NEW YORK CITY - Modern Post (https://modernpost.com) editor Sofia Kerpan cut Lady Gaga's new music video, which premiered during the Grammys broadcast on Sunday, February 2nd on CBS. Abracadabra was directed by Lady Gaga, Parris Goebel and Bethany Vargas, and features the artist surrounded by a team of dancers outfitted in monochromatic white and black outfits, with Gaga overseeing and then participating in a “Dance or Die” battle.
The track is the third single from her upcoming studio album, “Mayhem” and showcases "light" and "dark" versions of the artist, with dancers facing off in a ballroom-style house battle, infused with shades of Luca Guadagnino's Suspiria horror film.
Kerpan cut Abracadabra, which runs four-and-a-half minutes, toward the end of 2024 using Adobe Premiere.
“As soon as I saw the footage, I knew this would be a big pop moment,” reveals the editor. “It was completely fresh and yet referencing her early albums at the same time somehow. Seeing the loving response and how much joy this has brought to people is truly why I love editing music videos, because that's how I feel when I watch it too. That's the power of her music and artistry. This was a dream that I had never really imagined before. The videos for Bad Romance and Telephone are a big reason I do music videos.”
Kerpan says the choreography and sheer number of dancers presented editorial challenges, as did the volume of footage captured by three cameras during the two-day shoot.
“As we began, I was provided with videos from the rehearsals to get familiar with the choreography and order of scenes, as well as the two characters in the video (both played by Gaga) - The Mistress and the Virgin,” Kerpan shares. “For the edit itself, we did a couple days of sessions with Gaga and Parris to really get into the footage, experiment with things and crack the code. I think we locked the cut after three or four days of that. The talent of everyone involved is so evident and I was honored to be a part of this.”