Editor Lucas Moesch, who recently signed to Bandit, has cut music videos for the likes of Ezra Collective, Irama and Tom Misch. One of his latest projects was Megan Thee Stallion’sHiss video, which required few but accurately-precise cuts in order to allow space for her rap lines.
According to Moesch, he was invited by his good friend and director Douglas Bernardt to collaborate on the project.
“We have previously worked together on successful music videos, such as Nego Bala's Sonho, which won a Silver award at Cannes Lions, and Ezra Collective's No Confusion and Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes' What Kinda Music. This time, Douglas was directing three music videos for Megan, and he wanted each of them to have a unique personality. I took on the challenge of editing the second video, Hiss, which had intense lyrics and required careful attention to rhythm. My goal was to ensure that the audience could fully grasp the lyrics while appreciating the masterful visuals crafted by DP Christopher Ripley and production designer Miranda Lorenz.”
The team began the pre-shooting process by using boards to meticulously plan out the shots. This would ensure they could seamlessly finish her sentences and align with the futuristic VFX concept.
“While on-set in LA, my assistant Elijah Hermitt and I set up a system to load dailies and construct the daily structures to ensure visual and lyrical coherence,” Moesch explains. “We organized strands based on the lyrics and where each scene had covered that part. Then we built and printed this ‘bible’ in which we had everything scripted. This preparation allowed us to have the editing structure in place for when the VFX versions arrived, requiring precision to match the lyrics perfectly during filming and obtain approval swiftly.”
Much of the VFX work was done practically, allowing the editors to have a structure ready early on, while making adjustments based on the best takes and approvals for the VFX-enhanced scenes. Moesch and his assistant used two MacBook Pros and two SSD drives on-set. Following that, they spent a week editing in Adobe Premiere on a MacStudio, which consisted of an internal network of hard drives, two monitors and a reference display.
“The following week, I traveled to Lisbon to edit Bad For a Moment, a film directed by Daniel Soares, which was chosen for the 77th Festival de Cannes Short Films competition. Despite the challenges of working across different time zones, I was able to collaborate with the director in São Paulo, Brazil, and Megan's team in Los Angeles through Zoom sessions on my MacBook Pro.”
Moesch says the experience was amazing.
“Megan and her team were incredibly clear about their vision and requirements,” he recalls. “With the director and Stink production team, we had a strong partnership, and had been involved in the editing process from the very beginning. It was easy for me to select the best shots and make revisions. We collaborated in-person for a week, followed by a few weeks of remote work. Finally, I flew to LA for a one-day session with Megan, where we finalized the editing. Working with her was a delight, as she had a great understanding of our choices and only requested minor adjustments. Afterward, I had the chance to enjoy a day at the beach before returning to São Paulo the next day.”