shots Iconic Covers: Hauke Hilberg

Back in September 2011, up-and-coming director Hauke Hilberg was featured in our German special of shots 130. To accompany the feature we tasked him with submitting a creative portrait and what we received made the cover for the issue with its autumnal tones.

In this latest interview with Hilberg, to celebrate 25 years of shots in 2015, the director looks back on the day he went into the woods for his portrait and what has happened to the suit since. He also offers his thoughts on the current state of online advertising and whether his views have changed since the last time we spoke to him.

Tell us about the concept for your shots portrait and how you came up with it…

It's nice that you think there was a concept behind that. It was actually a bit of pressure to find an idea for a special photo. After I did the interview I was asked to send a picture that shots could put next to my interview. The editor asked me to shoot a picture of me that shows and combines all my interests, skills and creative in one while he was showing an example of a director sitting in a lounge posing for another shots interview.

Show all your creativity and skills in a single photo? Wtf? I tried to find a funny idea and at that moment a friend of mine was telling me his idea of re-shooting a scene from Harry and the Hendersons. He was still searching for someone to play Bigfoot and I was like: “I can do it and after your shoot we have to take a funny picture...“

Where did you shoot and was the location hard to scout?

Shooting a trash-remake about Bigfoot, the location was set to be somewhere in the forest. Honestly I have to say that I didn't scout it, we drove to a former military base near Berlin and I am not allowed to tell you anything about permissions to shoot there.

Tell us about your Nike trainers. Why did you want to include them in the image?

Right after film school I shot my first big project for Nike and we talked about that in the interview. In the end it was not part of a bigger plan, I just liked the red and intense color combined with the costume and those sneakers are actually the exact model that B.A. Baracus from The A-Team is wearing in the TV series all the time.

And the suit you were wearing… what’s the significance of it and was it hard to find?

I used Google and found it in one minute, but it took me several hours to decide that it was the perfect one. It was also a decision of budget, so I decided to buy the cheapest one and then I did some changes to it like adding some grey fur to the suit and the mask to make it look more like Bigfoot.

How well do you think the photo fit with the interview that was printed?

Really? I think I took this idea for a photo to show that I like funny stuff. I remember your headline: “From Bigfoot to Bigshot,“ which added a deeper message to my picture. I don't see myself like this. I love to be a director and put all my crazy ideas into my projects, so yes, the concept of shooting a strange and wierd picture fits with the interview where we talked about my showreel.

And what was the feedback like when the issue was released?

I still remember the first feedback I got aftger shots released this issue. A producer sent me a message via Facebook that was something like: “Congrats, sexy cover girl!“ and I had no clue what she was talking about.

I was never told I’d be on the cover. That was a big surprise for me and I was totally shocked the moment I saw it. I still can't believe you were so brave putting it on there. After the issue was released everybody I met was asking for the costume... “Oh, Hauke Hilberg, are you the guy with the Bigfoot suit from shots? Are you wearing this costume also while you are directing?"... of course, I do.

Anyway, it was amazing for me to get feedback from around the world and I still start smiling if I think about being on the front of a shots issue... in a silly suit... totally destroyed after wearing it on a hot summer‘s day for two hours.

Did you take the costume back after the shoot? Tell us a bit more about the day…

I can remember that I also helped the art department on the set of the Bigfoot-trash-movie and everybody but me was using sunblock. After four hours in the sun my skin was completely burned and then I had to jump in the suit. My whole body was hurting and hated the suit so much. After finishing, the DP Jan Bormann and I took the photo in about five minutes.

After that horrible day wearing the suit, I put it into the darkest corner of my basement. A few weeks after I took it to a Halloween party and on the next morning I left it on the sidewalk before I jumped into a taxi, because I had no time to burn it.

This turned out to be a huge mistake. I can't remember why, but I know that I had to buy a new one, because I needed the costume again... maybe for an award show, but that‘s another story...

Do you still believe that “80 per cent of all online campaigns are complete bullshit”?

Honestly it's up to 90 per cent now. I can't believe that big companies started putting their normal 30-second-TVCs as unskippable pre-roll ads in front of internet videos. Agencies should start telling their clients  that they should go on doing this kind of ‘online marketing‘ if they really hate their customers.

As we all know there are just a few amazing campaigns online showing how to create content that people love to see. There are so many ‘surprising marketing stunts‘ on the web right now, where people are filmed with hidden cameras, excited about something that is totally fake, taking pictures with their mobile phones, laughing, being happy, totally surprised. Are there any customers out there who want to see those clips? I think they did a great job on the TNT Drama commercial, but after that, all the clients think they need a film like this too. The web is full of campaigns like that, which are even worse than branded content flash mobs.

I‘ve already thought about founding a footage library like Getty Images, offering random people staring at things, so clients don't have to shoot this anymore and can just add their crazy and surprising idea in the edit. I think that online campaigns can achieve so much more than this and I think we have to trust in creative and unusual ideas instead of copying the few cool and succesful films over and over again. I really love being entertained, surprised or irritated by a stunning or crazy online campaign and I still believe that most of us still want to write, create and direct one of those moments. So, we had better start.

Now read our feature with Hilberg - taken from issue 130 of shots - here.