Even though French born video director and photographer Stephane Sednaoui has lived in New York City for 15 years his art sensibilities still lie very much in the French avant garde. Back in the early 1990s he broke major ground with music videos like Give it Away, Mysterious Ways and Sometimes Salvation. Now much of his work is being collected in Palm Pictures The Directors Label Vol. 7 The Work of Director Stephane Sednaoui.
Check out the official site for The Work of Director Stephane Sednaoui
Daniel Robert Epstein: How much time did you put into your Directors Label DVD?
Stephane Sednaoui: So much time, so much work plus it was tense because we had arguments. It was not good everyday. The amount of work was insane because I had to financially keep doing the other work that I usually do. But like all of us, especially Mark Romanek, I am a control freak.
DRE: You call yourself a control freak?
SS: Yeah, wait no, actually Im not a control freak. I like to go at 90 95 percent. I think Mark goes to reach 100 percent. Me, I let life take over after 95 percent. I wanted to do three special projects for this, because I didnt really shoot anything in the past four years that I liked enough to put on the DVD. So I shot three projects back to back. I did the Walk on the Wild Side film then I did an animation for Bjrk. The animation was an old project I had with her ten years ago when it was an art installation for an art gallery. It was based on the drawings that I did ten years ago, so I found the illustrators and they did the animation. Its called Acqua Natasa.
DRE: How was it working with Bjrk again?
SS: Since it was animation I didnt even see her.
DRE: Your DVD also has a never before seen version of Big Time Sensuality.
SS: Yes, it is the night version and is completely different. Basically at night after we filmed everything the light was down so instead of 24 frames, we had to go to 6 to 8 frames per second. We couldnt cut that footage into the other footage because it would look different so we did another version. Normally the video is four minutes, but on that special one its six minutes. Its uncut. For me it was nice to have it because it shows how good she is.
DRE: I think the Give it Away video in 1991 was one of the first really artistic music videos on MTV.
SS: I dont know because I dont know so much about the videos before, but it was very visual.
DRE: What was the inspiration?
SS: The inspiration was a Details shoot I did in 1988. I had been experimenting with photos for a few years. One day we painted them silver and one day we just painted some parts of them silver. The Chili Peppers were totally into it.
DRE: What did you think of Weird Al Yankovics parody Yabba dabba do now?
SS: I loved it. I was amazed that I could something a bit special and then the guy comes asks some questions and does something that is dead on.
DRE: Did he call you?
SS: No, but he asked everyone involved besides me. I wish there was no insert of the Flintstones movie he was promoting.
DRE: Then you did the Scar Tissue video the Chili Peppers, how was it working with them again ten years later?
SS: It was very interesting because the song was so different. Give It Away was were all about energy and then song Scar Tissue was all about emotion. I had a broken heart. I had like been very sad between those two times and so were they. John Frusciante disappeared for eight years, Flea had a broken heart; Anthony and Chad had their own problems. They were smashed and beaten up by life.
DRE: The first time I saw the Scar Tissue video the sound on my television was off, and I swear to God I thought Anthony looked like Iggy Pop.
SS: Yes, its true. His haircut and everything. He came to do the video like that. I never want to change any artists look because I think its very important that they keep their identity.
DRE: Where was The Black Crowes video, Sometimes Salvation, shot?
SS: It was shot in 42nd Street between Port Authority and Sixth Avenue. Back when Times Square was bad. Now when I go there Im like, Ugh. Its not so much fun anymore. Not that I think that seedy is great or anything but it had age and history. Right now its kind of lost the gas and it seems out of place. I wish it evolved in a better way.
DRE: How did you meet Sofia [Coppola] back then?
SS: I photographed her for a magazine.
DRE: For The Godfather 3?
SS: Yes and I thought she was amazing and beautiful. I had a crush on her so I wanted to see her again and she was just the perfect character.
DRE: Do you fall in love pretty easily?
SS: Not easily, but I do like strong women.
DRE: When youre doing photographs or videos you have to capture the inner person so that must help you fall in love with them.
SS: It is a precious moment when you photograph someone or when you meet someone or when you share creativity. So when you meet a strong woman that has a lot of opinions and knows what she wants and things like that. Then you have a creative exchange, that sometimes it triggers something personal.
DRE: I read you dont have any mirrors in your house.
SS: Yeah, thats true. Well theres a small one on the wall in my bathroom. If I have to see myself I have to climb to be sure that my pants is okay or whatever.
DRE: Why dont you want to see yourself?
SS: I dont know. I suppose I should put a mirror up. I think it would do me good.
DRE: I also read you photograph all digitally now.
SS: Yeah, most of the time I shoot in digital, unless its an advertising campaign where they need to do posters or its a beauty campaign and I want to really capture the right texture of the skin. Otherwise I go digital.
DRE: When did you do that?
SS: Eight years ago. It annoyed people because I started when it was just five megs. Now the files are 60 megabytes and you can do something with it, but then you couldnt really do something with it. but I was still insisting to do pictures with five megabyte files and for a little while it was okay.
DRE: So with the lenses that they have now, is digital as good as film?
SS: Its not as good as film if you have to make prints. But for a magazine and for most other uses of photography its as good and sometimes its better because its right away. You dont have to scan it and deal with the film grain. I learned Photoshop because I used to do that stuff by cutting things with scissors and a knife but now I use the same technique with Photoshop.
DRE: How about videos on digital?
SS: Acqua Natasa I shot on film and Walk on the Wild Side is shot on HD. It was fantastic to work with HD.
DRE: What do you like about that?
SS: Faster as a format and its already 16 x 9. Its more physical. You see right away what youre shooting which is much more exciting. I knew when I had something and I could move on.
DRE: When did you first pick up the camera?
SS: When I was 16 and I started to work when I was 21 and make money when I was 22. This year is my 20th anniversary in the business.
DRE: What was your first music video?
SS: For a French band named NTM. Its on the DVD set.
DRE: Do you still like that video?
SS: Yes, I really like it because the lyrics and the power of the performance are really good. On the DVD I also put my first short film that is no good but it was funny. Everybody should see that you can start out with a big mistake.
DRE: Do you want to do theatrical movies?
SS: Yes. I developed something a few years ago and it fell through. Now I want to develop something because last time I was trying to buy the rights of the book, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly [by Jean-Dominique Bauby]. It took two years to free it from DreamWorks then the agent didnt want to sell it to me anymore then sold it to a big studio. They wanted to work with Steven Spielberg and Russell Crowe. I was like, Well, fuck it then they changed their mind and finally they contacted Julian Schnabel. He is supposed to do it with Johnny Depp.
I think in the back of my head I was hoping it was going to fall through and that I would get a better project.
DRE: How the videos affected your photography and vice versa?
SS: The photography definitely set up the whole look of my first videos because every first video came from something that I did with photo shoots. Then after that the photo shoots took on a more cinematography aspect so they fed one another.
DRE: Are you going to be doing any more music videos?
SS: No. I want to do it the way I want and that would be with a more artistic approach. I would like to be the owner of my images.
DRE: What are you listening to now?
SS: Im listening to RJD2. I dont know if its one guy, two guys, three guys.
DRE: Just one guy and hes amazing.
SS: I listen to Citizen Cope. Then the classics from the 70s, like Deep Purple, Janis Joplin. I grew up listening to Jeff Beck, Santana and all those things. I love Fred Frith too.
DRE: If the Chili Peppers asked you to do a video, would you consider it?
SS: Yeah, if I like the song.
DRE: Do you watch videos?
SS: No, I dont have a TV. I just have an old monitor to watch tapes and now DVDs.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Check out the official site for The Work of Director Stephane Sednaoui
Daniel Robert Epstein: How much time did you put into your Directors Label DVD?
Stephane Sednaoui: So much time, so much work plus it was tense because we had arguments. It was not good everyday. The amount of work was insane because I had to financially keep doing the other work that I usually do. But like all of us, especially Mark Romanek, I am a control freak.
DRE: You call yourself a control freak?
SS: Yeah, wait no, actually Im not a control freak. I like to go at 90 95 percent. I think Mark goes to reach 100 percent. Me, I let life take over after 95 percent. I wanted to do three special projects for this, because I didnt really shoot anything in the past four years that I liked enough to put on the DVD. So I shot three projects back to back. I did the Walk on the Wild Side film then I did an animation for Bjrk. The animation was an old project I had with her ten years ago when it was an art installation for an art gallery. It was based on the drawings that I did ten years ago, so I found the illustrators and they did the animation. Its called Acqua Natasa.
DRE: How was it working with Bjrk again?
SS: Since it was animation I didnt even see her.
DRE: Your DVD also has a never before seen version of Big Time Sensuality.
SS: Yes, it is the night version and is completely different. Basically at night after we filmed everything the light was down so instead of 24 frames, we had to go to 6 to 8 frames per second. We couldnt cut that footage into the other footage because it would look different so we did another version. Normally the video is four minutes, but on that special one its six minutes. Its uncut. For me it was nice to have it because it shows how good she is.
DRE: I think the Give it Away video in 1991 was one of the first really artistic music videos on MTV.
SS: I dont know because I dont know so much about the videos before, but it was very visual.
DRE: What was the inspiration?
SS: The inspiration was a Details shoot I did in 1988. I had been experimenting with photos for a few years. One day we painted them silver and one day we just painted some parts of them silver. The Chili Peppers were totally into it.
DRE: What did you think of Weird Al Yankovics parody Yabba dabba do now?
SS: I loved it. I was amazed that I could something a bit special and then the guy comes asks some questions and does something that is dead on.
DRE: Did he call you?
SS: No, but he asked everyone involved besides me. I wish there was no insert of the Flintstones movie he was promoting.
DRE: Then you did the Scar Tissue video the Chili Peppers, how was it working with them again ten years later?
SS: It was very interesting because the song was so different. Give It Away was were all about energy and then song Scar Tissue was all about emotion. I had a broken heart. I had like been very sad between those two times and so were they. John Frusciante disappeared for eight years, Flea had a broken heart; Anthony and Chad had their own problems. They were smashed and beaten up by life.
DRE: The first time I saw the Scar Tissue video the sound on my television was off, and I swear to God I thought Anthony looked like Iggy Pop.
SS: Yes, its true. His haircut and everything. He came to do the video like that. I never want to change any artists look because I think its very important that they keep their identity.
DRE: Where was The Black Crowes video, Sometimes Salvation, shot?
SS: It was shot in 42nd Street between Port Authority and Sixth Avenue. Back when Times Square was bad. Now when I go there Im like, Ugh. Its not so much fun anymore. Not that I think that seedy is great or anything but it had age and history. Right now its kind of lost the gas and it seems out of place. I wish it evolved in a better way.
DRE: How did you meet Sofia [Coppola] back then?
SS: I photographed her for a magazine.
DRE: For The Godfather 3?
SS: Yes and I thought she was amazing and beautiful. I had a crush on her so I wanted to see her again and she was just the perfect character.
DRE: Do you fall in love pretty easily?
SS: Not easily, but I do like strong women.
DRE: When youre doing photographs or videos you have to capture the inner person so that must help you fall in love with them.
SS: It is a precious moment when you photograph someone or when you meet someone or when you share creativity. So when you meet a strong woman that has a lot of opinions and knows what she wants and things like that. Then you have a creative exchange, that sometimes it triggers something personal.
DRE: I read you dont have any mirrors in your house.
SS: Yeah, thats true. Well theres a small one on the wall in my bathroom. If I have to see myself I have to climb to be sure that my pants is okay or whatever.
DRE: Why dont you want to see yourself?
SS: I dont know. I suppose I should put a mirror up. I think it would do me good.
DRE: I also read you photograph all digitally now.
SS: Yeah, most of the time I shoot in digital, unless its an advertising campaign where they need to do posters or its a beauty campaign and I want to really capture the right texture of the skin. Otherwise I go digital.
DRE: When did you do that?
SS: Eight years ago. It annoyed people because I started when it was just five megs. Now the files are 60 megabytes and you can do something with it, but then you couldnt really do something with it. but I was still insisting to do pictures with five megabyte files and for a little while it was okay.
DRE: So with the lenses that they have now, is digital as good as film?
SS: Its not as good as film if you have to make prints. But for a magazine and for most other uses of photography its as good and sometimes its better because its right away. You dont have to scan it and deal with the film grain. I learned Photoshop because I used to do that stuff by cutting things with scissors and a knife but now I use the same technique with Photoshop.
DRE: How about videos on digital?
SS: Acqua Natasa I shot on film and Walk on the Wild Side is shot on HD. It was fantastic to work with HD.
DRE: What do you like about that?
SS: Faster as a format and its already 16 x 9. Its more physical. You see right away what youre shooting which is much more exciting. I knew when I had something and I could move on.
DRE: When did you first pick up the camera?
SS: When I was 16 and I started to work when I was 21 and make money when I was 22. This year is my 20th anniversary in the business.
DRE: What was your first music video?
SS: For a French band named NTM. Its on the DVD set.
DRE: Do you still like that video?
SS: Yes, I really like it because the lyrics and the power of the performance are really good. On the DVD I also put my first short film that is no good but it was funny. Everybody should see that you can start out with a big mistake.
DRE: Do you want to do theatrical movies?
SS: Yes. I developed something a few years ago and it fell through. Now I want to develop something because last time I was trying to buy the rights of the book, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly [by Jean-Dominique Bauby]. It took two years to free it from DreamWorks then the agent didnt want to sell it to me anymore then sold it to a big studio. They wanted to work with Steven Spielberg and Russell Crowe. I was like, Well, fuck it then they changed their mind and finally they contacted Julian Schnabel. He is supposed to do it with Johnny Depp.
I think in the back of my head I was hoping it was going to fall through and that I would get a better project.
DRE: How the videos affected your photography and vice versa?
SS: The photography definitely set up the whole look of my first videos because every first video came from something that I did with photo shoots. Then after that the photo shoots took on a more cinematography aspect so they fed one another.
DRE: Are you going to be doing any more music videos?
SS: No. I want to do it the way I want and that would be with a more artistic approach. I would like to be the owner of my images.
DRE: What are you listening to now?
SS: Im listening to RJD2. I dont know if its one guy, two guys, three guys.
DRE: Just one guy and hes amazing.
SS: I listen to Citizen Cope. Then the classics from the 70s, like Deep Purple, Janis Joplin. I grew up listening to Jeff Beck, Santana and all those things. I love Fred Frith too.
DRE: If the Chili Peppers asked you to do a video, would you consider it?
SS: Yeah, if I like the song.
DRE: Do you watch videos?
SS: No, I dont have a TV. I just have an old monitor to watch tapes and now DVDs.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
i have to see more of his work!