Patrick Hanser knows how to surprise his audience. When doing this interview with him he knew his audience was just two people, Jesse Locke and myself. Even though he was aware that what he was doing would be going public, he was relaxed and knew what he wanted to say. It is this quality that makes interviewing him so much fun. From Sao Paulo, Brazil, his English is flawless and with a barely noticeable accent. Saying he is well-spoken is an understatement.
With his friend and co-director of his new music video, Hernan Marques, we all got together to discuss his video to “Mariposa” by his band Bacará. Also, what inspires Patrick and how this video came to production.
We met Patrick one year ago when we interviewed him in another podcast for his video “Cores.” In that podcast he discussed how he learned to prompt the AI programs and how much work that really was. That interview and podcast has been our go-to source for information on how much work is involved in developing a unique AI music video.
What was also discussed in the podcast from last year, and again in this one, is how traditional video is so important in the making of a unique AI video. This is a feature we at TikiKiti agree with completely. In fact, the best AI videos we see are those that start with traditional video footage. Patrick went one step farther by saying that starting with traditional video footage adds the all-too-important humanity that missing from much of the AI produced today.
It is this humanity that brings us to the new video from Patrick Hanser and his band Bacará. “Mariposa” is about humanity in the same sense that Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” is about humanity. Here is the foundation for the inspiration for this video. There are other sources that inspired Patrick and Hernan. It was Hernan who came up with the “creepy guy” as they called the antagonist — the weird scientist/doctor. In fact, classic Hollywood horror films have influenced both producers. Recognizing that influences come from the strangest places, they came up with something they both agreed upon — that is, the idea of a fallen angel from the X-Men 3 movie.
As they headed into the production of the video, they knew they would need a talented crew to help build this video. They started with the idea to bring back the MTV-style music video. Once the direction was determined using black and white was a given. The rest of the crew came about organically. Most of the crew are people the producers have known for years. Going back when to school days they found old friends who were now in a position to help them. For art director they found Bruna Veras, for special effects and makeup they have Gabriela Schumaker, and managed to complicated with a great degree of finesse.
As Patrick said, “Sometimes they is gold right under your nose,” describing his amazing production team. Realizing how important collaboration was, Patrick and Hernan were able to grow the production as they added a very talented staff. It was this team that gave this them the freedom to get more creative.
Patrick’s idea for the video was very different at first. It included the creepy guy but the rest was very different. He came around to Hernan’s idea and the video started to take shape. This was the beginning of the collaboration that made the video. The entire crew was like a family. Everyone worked so well together. Collaboration is what rock is all about.
And, indeed it is, and proven here in this video from beginning to end. The amazing art direction was accomplished with the direction of Bruna Veras; makeup and special effects by Gabriela Schumaker and Vicky; with costume and styling by Gabriel. And the list goes on.
Unless otherwise noted all photography in this article is from Enzo Ferraro.
