From Rigs to Riches: How Rag & Bone Pulled Off a Dizzying Visual Experiment

Yesterday, NY fashion label Rag & Bone unveiled a fashion film of shifting perspectives which quite literally pushes the boundaries of the genre.

Co-directed by 1stAveMachine's Bob Partington, SpecialGuest's Aaron Duffy and Benjamin Millepied, who also oversaw the complex choreography,  Why Can’t We Get Along features an eclectic mix of talent from the worlds of cinematography, music, choreography, dance, and film - including Baby Driver's leading man, Ansel Elgort and House of Cards star Kate Mara - with music scored by Radiohead's Thom Yorke.

Below, Partington [left] and Duffy talk shots through the three-word brief and how multiple camera rigs brought shifting perspectives to life.

How would you describe the film?

Bob Partington: We all went into the production of this film with the idea that it would be abstract enough that people could draw their own conclusions and could create their own story based on what they saw. We created a space that housed experiences with these actors and dancers— for me, it was like this playground where these people are like ghosts, they inhabit, interact — and sometimes “get along”. And in the end they leave, and we are left with an empty room and a memory.

Aaron Duffy: Why Can’t We Get Along is a film about perspective. Some of those perspectives are disorienting, or even nausea-inducing. You might say that all the different camera views and movements are an answer to the question posed in Thom Yorke’s track. Maybe we can’t get along because different points of view make us ill. 

Was there a brief from Rag & Bone and, if so, what was it?

AD: We got the best kind of brief imaginable. Marcus [Wainwright, CEO] and Marissa [Kraxberger, VP, creative] had seen the work we did for OK GO and other in-camera techniques we have executed at SpecialGuest, so we knew we wanted to do something interesting in-camera. That was one starting point.

"When they first told us that Kate [Mara] and Ansel [Elgort] were being contacted I couldn’t quite believe it."

Aside from getting an early look at the colour palette for the spring / summer collection, there were three keywords that came up at the beginning of the project: “authentic”, “dark”, and “choreography”. “Authentic” was the most important because it is at the heart of the Rag & Bone brand. We wanted to dig down to something original and represent it in a raw form. “Dark” was crucial because Marcus would not accept anything light or poppy. He wanted to make sure it was a bit weird and twisted. We had no problem with that. ”Choreography” was the most tangible directive.

Dance has been a part of Rag & Bone's marketing for some time, having worked with some of the best in the world like Mikhail Baryshnikov and Lil’ Buck. After those three keywords were established, the team of collaborators started coming together and the project started to take form. It is a special thing to have a client that will trust you with that kind of brief. 

BP: From what I know, Marcus loved the work that Aaron and I had done in the past like the OK GO video among others, and it was just pretty open to create this beautiful landscape to celebrate the brand.

What was the impetus for the concept of the film?

AD:  Authenticity was the starting point. I knew that everything should be in-camera. I knew that the materials and set design should be raw. I also knew that the film should make the viewer feel a bit weird. For me, all of those inspiration points collide and made me think of a film hero of mine, Tony Hill. I don’t remember how I first came across his work ­ but I think it was a VHS tape in the school library. He is an artist and filmmaker that invented his own camera rigs to make films that challenged the perspective of all other traditional films. I had never seen anything like it. His work has been a huge inspiration for me since then.

"There is no template for a concept like this. There is no proof that it will work ahead of time. There is not a data set that can demonstrate ROI."

For me, he is one of those “authentic originals”, yet, I don’t think enough people know what he has created over the past several decades. So, the impetus for the concept really comes from Tony’s work. I flew to Cornwall to meet him, talk about the project, and we started developing the rig ideas on video calls with Bob Partington. Bob has been one of the most important collaborators and co­directors with me over the years. In the end we decided to ship three of Tony’s rigs (the wheel rig, the falling over slowly rig, and the satellite rig) to New York for the shoot and the other two we concepted together and built in Brooklyn. The satellite rig, for example, was created the same year I was born, in 1983. The rigs are relics of recent film history, so I’m thrilled that the rigs and Tony were both in this film. So for me, Tony is both an the answer to the authenticity brief and the inspiration for the concept.

BP: We were working with the song already and this seemed conceptually to be a perfect opportunity to use this idea of camera rigs, the things that Tony Hill - the godfather of camera rigs - had done, create these different points of view, different ways to perceive the world, and use this as a foundation for the story. We are big fans of Tony so it was essential to bring in the OG, very poignant to the ethos of the Rag & Bone brand.

Did you know from the outset the camera set-up/tricks you wanted to use or was there experimentation beforehand/on the day? 

BP: We definitely went into the shoot day with a plan but we knew, as happens with anything you do practically and in-camera, that opportunities present themselves. So we were super-excited about being open to any new tricks that would help illustrate help add to the fun abstract nature of this film. We had the rigs prepared and tested— but putting ballerinas and a par cours crew in the mix was a fresh new thing.

Was there anything (any shots/routines) you tried that didn’t come off in practice as you’d have hoped? 

AD: We did attempt to design a rig that would launch the camera in sync with a dancer’s jump. It was like a tiny catapult and the camera would be encased in pillows so it would land softly. We eventually abandoned it in the sketching phase. Maybe it will come back some day. It would look really cool. Other than that, we used almost everything we shot because we only had one day to capture.

"Part of the authenticity of the film is the ability to see behind the scenes. It’s important for the viewer to understand a bit about how the rigs work in order to follow the idea of “different perspectives of the world”.

BP: Tony Hill had built a few of these things 30 years prior to our shoot date so it was more about finding opportunities where we could do something a little different and explore the in-camera effects. Also there are things that you can do that we figured out that help illustrate the effect of the different camera rigs, for example with the wheel rig if you stop the effect from happening and then re-engage it you get a much more pronounced effect. The challenge was to get the most out of each camera set-up.

What came first, the choreography or the camerawork?

AD: The camerawork came first, which is a fun break from the traditional process of capturing choreography. In our case, the dance was molded to the movement of the cameras. The risk here was that it left very little time to develop the dance. I can’t really explain how miraculous it was to watch Benjamin Millepied develop the choreography before our eyes on the one rehearsal day.

We had to wait for the rigs to get to set before he started working and once they were there, he just started laying it out, section by section. And he did this with a group of very different dancers, ABT, Hiplet, Bullet Run Parkour, and Kandi Reign. It really was one of the most insane parts of the project, but he pulled it off. 

BP: There was a general outline of how the choreography would work to fit with our story. But it wasn’t until we got into the space for rehearsal and really worked with the players in the space, with the rigs in place, to find all of the moves and interplay of all the characters that would work best through the camera.

How did Ansel Elgort and Kate Mara get involved?

AD: The Rag & Bone team worked their magic with that part of the project. When they first told us that Kate and Ansel were being contacted I couldn’t quite believe it. I had seen Kate in AHS and seen Ansel in Baby Driver and as soon as I heard their names the project felt that much more rich and deep.

We knew we wanted one male lead and one female lead but that it would not be a romantic story, so we applied a camera rig to each of them. They each had their own domain in the film that fit them. Also, Rag & Bone made the collaboration with Benjamin Millepied happen and subsequently, Benjamin attached Darius Khondji to the project. So the collaborative power behind this film was immense.

"I don’t watch fashion films and I wear the same jeans, hoodie and t­-shirt every day. Fortunately, [Marissa Kraxberger] said that’s the kind of collaborator she was looking for."

And Thom Yorke; is it a specially written piece for the film and, if so, how did his involvement come about?

AD: The track is written by Thom specifically for this film. He is a long time collaborator with Rag & Bone, so he was actually the first one on the project, you might say. It helped to have the eerie sounds of the track to work with through the process and get that “dark” directive right in the film. We actually didn’t know that they lyrics of the song would be “why can’t we get along” until a bit later in the process. But it was a nice coincidence because somehow, that question was already in our heads. It’s possible that this question is in everyone’s heads these days.

The finished film is almost its own making of; was it important to you to show the way in which the shots was created within the film itself?

AD: Part of the authenticity of the film is the ability to see behind the scenes. It’s important for the viewer to understand a bit about how the rigs work in order to follow the idea of “different perspectives of the world”. The truth is, we can’t see the world through another human being’s eyes. We can only see our own point of view. Yet, the solution to any big disagreement is to try to put yourself in the other person’s shoes.As right as you think you are and as wrong as you think they are, if you can try to see it their way, you suddenly gain a little piece of empathy. The five rigs in the film are a metaphor that represents that process.

For example, when you see the world through the lens of the wheel rig, Ansel seems comfy sitting in the middle of that barrel while the world spins around him. But when you see the objective view of that rig, he’s actually being spun around like he’s inside the drum of an industrial dryer (btw it was not comfortable whatsoever and quite nauseating - he was a good sport with that). The two different points of view change your understanding of the situation. 

BP: Telling the story with this kind of transparency was super important to us, it’s part of the brand messaging but it’s also really important because it’s so cool and when the viewer sees it they become engaged because they can see how things are working and they become a part of the story. There’s also a really nice juxtaposition between the actors and dancers reacting through the rigged cameras versus the POV from the steadycam, you get this external sense of hypnotism.

Do you think it’s unusual to find a fashion film that has a high bar both creatively and technically? 

AD: When I first met Marissa, a year before we actually started the project, I had to be honest with her and let her know that I knew next to nothing about fashion. I don’t watch fashion films and I wear the same jeans, hoodie and t­-shirt every day. Fortunately, she said that’s the kind of collaborator she was looking for. So, I’m not sure what bar exists for fashion films creatively and technically. I know there’s a lot of great stuff out there, but we didn’t really pay attention to it, to be honest.

BP: None of us really went into this thinking about it as a fashion film. We were really excited about being totally transparent and revealing the gritty mechanics behind all of this, and working with Darius Kondji, the amazing director of photography, to create an environment that was very real and gritty as well. Hopefully we made something more accessible than a fashion film.

What was the most challenging element of creating the film?

BP: We had created this amazing environment with all these really cool ways to rig cameras so the challenging part was actually putting a story to everything, something that had the vibe of the Thom Yorke song and the vibe of the brand. We wanted to make sure that we created enough content and enough linkage between each element of our story that we could go to Will Towne, our awesome editor, and give him a massive palette to work with to create the best possible film.

"The track is written by Thom specifically for this film. He is a long time collaborator with Rag & Bone, so he was actually the first one on the project."

AD: Any time we work on something experimental like this it is a challenge. But it’s also a SpecialGuest specialty. We have to imagine something that hasn’t been done before with a communication that resonates and then help everyone involved understand how it all will come together in the end. There is no template for a concept like this. There is no proof that it will work ahead of time. There is not a data set that can demonstrate ROI.

Yet, in the end, we make it happen. That’s where the reward comes, for us, for Rag & Bone, and for the viewer. We get to experience something new that makes us think. And in this case, I got to work it with the most absurd group of collaborators. It is worth mentioning that bringing together a group like that is a massive achievement on its own, which Rag & Bone manages to pull off.

You have to give credit to a brand that has the foresight and creative will to make a project like this happen. That’s the kind of thing SpecialGuest is made for: visionary leaders like Marcus Wainright who want to put great, unexpected ideas out into the world.

And the most rewarding? 

BP: Like with any of these massive practical in-camera projects everyone who is on the set plays an integral part. Everyone can’t help but get excited and feel the energy of this thing because they can see it, it’s not a CGI post project, they have an idea of what’s going to happen and that there is just an inherent excitement, it’s contagious and it’s the most amazing feeling in the world.