Synopsis
A group of young men enters the woods and takes part in a strange, dreamlike ritual. Their journey unfolds through eerie forest imagery, fragmented bodies, handmade objects, and surreal creatures, including a giant jellyfish-like figure. One participant appears as a headless version of himself, carefully whittling a stick, while distorted images of the band merge into a rotating human chandelier. The video combines ominous rural atmosphere, psychedelic imagery, and an intentionally cryptic narrative about transformation, altered perception, and a return to nature.
Factoids & Trivia
- The video was made for Young Loves, an Illinois psych-rock band, and was released in 2010.
- The opening was filmed in the Shawnee National Forest near Carbondale, Illinois. The rest was shot on nearby private land.
- Production took place across four nights, scheduled sporadically around the availability of the largely volunteer crew.
- The project was made without a conventional budget. Equipment was borrowed from a nearby university, while friends helped construct props and practical elements.
- The filmmaker described the video as his first completed music-video project after making short films for several years.
- The story's ritual was inspired by the song and by ideas of psychedelic transcendence, shamanic practice, friendship, and returning to nature.
- The jellyfish-like creature was created in Maya and composited with lighting effects in After Effects. Sub-surface scattering was used to give it a translucent appearance.
- The unusual "human chandelier" effect was created through extensive data moshing rather than a single ready-made effect. Footage of band members spinning on a plank in the woods was repeatedly warped, layered, broken into particles, and recombined.
- The production notes emphasize that the data-moshed chandelier still contains recognizable fragments of the performers, including parts of their faces and legs.
- The video received attention from Pitchfork and was later included in the BUG music-video program, which cataloged it as a 2010 US production.