reference for me, and I didn’t want it to feel like we were existing in the same world. 

Red was the key colour for Yves’ album release, so it was sure we would include that, and from the beginning I wanted a metallic set to profit from all the reflections and make it feel like a high-end kitchen. The blue came naturally in lighting and colour. It’s funny because it seems to be the colours I often gravitate to, whether conscious or not!

LBB> What was the biggest challenge you faced in the creation of the video, and how did you overcome it?

Derek> The overarching challenge was budget, which trickles down into many smaller problems. We were able to manage the robotic arm through the gracious support of L’ÉLOI and the operator, but this machine is really a beast and moving it is quite complicated; getting it out of the studio is really difficult. So I wanted to shoot it at L’ÉLOI to save cash – there was a kitchen that I figured we could work from as a base, but in the end the robot didn’t fit through the door, so we went into location scouting. Let me tell you – finding a decent kitchen with little to no budget is no easy task. 

In the end, I found a production designer that was down to help construct something in-studio. I knew it was the best option from the beginning, but was hesitant to push for this as we were already feeling so tight. He found some amazing deals and ways to pull the set together in the budget constraints. 

But the setbacks didn’t stop there – the poor guy ended up cutting his foot open on the day before the pickups and set build. I ended up going with his team to each place and picking out the right items, and supervising the set build while he was in the hospital. It was all very dramatic.

LBB> How involved was Yves Jarvis in the creative process, and how did you draw the best performance out of him?

Derek> It was interesting; Yves and I had never met but we simply went out for a beer in the park and brainstormed. The major points of the video all fell into place, and from there he was pretty hands off, giving me total creative freedom.

Yves actually made most of his prior videos himself, so coming on set with the robotic arm and our crew was definitely a little unnerving. He stopped by the pre-light for some camera tests and I could definitely feel he was overthinking it a bit – but when he arrived on shoot day he really gave it his all, and the end result is really authentic. I think the video really feels true to who he is.

LBB> What are you most proud of in the finished film?

Derek> Honestly, just the fact that I was able to stick to my guns and pull the project through to the end. I already mentioned some of the challenges, but if I’m being honest, there was a week in the middle of pre-production where I had to seriously step back and judge whether this was even possible. There were so many challenges, big and small, at some point I started feeling like the project was cursed.

But the hardest projects always seem to turn out the best; I’m really glad that we stuck through it. I have to thank all my collaborators for everything they did to help make it happen; I wore a lot of hats on this project, but nothing would have been possible without the hard work of my team who supported me.

LBB> Does this music video reflect your style as a director? Does it draw from past projects or is it a new frontier for you?

Derek> I hope so! My work always trends towards technical challenges, bold images and fantastic elements, so I would say this clip is pretty aligned with that. That being said, what I really wanted to push the most was the storytelling. I feel I’m outgrowing the period in my career where I am content to solely rely on cinematic tricks or flashy images; I really want to challenge myself to tell a good story and achieve a clarity of emotion. I plan to keep pushing in that direction.