Rewind was a pivotal project for me as a cinematographer—it was the first time I pushed myself to go bold with color and truly "paint" with light. This music video became an exploration of mood and tone, heavily inspired by the iconic cinematography of The Double Life of Veronique. We narrowed our color scheme to three primary hues: red, green, and orange.
Location Challenges and Creative Solutions
Finding the right location was a challenge. Eventually, we secured a uniquely designed flat whose renters were kind enough to let us shoot there. However, the space presented some obstacles: it was small, offered limited room for equipment and crew, had no bathroom, and only a tiny balcony (about 1 square meter) for exterior lighting. Most importantly, the flat’s pastel tones of blue, purple, and yellow clashed with our desired color scheme.
This mismatch forced me to lean on lighting to transform the space. We needed red and green to dominate the frame, so I used an Aputure 120d lamp with a red color effect gel to flood the walls with vibrant red hues. This gave depth and atmosphere to both the foreground and background. For facial lighting, I turned to tungsten lamps. One of the main lights was an ARRI 2K tungsten positioned on the balcony with extra CTO 1/4, its light bounced through a mirror to create a dreamy, diffused effect. Tungsten lighting has always been a favorite of mine—it enhances skin tones beautifully and complements warm hues like red, creating an almost nostalgic vibe.
We replicated this setup even for the "daylight" scenes to mimic sunlight streaming through the balcony, since we shot in the middle of a snowy, dark Berlin winter.
Mirrors and Isolation
A key visual element we incorporated was the use of mirrors to symbolize isolation during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Mirrors became a metaphor for introspection—how we turned inward, playing with ourselves, confronting our own reflections, and at times sinking into loneliness and depression.
However, working with mirrors introduced new challenges. Reflections often revealed unwanted elements of the background, complicating compositions and requiring meticulous lighting in every corner of the flat. If you had seen a wide shot of the set, it would have looked chaotic—C-stands everywhere, supporting a maze of small dedo lights and flags to cover light spills and achieve the precise red tones we wanted.
The scenes with mirrors in the living room were definitely the most challenging to light, but they turned out to be a great learning experience. We were working in a tight space and running out of time, so I had to figure out how to light the actor’s face in the triple mirrors without much room to work with. At first, I was stuck, but then I had the idea to use the light coming from the balcony behind her. I bounced the light off one mirror, and it reflected onto another, which ended up lighting her face just right. Plus, it created a nice backlight that added depth to the shot. It was one of those “aha” moments where everything clicked, and the lighting really came together to give the scene that surreal vibe we were going for and became one of my favorite pictures.
Transforming the Bathroom Scene
The bathroom scenes posed another challenge. We shot them in the director’s flat, as it offered a larger space and a bathtub. However, the white walls were far from the dreamy, surreal aesthetic we envisioned. To overcome this, I used an Aputure 120d with a green correction gel to create an otherworldly atmosphere. For facial lighting, I relied on a 300W tungsten Fresnel spotlight positioned overhead, enhanced with an extra CTO gel.
The green tones in particular became a symbol of shifting perceptions—how solitude can alter the way we see the world. Combined with red, these colors reflected the emotional edges of this time, vacillating between introspection and unease.
Trusting the Process
This project taught me to trust my instincts and lean into my plans, even when the final look felt uncertain before the shoot. On set, plans often require adjustments, but having a clear visual language prepared in advance is crucial. It’s about training your eye in pre-production to see the colors and tones you’re aiming for, so when you’re on set, you intuitively build the look in real-time.
Ultimately, Rewind became a turning point for me, solidifying my belief in the power of lighting as a storytelling tool. By using light to "paint" the space and working through challenges like reflections, small spaces, and mismatched palettes, we created a distinct visual world that elevated the music video.
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