Course · Moscow · 2019

Buritō Kōsu

From 27 April to 12 May 2019, my course students and I made the key visuals for Samskara, Burito’s third album: five characters, a two-metre mechanical Godzilla head, six crazy film-like sets, a 4×5 film series and more.

days

In a row: character design from backstory to costume, props, world-building, set lighting and crazy pictures.

characters

Each with their own backstory, world, costume, props, protagonists and way of shooting.

shoots

Each with its own concept, techniques, lighting scheme and special effects.

The Wandering Samurai faces a giant mechanical Godzilla head among ruined towers in a desert. — The Wandering Samurai in the post-apocalyptic wastelands

The Robo-Tomb Raider crouches with a torch among glowing wreckage as battle droids close in. — The Robo-Tomb Raider steals a cyber heart from an abandoned pre-war storage unit guarded by battle droids

The Noodle Maker in a glowing conical hat sits on a red scaffold high above a neon city at night. — The Noodle Maker on the streets of a 22nd-century Asian megalopolis

The Cyber Monk hovers cross-legged in a burst of light among glowing screens. — The Cyber Monk in a virtual prayer room

The Deepwater Treasure Hunter in a glowing diving helmet stands in red haze beside a neon jellyfish. — The Deepwater Treasure Hunter in a flooded city

The five characters pose together on the studio set among lights, props and a glowing jellyfish. — Backstage

The samurai raises a huge glowing blade among ruined towers, a rusty barrel at his feet. — Every costume, set, creature and prop was made by the course team

Reference: a 19th-century studio portrait of a young samurai in kimono and hakama, a sword at his side.

4×5

Then we pushed the visual styles further. Shot on a Sinar 4×5 field camera on old black-and-white sheet film, these photographs pay tribute to classic 19th-century samurai portraits.

The Deepwater Treasure Hunter in a battered diving suit hung with lamps, on black-and-white sheet film.

A man with dreadlocks in padded armour swings a huge blade, on black-and-white sheet film.

The Cyber Monk in a hooded robe and halo stands with palms pressed together, on black-and-white sheet film.

The Robo-Tomb Raider in a black hood, a huge mechanical arm on his shoulder, on black-and-white sheet film.

A man with dreadlocks in pale armour stands beside a sword taller than himself, on black-and-white sheet film.

The Noodle Maker in a wide conical hat holds chopsticks and a cup of tube noodles, on black-and-white sheet film.

Videographers: Nikita Goryachkin and Elina Wexler
Editing: Nikita Goryachkin

Course team and partners

Producers: Polina Efremenko, Kristina Kryzhanovskaya, Anna Bednieri
Technical director: Timur Ivanov
Chief engineer: Ilya Ponomarev
Production team: Kamil Guliev, Irina Ruleva, Vyacheslav Konev, Serj Longray, Tatyana Gallyamova, Nikolai Wilflingsider
Guest costume designer: Maria Meleshko
Guest collaborators: Marina Kovalishina, Catherine Zolotukhina, Anna Fedoruk, Anna Musatova, Alexander Podgornykh
BTS cinematographers: Nikita Goryachkin, Elina Wexler
BTS photographer: Elina Wexler
Documentary director: Varvara Gladkaya
Sound engineer: Olga Lopina
Sound team: Grigory Rastatuev, Sergei Arakeliants
Thanks to Broncolor/Sinar Swiss (SBF) and Sergey Rumyantsev for technical support, and to Zabota Coworking and Elya Logina for giving the course a magnificent home.
A very special thanks to Velvet Music and Burito for believing in such a crazy idea and trusting our artistic vision!
Moscow, 2019

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