BEEP! "Hey, it's me. So, I'm leaving LA tomorrow... I'll pick you up in New Mexico by Tuesday... We have to be in New York by Saturday so... I'll see you soon!" click!
Olivier "Twist" Gondry, Michel's brother and visual effects guy for a couple years, begins his quest into direction with a video that sets two guys careening across America in a vintage Chrysler convertible. RES's Sandy Hunter: "The video consists of digitally fast forwarded time lapse 16mm photography shot from a rig set up in the back seat. The entire seven-day journey, shot at one frame per second of driving (one frame per 10 seconds at night) is compressed into less than four minutes."
The Gondry spirit shows through in Olivier's editing, synchronizing the song with the scenery and showing tidbits of humanity. We get to see each night's motel stay, a stop for a quick map-check, a car wash. The weather, always beautiful in time lapse, forges ahead throughout the journey. And a variety of landscapes whiz by: skyscrapers, towering bluffs, limitless sky, unending freeway, darkness, city lights.
Like Star Guitar, a psychedelic trip through the French landscape, "Behind" delivers a picture of America that is celebratory and, for this author, filled with memory and love for this country. The song hums along: "Yooou-oo-oo-oo-oo, and your smile!" The two gentlemen end their journey in NYC's blazing night, get out of the car, and perhaps get some coffee.
"Behind" is included on the May/June 2003 RES DVD "resonance", and is given to subscribers only. Subscribe now!
You can see the entire video at lacquersound.com or at partizan.
http://www.partizan.us/musicvideos/og/lacquer.html
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