Synopsis
A series of sunlit, slow-motion vignettes brings the feeling of old family snapshots to life. Children play, argue, run, and grow up while parents and couples share fleeting moments of tenderness, awkwardness, and celebration. Rather than presenting a conventional storyline, the video turns still memories into brief emotional scenes, allowing gestures and expressions to linger. As the instrumental track builds from gentle reflection toward a more turbulent climax, the images suggest how ordinary moments become precious memories once time has carried them away.
Factoids & Trivia
- The video was created from a mixture of vintage snapshots and newly staged scenes. Annie Gunn had collected many of the photographs from junk shops, antique stores, and the former archive Square America.
- The filmmakers designed the scenes around the emotional shape of the song. The ticking percussion near the middle inspired the image of a child running beside a fence with a stick.
- The central visual idea was to imagine what happened immediately before and after each photograph, then extend the frozen moment through very slow movement.
- Explosions in the Sky gave Gunn and Peter Simonite broad artistic freedom after seeing their concept and the original photographs. The band remained largely removed from the production process.
- Munaf Rayani reportedly offered only one editing note: one shot had to be removed. He described the band's approach to finishing songs as "adding by subtraction."
- Shooting took place over two days at and around a single vintage house in Austin, Texas. From the initial concept to release, the project took about six months.
- Two RED Epic cameras were used at 300 frames per second. The high-speed setup produced roughly 45 hours of footage for the slow-motion "moving snapshot" effect.
- Several performers had personal connections that strengthened the intimate tone: one on-screen couple were together in real life, while the mother and child shown with the soap bubble were also related.
- Some children in the cast arrived on the shooting day without having been planned in advance, including the boy in the raccoon cap and the girl running along the picket fence.
- The finished piece was also presented as an approximately eight-minute short film and screened at the 2012 New Jersey Film Festival.