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The director of Beyoncé & Jay Z's vanished video speaks out

Klaudia//September 20, 2014
As the world gears up for Jay Z and Beyoncé’s HBO special this Saturday, featuring footage from their ‘On The Run’ tour, fans are wondering about the mysterious disappearance of part one of the three-part video series ‘Bang Bang’ from the Internet this week. Clips from the highly anticipated film were shown throughout the tour, and it is expected to feature in tomorrow’s documentary special in some capacity. i-D ventured to the Soho studio of the film’s director Dikayl Rimmasch and his accomplice, Will Kaner, to get the scoop.

Tell us about the three parts of "Bang Bang.”
Dikayl Rimmasch: The director's cut, the linear three-part concept, the first of which was on the Internet briefly, was based on the storyboards we had originally laid out. The tour cuts were much faster-paced versions based on the venue and energy. Beyond that, I don’t know about the release and timing of the different parts.

What happened to Part 1?
No comment.

How did you come up with the treatment?
DR: Jay Z and Beyoncé wanted to do something different. Beyoncé had this idea to start the concert with a different vibe based on Breathless. I had been shooting in a hand-held style for Ralph Lauren that was similar, so that was the connection. I had just met the war photographer/branding guy Will Kaner and we painstakingly went through all of these films like Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, Breathless and True Romance, practically frame by frame trying to find images that Jay and B's team would respond to and do the job. I think it was a bit of a risk because Jay and B hadn't done anything in that style before. They really wanted to know that we'd done our homework.

What was it like to work on such a big production?
DR: Working in the desert with a GTO and AK-47s is always the fantasy, having Beyonce shooting the guns was beyond. Oh, and there were paparazzi. I wasn’t used to that.
Will Kaner: They camped out at like 3am and were dressed in camouflage. Dikayl was off doing all of the shoots with Jay and B while I directed B-unit. Like meerkats, the paparazzi would pop up with these huge photo-lenses and get in my shot. We had a closed set with cops all around so I was able to tell the cops to go out and move the guys. It was the only time in my life that I got to tell the cops what to do.

Were there any mishaps on the set?
DR: We were ahead of schedule when we were setting up the stage scene, and the smoke machine hadn’t arrived yet. We were asking Jay Z to light up another cigar every ten minutes. I mean, I couldn’t keep doing that. So I asked everyone on the crew who smoked to smoke and everyone else left. For the next hour it was the old New York bar scene.

Tell us about the car.
WK: It was a late 60s Pontiac GTO. By the end of the shoot I think the rental guys said we did something like 9K of damage to it. I mean, we shot out the windshield, blew up a case of money in it and drove that thing so hard for those two days. We had used Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia as a reference for how we wanted it to look. It's this great old movie where they start with a pristine car and by the end it's just a total wreck. It takes on a character-like quality in that way.

What was it like to work with Jay Z and Beyoncé?
DR: They're king and queen of this empire. It was amazing to come in with this little specialisation and to be part of something so big and terrifying at the same time. There is always this pressure on bigger gigs to do it bigger and with the latest greatest gear. But they were hiring me for something that intentionally looked less thoughtful, in a way, and hand-held and spontaneous. I tried to surround myself with people to help me accomplish that. I think I did. I mean, I’m on a hotel mattress with Beyoncé and I can’t believe how amazing and beautiful she is, and I’m shooting on this cheap camera with an old temperamental Russian lens with really fucked up screw threads. Believe me, the thought definitely crossed my mind to shoot on the larger format. But I really trusted it was the right lens and camera for the job, which was to get close, personal and move fast.

Are you excited for the special to air on HBO?
I went to the tour here in New York. Obviously it was amazing to see the footage on that scale and to see what Ed Burke, Beyoncé’s Creative Director, did with it, how he incorporated it into his mad, mad world with the sound and the scale and the flamethrowers. I'm really curious how it's going to play out in the HBO special. I’ve seen some of the backstage black and white. It’s killer.