From Beck's “Devils Haircut” to the Verve's “Bittersweet Symphony”, great music videos are bursts of sound and vision that leave an indelible impression. Director's Cut is a Pitchfork News feature in which we chat with music video directors about their creations. The men and women behind the camera are often overlooked in today's YouTube era, but this feature aims to highlight their hard work while showcasing the best videos currently linking around the internet. A little behind-the-scenes dirt couldn't hurt, too.
This time, we spoke with Bay Area directing duo Terri Timely– aka Ian Kibbey and Corey Creasey– about their surreal lost highway adventure for St. Vincent's “Marrow”. The clip features Annie Clark flashing back to an eerie stroll down a desolate road, entrancing bystanders, most of whom happen to be in some state of duress. Or are the people following her in a really slow, really creepy chase?
Shot over two days near an old duck hunting club in northern California, the video's a mind-bender that raises more questions than it answers. And who better to try to solve our queries than the dudes who came up with it in the first place. Click on to watch the video and read the interview with directors Kibbey and Creasey:
Pitchfork: The plot of this video is fairly ambiguous. Was that your intention?
Corey Creasey: Yeah. In general, musicians tend to not make their words too specific, so we wanted to work in the same spirit. The roadside grave at the beginning was supposed to just set an ominous tone, but some people were thinking, “Oh, did she die?” It probably opened up more cans of worms than we expected.
Ian Kibbey: We talked about this dream notion of following and being followed, but it's almost as if the slow speed of the pursuit makes the stakes ambiguous. Like, why is everyone following her so slowly? We were playing with this convention of somebody being on your tail, and taking it to a surreal place.
Pitchfork: This video really fits with St. Vincent because, listening to her albums, I sometimes get the feeling that she has this diabolical side. Though she looks sweet and innocent in this video, I felt like she had some control over these people following her.
CC: Yeah, like who's watching who? We actually originally envisioned the ending differently. She was going to come to the end of the road and someone would come out of the crowd and hand her a microphone and end on that.
IK: But it felt too final, like we were almost saying too much about this audience/follower/performer dynamic. That's what's fun about this medium, you're allowed to feel like you're in a different world than some open-and-shut narrative.
Pitchfork: You usually create your own weird little worlds with your videos. They're obviously staged and not just documentary-style. And there's a similar distance involved with St. Vincent– I would never describe her music as “raw.”
CC: Yeah, she's not singing her heart out. She also has a weird, natural calm to her– it's almost unsettling, as if there's always something going on. That's not only based on how she looks but also how she sings, too.
She was really a trooper. Toward the end of the shoot she would basically go to sleep between takes. I remember the hair and makeup lady would be amazed because she would fall asleep completely still– she wouldn't slouch or anything– then we would wake her up and she'd get up and be ready to perform.
Pitchfork: Were there any issues with the people who played characters on the side of the road?
IK: Absolutely. They were there until 5 a.m.– it became sort of method acting. We had a kid… actually I don't think we can go into it because of labor laws. Let's just say it was a long night. One of the construction workers almost got in a fight with this guy's girlfriend.
CC: She claimed that he had called her a cunt. It was very “Jerry Springer”.
Pitchfork: I really like that shot of the kids nonchalantly chewing gum while watching another kid get the crap kicked out of him.
IK: Yeah, we had so many factors in one night dealing with extras and goats– it was really stressful to have a dozen goats on a rope next to you.
Pitchfork: Why goats, by the way?
CC: We could easily use totally random shit, but that becomes cartoonish. We tried to set some guidelines for ourselves. It's a tricky balance. A goat farm on the side of the road by itself might not be that weird, but alongside all these other things it becomes ominous.
IK: We were trying to up the ante in a very concerted way. We wanted the goats and the goat herder to be equally shocked, too, like, “Whoa, who is this woman?”
Pitchfork: What is it about music videos that keeps you coming back to the form?
IK: At the end of each one, we're like, “Are we going to do another one of these?,” like a woman in the middle of pregnancy or something. But eventually, we're like, “Yeah, let's do another one!” You need to give yourself a little punishment.
CC: And, after doing stuff like commercials, you need to get your soul back a little bit.
All designs, narrative and photographs on Pretty Pressings are ©2007-2008 Claudia Rosa's designs. Content shared on this site should not be used, borrowed, or published for ANY reason without written authorization. It is illegal for any unauthorized person or company to scan, copy, duplicate, manipulate, alter, or reproduce in any way, my work without permission. Do not submit templates you see on my blog for applications on DT or Magazines. Please contact me for all usage requests. Thanks!
