It was a year ago when we featured the spec film of film student Justus Becker for Rimowa suitcases. We thought it was high time for our annual check up on what he’s been up to and were blown away by the storytelling of his spec films for Mercedes.
Tell us about your background – where you are studying and what the course is? What year are you in now?
Before I started my studies I worked on a number of internships both in production and in agencies. I learned a lot from these experiences. Now I am in my final year at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. I’ve got two last films to do here and then I’m off to real business.
What would the ideal script be for your first job?
The perfect script would be a coherent story with some pathos which has the potential to create a beautiful visual world.
What were the key lessons you learned from directing this campaign?
I earned an incredible amount of experience, generally speaking. Throughout education, there’s lots of space to try things, to see what will or won’t work. There’s this luxury of locking yourself in with your DOP for ten days to talk about looks and how to shoot it. The most important thing is, that during your time in film school you have an amazing amount of time you don’t have on the market.
What were the main challenges of the shoot?
We thought we had every little detail planned out perfectly, we thought we were well prepared. Our goal was to shoot three 90secs in six days. Well, that worked out fine. But there was this one night shoot, the fifth day, which was totally messed up. We had a time limit of about eight hours to get what we wanted. We arrived and started to prepare the diner for the shooting. Then the message: The loading-platform of our light-truck wouldn’t open. Four hours later – we really tried everything to open the truck – the producer, the cameraman and me decided that we would now shoot it without any set-up light. I will never forget the picture of the electrician, standing with a silver plate next to the camera. After all we finished at dawn, ten minutes before the planned wrap.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given about filmmaking?
Gavin Hood once told me: “Perfect preparation is everything.” I totally agree. But there’s something else. A producer once asked me what the two most important words for a commercial director were. I remember saying:’Action’ and ‘Cut’. He smirked, shook his head and then simply said: ‘Thank’, ‘You’. And he’s right. It’s very important that you make your crew feel how thankful you are for what they are doing throughout the whole production time – not only on set.
Which part of the production process did you enjoy the most?
When it comes to student films, preparation is a long process. You don’t have a lot of money, you have to try and get the motives and cast without paying them. This can be annoying. But when you reach the time right before shooting, where you have to make important decisions every day, I really get excited and like it. It’s the point when you realize that all your annoying work will be rewarded because you can be sure that you’re well prepared, which makes the shooting a lot easier.
How would you sum up your directing style?
Cinematic storytelling with a certain amount of emotionalism.
What would you like to be doing in five years time?
I can’t plan this. Of course you have to know where you’re heading and what you want to reach, but I work for the moment. I don’t know what the future will be.
Which commercials or music video director’s work do you admire the most?
The works of Ringan Ledwidge and Johnny Green.
Apart from making films what else do you like to do?
I love to do gardening. I can totally get my mind off things.
