Beyoncé and Jay Z’s “On The Run” outing may be a wrap but Mr. and Mrs. Carter continue to hog the spotlight thanks to a new trilogy, directed Dikayl Rimmasch, titled Bang Bang. Part one finds music’s power couple up to no good as they try to escape the hands of the law. Nowness picked the New York-based filmmaker’s brain about the creative process and why Jay Z didn’t want the high-profile pair to emulate Bonnie and Clyde.
How did you capture the subtle humor and candidness?
Dikayl Rimmasch: It was a thrill to photograph the scene with Beyoncé in the hotel room so intimately and get those moments. There’s this footage screened on On the Run from Jay Z’s 40th birthday party and home footage of Beyoncé traveling. That to me is still the most powerful stuff. At the end of the day they have all the human behavior that everyone else has.
How did you work the Bonnie and Clyde story in a new way?
DR: In my first conversation on the telephone with Jay Z he explained his concept of On the Run. He said: “We’re not trying to do this literally, it’s not that we’re Bonnie and Clyde. We’re on the run from everything. On the run from becoming a cliché. On the run from doing the same thing again.” Everything he mentioned was a level of consciousness he has for staying alive as an entertainer and as a human being. He wanted to keep it more abstract because for him it was very abstract. How do you stay new, not just to your audience but also yourself?
Grab some popcorn and feast your eyes on the first installment on VIBE.