Learning the ropes through producing and directing music videos and short films when he can, we like the efforts of London-based Emile Rafael.

A quick summary please of what you’re up to now and what led you there?

Well, I went to the London Film School, which was a great place to learn the “rules” of filmmaking to then be able to break them, if that makes sense. Having originally studied directing, I became interested in producing, recognizing the value and importance of a good producer in driving and shaping a project.

After graduating I had a brief stint as a producer in a service company back home in Prague, but missed London and its buzz way too much, so returned a year ago.

At the moment I’m working mostly on music videos, still producing quite a bit, but directing is taking an increasingly prominent role.

So you’re directing in your spare-time?

Not so much in my spare-time as at-the-same-time. I’m happy working as a director and I’m happy working as a producer and right now I feel privileged that I’m able to do both. Certainly I’ve always felt it’s a benefit to be well versed in both disciplines, as I am able to approach a commission with complimentary skills sets to hand. Definitely as a director it has afforded me a certain freedom to be more selective when choosing projects and knowing the scope of what is and isn’t possible.

We rather like your video for Saturday, Monday, particularly the camera work and lighting. How did the film come about and evolve and did the final result achieve what you set out to do?

Thank you, I’m glad you liked it. That was actually a project I stumbled upon on Radar Music Videos, which is a great place for anyone trying to get into the business of promos. I was between jobs and absolutely loved the song and liked the brief, so I scripted for it.

It was a tiny budget, but I was coming down from a big project, so I thought it would be cool to get some friends together and make something nice.

I think because we all loved the song so much and were united in our vision, the video ultimately came together very easily. We also had a great time doing it.

The brief itself was to show “nitty gritty teenagers hanging out”, and of course there are many promos that explore that subject matter, so I thought I would try and take it a step further by shaping the video around these portraits of the teens. I wanted to offer a glimpse into their lives, away from their friends, away from that whole often torturous, angsty teen self-image thing. Somehow the juxtaposition created this very nice, loose story that served to connect us to them. I guess we ended up with a somewhat nostalgic feel to it, thinking about the pains and joys of growing up, which I think fitted the song quite well in the end.

There was also an extensive casting for the video, as I wanted all of the teenagers to look ‘real’, like a genuine group of friends. I think the fact we found just the right kids also resonated with people.

Charlie Herranz lensed it and obviously did a tremendous job at capturing the portraits, and we tried to squeeze every penny out of the design and styling, with friend and long-term collaborator Paula Oropeza being the Art Director.

What were the key lessons you learnt from the shoot?

To do promos for songs that I like! Music is such a big part of my life and that’s why I love working with it in this capacity, but I think it’s easy to forget that and get seduced by bigger budgets. If the song doesn’t connect with you on some level, it’s very likely the images won’t connect with the music quite as they should.

What would you like to do next? Is directing where your heart lies?

Certainly the directing commissions keep coming, which is nice. At the moment I’m in the midst of directing a video for a track by Katy B. It’s being made using hundreds of stills, which is fun and also very challenging.

I would like to do another short film soon, and there are longer-term plans to make a feature film.

However as I said earlier, I still really enjoy producing and would never want to turn my back on that completely. Working as a producer allows me to come into contact with some incredibly talented people who I learn a great deal from. At the end of the day I believe it’s important to push oneself beyond your comfort zone and take risks, whether that be the style of music or the subject matter, and I feel that working in conjunction with others gives me the confidence to do that. I look at other directors at work and they inspire me.

I guess it’s almost like having a split personality where I switch from being someone collected and calm, problem solving, to someone neurotic, obsessed and worrying about every single minute detail when I direct.

Right now my hope would be to shift the balance and direct more full-time whilst produce interesting projects for directors that I like. Kind of like how it happens with musicians when they produce one another’s records. I think that same sense of collaboration and appreciation is what is needed in music video production.