CASE STUDY

Disguise powers
single-day virtual
production shootfor rap singers
Reckol and Cakal
Istanbul’s virtual production powerhouse MGX Studiorecently teamed with Turkey’s biggest rappers Reckoland Cakal to create an ambitious music video for theirsingle ‘O Yeterdi Aslında’.
In this case study, learn how MGX Studio were able
to deliver a dazzling video within a seemingly
impossible deadline - all powered by Disguise.
www.disguise.one

Summary
Reckol and Cakal were Turkey’s breakout stars of 2022, withtheir drill and rap music reaching new audiences andcatapulting them to fame. As they looked to release their ﬁrst
major single of 2023, the duo were excited to ﬁlm a video thatwould 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 seethem in a new light. Through Disguise’s xR solution, MGX
Studios could seamlessly place their stars in seven impressive
virtual environments.

Image credits: MGX Studios

The challengeVirtual production is becoming an increasingly popular method
for ﬁlming music videos, allowing artists to feature impressive
settings and special eﬀects while minimising the costs spenton budget-eating expenses like travel and post-production.
Filming the music video for ‘O Yeterdi Aslında’ would usually bea straight-forward project for production companies like MGX
Studio.
But Reckol and Cakal had an extra challenge that would havebeen impossible to meet using any other production method:with one of the pair set to move to Los Angeles imminently, theteam 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 forthe shoot, Mete Mümtaz. “But I thought it was worth
considering when we looked at what this project could bring tous.”

Image credits: MGX Studios

The process
The project might have seemed beyond the reach of any otherproduction company, but after talking with Reckol and Cakal,
MGX Studios realised Disguise’s workﬂow solutions meant thisambitious shoot was within their grasp.
Mümtaz and his team quickly got to work - they would havejust one day to both prepare all the content needed for themusic 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 theyﬁlmed in a LED volume.

Image credits: MGX Studios

The solution
The team even had time for the addition of aesthetic ﬂourishes,such as augmented reality elements in the form of snow andﬂoating 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 theylooked within the video in real time during the shoot.
As well as giving Reckol and Cakal a context for each shot theyﬁlmed, the use of MGX Studio’s LED volume gave the team theability to further embellish each shot. Nowhere was this moreeﬀective than the use of an oﬀ-camera LED panel screening
beautiful shots of the galaxy. Though not seen directly onscreen, the cosmic display is reﬂected by the bodywork of an
on-set supercar - another ﬂourish that wouldn’t have beenpossible on a one-day shoot using any other method.

Image credits: MGX Studios

Results
Only those who were part of the production could ever tell thatthe 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.
From the epic sets that see the pair rapping in remote mountainoutcrops and a troubled space station to the atmospheric
touches that set the mood for each virtual scene, the video
never sacriﬁced its vision and delivered within the tightest ofdeadlines.

“Working with Disguise wasgreat and easy, as always. As
a studio, we add more andmore to our dynamics ofworking with Disguise witheach passing project.”
Mete Mümtaz | Project Manager
MGX Studios

Image credits: MGX Studios

Success
The video has been an instant hit with fans, with Youtubecommenters 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.

17

1.6M+

day of set

virtual scenes

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

Image credits: MGX Studios

Disguise equipment used

VX 1

VX 2RX

The perfect addition to any smallproduction, the VX 1 allows anyproject, of any size, to beneﬁt
from the power of the PRO range.

Building on the strength of theVX 4, the VX 2 gives you thefreedom to build out yourtechnical capacity depending on
the size of your production.

RX is our dedicated system forhosting content render engines,
enabling new possibilities forscale out rendering.

Find out more

Find out more

Find out more

In Partnership withProducer: Özbey Özdeker & Elif Demiralp
Project Manager: Mete Mümtaz
Director: Burak Kılıçkaya
DoP: Ziya KasapoğluMGX Studio Team: Okan Mertgil, Sedat Yıldız,
Mesut Çiftçi,Furkan Ocak, Halit Gülmez

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