Berlin’s Paul Kalkbrenner is techno artist with a meteoric rise to fame. He has emerged from the music underground to the top of the charts and has amassed millions of fans in the process. Now he has an ad agency, and Mother Berlin’s first work matches Kalkbrenner’s unique music style perfectly. Kalkbrenner made the evolution from DJing to producing and creating music using analogue 24-track mixers and effects, which means that every song played is different every time.

Mother Berlin’s first work the artist, uses the individual style of Serbian-American director, Jovan Todorović, through production company, BWGTBLD. The music video, Schwer, is Kalkbrenner’s first track since 2021. It takes inspiration from the German word “Fremdkörper“ or foreign body, and this is used as the film concept. 

Rather than developing a short narrative base for the film, Schwer uses each scene to demonstrate either longing, hiding or being taken over by such a foreign body. A single element or person can completely change the way we look at each scene.

Stefan Wittemann, creative director of Mother Berlin, stated, “Our lives are being dominated by algorithms, and AI-generated images become more and more indistinguishable from reality. Our concept is rooted in a societal observation. We wanted to create an altered version of reality – an obvious digitally mirrored everyday life that showcases the mundane and absurd patterns of our social behaviours.”

Jovan Todorović added, “The video is arranged like a series of paintings, fluctuating between the ordinary and the absurd. It prompts viewers to question the reality of what they see, distinguishing between the genuinely human and the deliberately human-like. Schwer is less of a story-based film and more of a commentary on society.”

Schwer builds as an ongoing loop of scenes we all know from our daily lives. Each appears completely normal at first, but every time a scene is revisited, the content slightly alters, building an arc from normal life to complete absurdity. The camera moves through these scenes, making the viewers wonder if what they see is real or not. All empty backgrounds of the video are shot throughout Berlin to which the characters are added.

Rather than using actors, digital technology was used to render 4D-volumetric people in place, 42 camera captures locking the motion of each person, making it possible to be used as a 3D element within the final film. The technology allowed each scene to be a canvas, where the creators could paint carefully created compositions that match the part of the songs and the overall arc of the video. Anima, software usually used for architectural visualisations was repurposed for the project. 

Kalkbrenner commented, “Incredible. This volucap technology is really another level. I feel very privileged to be able to work with Jovan, Mother Berlin, BWGTBLD and everyone else involved in this video. It couldn’t be more on point.”

The music video will promote Schwer online and in broadcast media. 

For the cover art, the concept of the video was expanded with a shot of Paul Kalkbrenner being recorded in the 4D-volumetric-scanner, holding his hands over his face and covering his eyes. A moment that can be interpreted in many ways – from disbelief to hilarious laughter. Shutting himself off from the reality around him.

Credits:
Music: Paul Kalkbrenner
Artist MGMT: The Principals 
Manager: Marcus Ruschmeyer 
Digital PM: Gina Donohoe

Creative Agency: Mother Berlin
Creative: Mother
Strategy: Mother 

Production: BWGTBLD

Berlin Unit
Director: Jovan Todorović 
DoP: Lazar Bogdanovic
Executive Producer & Managing Partner: Jakob Preischl
Producers: Greta Müller & Nicolas Mirbach
Production Assistant: Chiara Walde
VFX & CGI: Slavko Gavric @ MOSE MGMT
Editor: Mimma Petrovic
Colour: Mikey Rossiter @ Rare Medium
Volumetric 4D Shoot: Sven Bliedung von der Heide, Torsten Schimmer, Sascha Schwarz, Mitch Bozzo, Elizabete Vindule-Mince & Philipp Hundertpfund @ Volucap GmbH
4D People Archive: @ AXYZ Design
Artwork at U-Bahnhof Magdalenenstrasse: Wolfgang Frankenstein & Hartmut Hornung © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 

Serbia Unit
Producer: Marija Markovic
Production Manager: Mirjana Starcevic
PA: Maja Shaw
Camera Operator: Dzejlan Ibrahimovic
Key Grip: Marko Deljanin
Camera Assistant: Stefan Matic
DIT: Marija Sarac
Security: Kan Film