Desire “To Create Images That I Could Truly Call Mine” Made Derek Branscombe a Director
Director Derek Branscombe has an expansive view of art. “I think the best art is an escape from reality - not in a way that distracts you, but rather enriches your worldview and keeps you curious.” This philosophy is necessarily present in his work where he likes to dissolve the lines between dreams and reality through the use of mixed media and, sometimes, his own post production efforts too.
Derek’s road to directing wasn’t a linear one. As a child, he spent hours imagining stories and drawing, getting lost in his imaginary worlds for hours at a time; his first experience of the state he now knows to be ‘creative flow’. A foray into digital art was his first taste of what’s possible, where the limits - or lack thereof - lie. Photography and video followed, and Derek worked as a cinematographer until he realised that he wanted more creative control. Directing was the way to get it.
Drawn to bold visuals, Derek is medium-agnostic when it comes to deciding on how best to achieve them using a mix of illustration, 3D, VFX, and AI. On the subject of AI, his approach is to treat it like another tool in the artist’s arsenal though he’s clear that generating images through prompts holds no interest to him. Instead, he utilises AI to further enhance ideas.
The film ‘Ossature’ for Ouri, which earned a Vimeo Staff Pick and a feature on Stash, illustrates what Derek does best: having a big idea, taking a creative risk, and not having the answer immediately. A close relationship with the musician made it possible, and Derek also undertook the arduous task of the film’s post production, all four fully green screen minutes of it. The effort was more than worth it with Derek not only achieving his artistic vision without constraints, but learning a whole new workflow in the process.
Today, LBB speaks to Derek about his creative memories, why he believes that humans will prevail over AI, and never losing sight of surreal images’ emotional impact.
Above: 'Ossature', Ouri
LBB> Derek, what are some of your first creative memories? Were you always creative when you were growing up?
Derek> I was a very shy kid, spending a lot of time alone creating stories and drawing up worlds. I had a really low attention span for the normal world, but when it came to drawing a dragon or a castle, I would literally sit for hours and couldn’t pull myself away until I was happy with it. Those obsessive moments gave me a sense of creative ‘flow’ and put my overactive brain at ease.
This also connected me to others; at school when all the other kids were looking over my shoulder at my drawing, it was my first taste of social acceptance. I guess those kinds of formative moments really stick with you.
LBB> What was your path from there to directing? When did you realise it was the right career for you?
Derek> My little world of drawing and painting completely expanded when I discovered Photoshop and Illustrator; digital art was this new realm which really opened my mind to what was possible. I was too young to get a real job, but I ended up doing a bunch of graphic design gigs on online forums - mostly getting scammed and ghosted - but it taught me to hustle.
From there I started experimenting with photography and video, eventually finding work as a cinematographer and getting the chance to work with some of the best directors here in Montreal. I honestly loved the thrill of collaborating with other artists and big crews, something the introvert in me never expected!
But I also craved more creative control - to create images that I could truly call mine. I had already been directing small creative projects here and there on my own time, and once I landed my first big ad as a director, I decided to stop accepting cinematography gigs so that I could really focus on this new path.
LBB> Your work addresses and dissolves the line between dreams and reality. What do you find interesting about dreams and why does dissolving that line hold artistic interest for you?
Derek> As a kid, you experience a few delusions as you walk into adulthood. One of the biggest for me was when I realised that magic wasn’t real - that all the amazing stories and films and fantastical ideas were just fiction and not something I would actually get to experience. Honestly it really crushed me, as if the limits of the world became so much smaller, all at once.
I guess my work has always been a way to reconcile that - creation is a sort of magic after all, and crafting images and imaginary worlds allowed me to dream big again. I think the best art is an escape from reality - not in a way that distracts you, but rather enriches your worldview and keeps you curious.
Above: 'Space Explorers - The Infinite'
LBB> How do you bring the dream world into your work? What techniques and tools help you do it?
Derek> For me it’s all about taking reality as a base - the canvas for which I’ll paint on and craft as much as possible. When I was working in photography, it was photoshop; as a cinematographer, it was light; now in video I’m working a lot with VFX, 3D and AI.
Usually, the more I can shape the image, the happier I am. I really love when I can be confident nothing else exists like it out there in the world. Of course, I always use the visual technique in service of the emotion and message, to bring a higher dimension or added layers of meaning through surreal visuals.
LBB> Your video for Ouri, ‘Ossature’, is beautifully surreal, earning you a Vimeo Staff Pick and a feature on Stash. Tell us a little bit about the brief, how you created the final film, and which techniques you combined to make it happen.
Derek> Ossature was a really wild ride. Ouri and I have a close working relationship, which allowed me to take a big risk and dive into an idea without having all the answers about how I would make it happen. The concept involved creating a fantastical world in which Ouri would battle her demons, represented literally as a sort of ‘master hand’ (yes, that’s a Super Smash Bros reference!).
I’ve always loved being hands-on, so I naively decided to tackle the entire post production myself as a one-man army, even though every shot was on greenscreen and I was therefore on the hook for four minutes of pure CGI and compositing!
Unsurprisingly, It was way harder than I imagined, but I learned a lot on the way and was able to craft a unique workflow to achieve my vision.
My saving grace was my growing interest in artificial intelligence - I was closely following the new developments in AI video space, though it was very rudimentary at that time. It basically allowed me to augment a traditional workflow of 3D and compositing, and using AI to help blend everything together.
The end result is a kind of hand drawn animation look, where each frame is unique.
LBB> Tell us more about how you approach tools like AI in your work?
Derek> Honestly, while I’ve been keeping an eye out for the next big project where I will ‘fully’ dive into AI and create a new and improved workflow, the honest answer is that I mostly just use it a lot for sketching out ideas, or pre-visualisation.
Where I’m curious to push deeper is to use AI as a sort of ‘rendering engine’ - something that can be used to add texture or tweak the look of images that are already in an advanced stage. Personally, I’m not very interested in prompting - I find it to be counterintuitive to how my brain works and I rarely find images generated from prompts to be exciting to me. So I’m looking into more ways to use AI to enhance imagery, rather than create it.
Above: BTS for 'Ossature'
LBB> What do you think about the current AI conversation in the industry?
Derek> It’s complicated!
On one hand, I think that social media and Instagram had already laid the groundwork for the gradual devaluation of art, and AI is kind of the cherry on top, where images are being pumped out in huge numbers. A lot of people say AI art looks like s*** - and a lot of it does - but the truth is that the technology is incredibly impressive on a purely aesthetic front and will only continue to improve.
I hope it will prompt artists and creators to go deeper in their work and really invest in what is special to them. The hardest part about being an artist is about figuring out what you want to say with your work, and AI doesn’t make this any easier. I have total faith that us human creators can rise to the challenge.
From my personal perspective, AI can be used to help artists realise their vision and achieve work at a scale otherwise restricted to those with huge budgets - my video 'Ossature' is a good example. But that’s a creative project, where it was my own initiative to raise the stakes. I think it’s more complicated when it comes to commercial work; the tricky part is when corporations realise they can save money by cutting corners and relying more on AI - therefore circumventing the humans they otherwise would have hired.
LBB> What do you think you bring as an artist to commercial projects? How do you balance the commercial aspects with your own artistry?
Derek> My background as a cinematographer prepped me really well to understand what’s in someone else’s head and make it a reality. I used to do this for directors, and now I do it for agencies and clients - in the end it’s not that different, just other methods of extracting the core idea.
All of that on set experience also means that I feel very at home on the actual shoot day - I cherish those moments and try to come really prepared, with a clear idea of what it will take to get each shot.
That said, the balance isn’t always simple - it’s so easy to get lost in pleasing everybody and responding to client demands and set logistics, but I know my best projects have been when I really protect that inner creative voice without letting the noise dilute it too much.
Above: 'Kona', Hyundai
LBB> What are some of your favourite commercial pieces of work that you’ve done?
Derek> Sometimes I laugh because one of my favourite commercial experiences was actually my first one - shooting a Hyundai ad in Vancouver during the pandemic. It was just a perfect storm - the client wanted something cool with lots of bold movements, and we had the budget to have a robot arm and FPV drone. The whole city was shut down on lockdown so we had full reign of the streets at night - I really felt like a kid playing around with some big toys. We almost got in trouble with the weather but the rain ended up being just light enough that we could still shoot, and benefit from a wet down everywhere we went!
I also recently got to collaborate with VR legends Felix & Paul on their new show, ‘Space Explorers’. We did an ad for the show where we put an astronaut in full gear on the Montreal subway and a few other mundane locations - allowing me to satisfy my urge for otherworldly visuals. It was really cool to work for clients who are actually artists themselves.
Above: case study for 'The Infinite'
LBB> Tell us a little bit about your creative process - what’s the first thing you like to do when a brief comes in?
Derek> After an initial brainstorm, I usually like to get into sketching and 3D previsualisation as soon as possible. It’s a lot of work, but I’m a visual thinker and getting my ideas out and starting to think about the idea in three dimensions really helps me wrap my head around the creative and logistic challenges. I love camera movement and it’s a huge asset for me to be able to actually play with the timing and feeling before even deciding on my final shot list.
LBB> You’re now repped by L'ÉLOI - why is this a good home for you and your style of working?
Derek> L'ÉLOI is a dream - it’s still new, but I already feel incredibly well supported and love the energy that is created between us. I have a unique profile as a director and have never easily fit into a box. Especially the side of me that loves doing ‘big’ advertisements, but also wants to be hands on and work with more animation and mixed media - L'ÉLOI navigates between these two domains seamlessly and really understands where I want to go. Their support of the artist and of creation is unparalleled.
LBB> Finally, what’s next on the horizon for you?
Derek> I’ve just shot a pilot for a television show with a really unique visual style, so I’m really hoping it gets picked up! It’s a really wild mix of live action and animation with a lot of CGI; it’s very much up my alley. Fingers crossed!
I’m also prepping a personal project which will also include some mixed media elements - drawing was my first art form and I’m really excited to bring it back into my workflow and further develop my unique visual signature.
