Director Interview: Tara O'Callaghan

Interview by Michael Fortune

With music videos, directors have a unique opportunity to fast-track the evolution of their style. Ideas and influences are guided by the changing demands of every project. The work is fast, and the creative possibilities within the format are limitless. Each new video is an opportunity for the director to present their current skills, show their range, and explore new directions.

This is me, now.

That’s how IADT film graduate Tara O’Callaghan puts it. Her 2018 graduate film ‘Skint’ premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh and went on to win two SMEDIA awards as well as the Rising Star award at the Underground Film Festival. She immediately switched her focus to music videos and now finds herself working as an in-house creative with Event Junkies.

Tara stresses the importance of taking pride in every step of your progression as a director. In January 2019 she sends her first music video to the biggest Irish music blog, Nialler9. “Because if you don’t have confidence in your work, who will?” she explains.

October 2019 and the strategy proves effective when 50,000 copies of the latest issue of Totally Dublin are sent out across the city, featuring Tara O’Callaghan on the list of five leading Irish music video directors. Behind the article is Luke Sharkey, the same music journalist who received her first video at Nialler9.

So what was so good about that first music video? The track is ‘Everything’ by electro-pop artist Caz9. It’s an intimate glimpse of romance, memory, and heartache, which the video is careful never to betray. It leaves the viewer wanting for the details. The story behind the emotions.

“It’s so important to leave the viewer wanting more after every scene, that’s what’ll leave a lasting impression about your video, having more questions than answers, a persisting thought in the viewer’s head, rather than a perfectly tied up answer.”

And how did the project come about? Tara talks about itching to do a music video as the end of 4th year approached. A search for the right artist led her to Caz9.

“I actually went to her gig in the Bernard Shaw and I approached her as she got offstage and went ‘Can we’ve a chat?’”

The months that followed presented a monumental challenge - When you set out to make music videos, who will share your vision?

We had three cinematographers and a producer drop out.

"It was such a struggle to get it off the ground. I always believed in the project, which luckily led me to meet Aidan Gault at the Galway Film Fleadh, who immediately was buzzed about the video. It was great to finally find that energy I was looking for.”

Caz9 Video

Photography: Luisa Salmeron

When it comes to shoot day, Tara surrounds herself with skillful creatives. As with all filmmaking, successful collaboration will make or break the endeavour.

“With each video, it’s great to know that I’ve built up a solid group of collaborators that I know I can really trust and lean on”.

She is willing to put her script aside to explore what it is the actors can do. What they want to do. To some degree, they are the most important creatives on her set. Of course the lead actor in a music video is often not an actor at all, but a singer! How do you direct a nonactor? And in scenes of romantic passion?

What I did was I brought them up to a bedroom. So it was me and the actors. I got them to put their faces together and said ‘Look straight at each other! Do not close your eyes and count to 100.’ And nothing’s fucking awkward after that!

Filmmakers are responding to the rise of Irish hip-hop. On the Totally Dublin list of leading Irish music video directors, three out of five are busy doing videos for Irish rappers. Tara knows why she took this path and she raves about the directors that inspired her along the way - directors such as BRTHR, Anton Tammi, Amber Grace Johnson and Cole Bennett.

“It was the editing. I had never seen editing as out-there. It was so experimental, so different. Everything about filmmaking that I was excited about going into IADT - it just brought that all back up again when I saw those videos.”

7th Obi Video

Photography: Fáolan Carey

Still, new filmmakers struggle to embrace their influences. The ambiguous lines between inspiration, emulation and plagiarism are paralyzing.

“I think if you like a certain visual style and you put it into your own concept, that becomes its own thing in itself. It develops into its own style. So don’t be afraid to do those things. Don’t be afraid. Because you’re young you need to experiment with the things you’re naturally drawn too.”

Tara’s second music video was with Waterford rapper 7th Obi for the track ‘Choose a Side’. With the artist living in England, they took a very 21st century approach to the collaboration. After reaching out to him on Instagram, they worked through concept development and pre-production without ever seeing face-to-face. A dark and emotional track, they looked to 70s and 80s American cinema for inspiration. It wasn’t until day one of the shoot that they finally met each other.

It was really interesting because I had no idea what working with this guy in person was gonna be like. It was scary but it was exciting at the same time, and I was kinda trying to channel that into it.

7th Obi Video

Photography: Fáolan Carey

How do you then take a concept into the real world?

“Think about the value of what your image is telling you”

For Tara that means a restless dedication to the best images, the best possible results. Preproduction sees her driving around for hours at night, in search of the perfect locations.

“An aquarium, a church, a forest, a beach, a street, a laneway, a home, a balcony, a nightclub. The locations were fucking endless with this video.”

When it comes to production, it’s low-budget, high-intensity. Against the odds, it all has to come together in a 3-day shoot. That means reinventing the main narrative. It means rescheduling on day one so that 7th Obi can perform with American rapper KYLE. It even means pretending that it’s a charity video to get filming permission.

Tara calls them speedbumps. Creative workarounds borne of immediate necessity. Yet “necessity is the mother of invention”, she insists. And for these challenging moments have delivered her most memorable visuals.

7th Obi Video

Photography: Fáolan Carey

Along comes music video number three and this time Tara has teamed up with Irish rapper Hovay on the track ‘Karma’. Hovay was introduced to Tara’s work after discovering her website. He reached out to her on instagram in the hope of a collaboration. Her reaction? “Why not, let’s do it.”

By now she’s working fluently with some of her favourite collaborators. She’s in a rhythm with producer Emma Smith (IADT). She’s bending the rules with DOP Robin Kavanagh (also IADT), chancing a few shots on the pitch at Boh’s stadium. She’s discovering the hidden value of her stills photographer, Faolán Carey, who keeps everybody engaged in between shooting. It’s collaboration with the artist however, that Tara seems to prize above all else.

“I try to open myself up to every artist and listen to them. Not to meet in the middle, but to create something that we’re both proud of, and happy with.”

Hovay Video

Photography: Fáolan Carey

Before the video was through, the same portfolio website that caught the attention of Hovay also attracted the attention of production company Event Junkies/Motherland, who approached her to work with them. It was a big opportunity, and she jumped at it.

“I’m being opened up to so many different types of filmmaking with them. They’re helping me grow and learn as a creative which is going to aid me in becoming a better director in turn.”

The dream now, she explains, is to experiment with the medium and hopefully, in the long run, direct films. She wants to experiment with artists, collaborators, personal projects, styles and formats. And she wants to have fun doing it! As it happens, a number of other IADT graduates currently work with the company. As Tara notes, IADT produces very good graduates.

So what about the subject of her old college?

When I graduated I couldn’t sleep for weeks on end! I was like “What am I doing? Why didn’t I do a multimedia degree in DCU and work in Twitter, or Facebook, or Instagram?

For Tara, it has taken some time to come to terms with her student experience. On the one hand, she’s not sure that the film course at IADT really suited her. As someone who thrives under pressure, the course failed to engage her fully for the first three years. She wonders if a restructured course, with two core years and two specialization years might be an improvement.

“I don’t think you’re really getting into the layers of any particular discipline. Especially with directing. I finally found in fourth year I was getting somewhere with what I wanted to learn”

On the other hand, she credits the college with toughening her up. She thinks that students should take their time in college to learn from their mistakes, to overcome the fear of failure, and most of all, to discover the value of criticism.

It made me separate the emotion from the piece, which I think is crucial. It’s your work. You need to be able to hear about what’s wrong with it, and be able to grow from that as well.

Hovay Video

Photography: Fáolan Carey