This girl’s got what it takes… to direct animation, live action and now mega multi-media tvcs for the Australian market. Signed to Plaza Films in Sydney, Helen Clemens talks us through some of her music videos and commercial work…

You were recently shortlisted in the YDA in Cannes last month with “Let There Be Light” for SBS Film, an amazing feat of 3D work. Is this a speciality genre of yours?
No. However one can see the style and mood found in the SBS Film spot has developed over time in several of my music videos and commercials. SBS Film was created as a unique standalone piece. We went through several stages of original concept art and character designs to find the right environment and filmic mood we wanted our audience to be lost in. The idea was to create a little pocket fantasy universe that seemed to have its own internal logic.

I’ve only been directing commercials for two and half years now and SBS Film is probably the most detailed work I have produced thus far. As a director it’s never about just one job, it’s about your whole body of work, and the ability to continue to work. YDA was cool because I had to submit a body of work to be viewed by the panel of international judges and it was only the SBS Film spot that was selected to be screened in Cannes 2011.

What led you to working with animation?
The SBS Film brief was character animation. The Eskimo Joe “Losing Friends Over Love” Music Video won us the job.

I put the same amount of emotional investment into all projects, whether it’s animation, live action or doing the garden. Or telling someone else to do the garden and then complaining about the job they did (I’m a director now). I was studying painting at art school and naturally gravitated towards film and sound. I have always loved accessible digital technology, as all these great new tools have emerged. It’s been a godsend to people who are producing work with small, agile production crews. I love to experiment with technology and avant-garde electronic art forms and mixing it with a narrative is heaven for me!

Tell us about the challenges of making your mixed-media-to-the-max series for Kotex.
Our overall aim was to create a vibe that our target audience would instantly connect with – something fun and tactile, without being overtly frilly and stereotypically based on women being able to do cartwheels. The campaign is driven from Kotex’s research and knowledge of young women; hence the tag ‘U Knows What Works’. The attitude and approach was that of an experimental, low-fi music video. It was a very brave leap for the client and the agency did a great job selling the concept as a totally new visual communication style for this product. I wanted to make it a kinetic world that related to the product. I consciously used the seven U By Kotex colours throughout the art direction of the whole TVC and print campaign. Everything is bold, striking and colourful.

In terms of narrative, the challenge was to make each individual shot relate to the next, because the commercials were designed to visually respond to the voiceover. There were also a hell of a lot of shoot days, incorporating green-screen elements, live action, miniatures, in-camera stop motion and so on. There was so much raw material that needed to be produced to create the fun, anarchic visual-collage style, I found it surprising actually.

Did you work closely with creatives on the project?
Yes I did. From the very beginning I was directing, editing and designing all the commercial animatics, mood boards that went into research. Which is unheard of, I know, but the creatives got me in very early, during script development, to conceptualise the whole campaign, TVC, print and new logo design.
I spent seven months with the agency getting our concepts through research, with great results, refining communication improvements for the campaign. The actual production of the three tvcs and print campaign took three months.

What would be your dream brief?
My dream brief would encompass the multi-disciplinarian areas of directing talent, art, technology and high fashion.

And your five-year plan?
To stave off utter destitution through a series of daring bank robberies.

See more of Helen Clemen’s work at http://vimeo.com/user1440900 and http://www.plazafilms.com.au/directors/helen-clemens