2007 Interview with Marek Budzynski - Director of "The Walk" Video
Recently director Marek Budzynski uploaded a very rare and unseen video to YouTube for the Eurythmics track “The Walk” (from the Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) album). Long-time Eurythmics fans were amazed, many of whom had never even heard of, or let alone seen video. I asked Mr. Budzynski if he would answer a few questions about the making of the video and he kindly agreed.
What was your involvement with the production of this video – were you the director, cameraman, etc.?
Television at the Royal College of Art in London. Sophie Muller and I were classmates so I got her to help do the lighting and she edited the film. The camera operator and his mate (I can’t remember their names but I think one of them was called Julian) who were at the London College of Printing were friends of Dave and Annie’s manager back then and they brought the job to us at the Royal College.
When was the video filmed and where?
The video was filmed at a carpenter friend of Dave and Annie’s who had a courtyard outside where all the beer barrels were being stored by a local distributor.
Who came up with the storyline or idea for the video?
The original idea came from Dave and Annie and their manager. They talked about mood rather than specifics which is where we all came up with the lighting changes, etc.
I am assuming that the video was filmed prior to later videos such as “Sweet Dreams” and “Love Is A Stranger”. Is that correct?
From what I know The Walk was shot before Love Is A Stranger. Our film had an extremely low budget but back then you could still film on 16mm and end up on tape for not much money. I ended up directing for Jon Roseman who produced Love Is A Stranger but not as a result of working on The Walk.
What was it like working with Annie and Dave? Is there anything interesting or amusing that you remember and would like to share?
I liked working with them both. They had a friend of theirs hanging around on the shoot who I think was Blondie’s guitarist (but I could be completely wrong about that one)
Tell us a little bit about how Sophie Muller was involved with this video. Could this have been what led Eurythmics and Annie to work her later on in their career?
Sophie worked helping out on the lighting and she edited the film at the Royal College of Art in a 16mm Steenbeck. After she left the film school she started working for a company called the Oil Factory which Dave’s brother started up. She once told me that she bumped into Dave at the Oil Factory offices. Dave remembered her from the The Walk shoot and asked her to work with them on a new video. Sophie could fill you in better but that’s how I think it went.
What eventually happened to the video? Why was it never shown or
released?
No idea about that one. The original print of the film got lost but by that point I wasn’t in contact with anyone involved in the production so I didn’t know whether it had been on television or not.
Is there anything that we haven’t covered so far?
I had no idea that the video was so rare and I’m glad that so many people appreciate it after such a long time.
Marek Budzynski has been working in film and T.V. since 1979. He graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1983 with Sophie Muller (both received M.A.’s in Film and Television). He currently directs, produces, edits and shoots a variety of work and has just come back from China where he directed four Kung Fu DVD’s and a Kung Fu short. Check out Shifu Yan Lei on YouTube and also Marek’s channel to get an idea of the types of things he is involved with.
Special thanks for Marek for taking the time to answer these questions.
March 11, 2007
