disguise powers single-day virtual production shoot for rap singers Reckol and Cakal

Summary

Reckol and Cakal were Turkey’s breakout stars of 2022, with their drill and rap music reaching new audiences and catapulting them to fame. As they looked to release their first major single of 2023, the duo were excited to film a video that would match up to their new status in the Turkish music scene.

Collaborating with virtual production experts MGX Studios enabled them to take advantage of state-of-the-art technology, and film a music video of epic dimensions so fans could see them in a new light. Through disguise’s xR solution, MGX Studios could seamlessly place their stars in seven impressive virtual environments.

The challenge

Virtual production is becoming an increasingly popular method for filming music videos, allowing artists to feature impressive settings and special effects while minimising the costs spent on budget-eating expenses like travel and post-production. Filming the music video for ‘O Yeterdi Aslında’ would usually be a straight-forward project for production companies like MGX Studio.

But Reckol and Cakal had an extra challenge that would have been impossible to meet using any other production method: with one of the pair set to move to Los Angeles imminently, the team would have just one day to prepare and shoot the entire music video.

“Our timeline could easily have felt like a joke considering industry standards,” says MGX Studio’s project manager for the shoot, Mete Mümtaz. “But I thought it was worth considering when we looked at what this project could bring to us.”

The process

The project might have seemed beyond the reach of any other production company, but after talking with Reckol and Cakal, MGX Studios realised disguise’s workflow solutions meant this ambitious shoot was within their grasp.

Mümtaz and his team quickly got to work - they would have just one day to both prepare all the content needed for the music video, as well as actually film it.

“In terms of content and project management,” says Mümtaz, “disguise is the perfect technology partner for us.”

The flexibility of disguise’s seamless workflows with render engines was key to the project, with the team able to use Unreal Engine to create no less than seven unique immersive sets that could be displayed around Reckol and Cakal as they filmed in an LED volume.

The solution

The team even had time for the addition of aesthetic flourishes, such as augmented reality elements in the form of snow and floating space debris. Instead of requiring extensive CGI in post-production, these elements were built into the disguise workflow, so director Burak Kılıçkaya could see how they looked within the video in real time during the shoot.

As well as giving Reckol and Cakal a context for each shot they filmed, the use of MGX Studio’s LED volume gave the team the ability to further embellish each shot. Nowhere was this more effective than the use of an off-camera LED panel screening beautiful shots of the galaxy. Though not seen directly on screen, the cosmic display is reflected by the bodywork of an on-set supercar - another flourish that wouldn’t have been possible on a one-day shoot using any other method.

Results

Only those who were part of the production could ever tell that the final music video for Reckol and Cakal’s ‘O Yeterdi Aslında’ was produced in a single day. The end result is a glossy, cinematic film with high-end production values in every shot.

The video has been an instant hit with fans, with Youtube commenters claiming that ‘there are no rappers whose videos are this high quality’. With over one and a half million views already, the clip is helping to further raise the profiles of its stars Reckol and Cakal.

“Both the final result and the content created were fascinating for everyone involved in the project,” says Mümtaz. “The compliments and comments that came to the music video after it was released are a source of real pride for us at MGX Studio.”