The Value of Calm and Transparent Communication on Set

After starting with weird videos in the golden age of YouTube at age 14, Rupert Höller now directs multi-award-winning music videos and commercials, somewhere between comedy and surrealism, always with a big heart for art direction.

His work won a UKMVA Newcomer Award, Silver at the 1.4 Awards, Berlin Music Video Award, Austrian Music Video Award and has been selected at Slamdance, Raindance, Berlincommercial, Aesthetica Film Festival, Vimeo Staff Pick and Nowness.

He is one of a few directors to have been selected with two music videos in the same year at Camerimage Festival 2022.

Apart from all that, he likes minimalistic photography and baking cinnamon rolls. If you ask nicely, he’ll bring one the next time you see him.

Name: Rupert Höller

Location: Vienna, Austria

Repped by/in: The Deli, Canada

Awards: UKMVA, Berlin MVA, 1.4 Awards, Bogotá MVF

LBB> What elements of a script sets one apart from the other and what sort of scripts get you excited to shoot them?

Rupert> Scripts with great visual potential and clever writing get me excited – something where you can feel that someone put love into the idea. I’m a very visual person and I love art direction. If I see the opportunity to make something great in that direction, creating a unique or weird visual world, I’m always especially excited.

LBB> How do you approach creating a treatment for a spot?

Rupert> After the briefing call, where I always try to ask as many questions as possible (there are always some hidden background thoughts or ideas that weren’t in the initial agency concept), I start collecting moods and then the writing, or the other way around. Sometimes I also make a mood edit with video references; for some types of concepts, this just works much better to communicate the vision.

I love the process of working with a great treatment designer and visual researcher and the moments of finding the perfect references for an idea.

LBB> If the script is for a brand that you're not familiar with/ don’t have a big affinity with or a market you're new to, how important is it for you to do research and understand that strategic and contextual side of the ad? If it’s important to you, how do you do it?

Rupert> If I don’t know the brand, I definitely do some research to get a feeling for who they are and how they operate to collect some insights into what the goal is and what they want to achieve with their campaign.

But even more important is the approach to how to reach that goal from a creative perspective. More than knowing the brand or the market perfectly, it’s about creating something that entertains and moves and gets the message across in the best way, no matter what brand or market area.

LBB> For you, what is the most important working relationship for a director to have with another person in making an ad? And why?

Rupert> The DP is always my closest partner in crime on a project. Having someone to bring the vision to life together and someone who brings visual expertise and fresh new ideas is amazing. I love a deeply collaborative approach. Also, having a good relationship with the producer and the creatives always brings out the best in each project where the highest goal for everyone involved is to make something beautiful.

In general I’m always as involved as I can be with all departments and excited when there is a shared creative energy. The more you share, discuss and plan, the better the result and the smoother the days on set will be.

LBB> What type of work are you most passionate about – is there a particular genre or subject matter or style you are most drawn to?

Rupert> I love cheeky, weird and subtle comedy paired with vibrant art direction or surreal elements.

I love practical effects, pulling off little magic tricks that the seven-year-old me tried to achieve (or dreamed of). If there is something organic that meets something absurd, that’s a very beautiful thing. Grounded in reality but floating just a little bit above the ground.

LBB> What misconception about you or your work do you most often encounter and why is it wrong?

Rupert> When having a certain style and specific aesthetic, of course there always is the thing with pigeonholing. But I have to say I enjoy having a handwriting that I crafted and that also just evolved after years of trying different things and approaches. Even if it means some briefs won’t reach me because it’s not the right style, I feel most at home with the style I have and also think I still have a lot of wiggle room to explore within that universe.

LBB> What’s the craziest problem you’ve come across in the course of a production – and how did you solve it?

Rupert> I shot a music video project for several songs of the same band, five music videos with a connected story. About one week before the shoot, we had a feedback call with the band where they gave us the kind of feedback that should have been given way earlier in the process. It turned out that the final treatment was not shared and it only reached the band one week before the shoot instead of three weeks earlier when I sent it and the project was greenlit.

So now there was a tonne of re-planning and shifting. For example, I finished the casting for the third day while on set on the first day. Also, we shot with live animals and kids, always the best combo.

It was one of the most intense weeks of my life but in the end, it turned out great. We had an amazing crew that powered through with me.

Also, after shooting about 50 music videos, I learned to trust that there is a solution for every problem and the quickest way to solve a problem is to stay calm and communicate transparently.

LBB> How do you strike the balance between being open/collaborative with the agency and brand client while also protecting the idea?

Rupert> It’s all about transparent and open communication. In general I’m always for “let the best idea win”, no matter who put it out there.

Of course, often there are times where some changes are requested based on decisions that feel absurd in the moment. In these cases I always like to get as much background info as possible to see where the impulse is coming from.

In a lot of cases when you see the bigger picture, it either makes sense or it gives me a new idea that both protects my vision and incorporates what is important for the client.

LBB> What’s your relationship with new technology and, if at all, how do you incorporate future-facing tech into your work?

Rupert> It is both scary and amazing, especially what’s happening with AI over the last few months and years. I try not to see it as a threat to my work, but more like a tool that can make certain parts of the process easier and more efficient.

AI can help with retouching in post or with conveying moods in treatments by creating images that only exist in my mind or are too specific to find references for, and sometimes this even leads to a new crazy idea.

Fully AI-generated films that try to replace spots is something completely different and not only feels soulless to me but also open up the big question of copyright and intellectual property issues.

But again, if incorporated as a tool in a smart way in the process we are used to, it can be helpful.

LBB> Which pieces of work do you feel really show off what you do best – and why?

Rupert> That feels like naming which of your kids you like best (and if you ask me in a month, maybe it’s completely different), but here we go:

STIEGL – TASTES DIFFER

MOTOROLA RAZR

NONSTOP - CINEMA MEMBERSHIP:
A fun little film that celebrates the love for cinema, with lots of details in props and costumes and some practical in-camera effects.

ACKERMANN