Synopsis
The video follows Sonny Castille, a former Las Vegas lounge singer whose life has been devastated by drug addiction. Having moved to Reno in an attempt to disappear, Sonny drifts through a bleak, fragmented world shaped by isolation and loss. The portrait is presented from his point of view, blending documentary-style imagery with digitally altered stop-motion animation. The result is an intimate and unsettling character study that turns one man's personal collapse into a visual meditation on memory, disappearance, and survival.
Factoids & Trivia
- The video was filmed in Reno, Nevada, in early 2014.
- Sonny Castille was a real person whose story inspired the concept. The filmmaker encountered him at a slot machine in the Sands Hotel at approximately 2 a.m. and was moved by his account of addiction and loss.
- The narrative is intentionally presented through Sonny's eyes rather than as an outside biography, giving the video a subjective, disoriented quality.
- The production combines live-action footage with a stop-motion animated sequence that was digitally modified in post-production.
- The animation work used Dragonframe and After Effects. Martin McPherson handled the visual effects.
- DNA was the production company. The listed production team also included cinematographer Mike Okimoto, art director Melanie Swerdan, editor Drew Stevenson, and producer Erika Belis.
- "Horses Fell" appears on The Darcys' 2013 album "Warring," a record that generated an unusually large series of related music videos. Six tracks from the album ultimately received videos.