Synopsis

Bear Hands' "Crime Pays" unfolds as a fast-moving series of street-level vignettes in which ordinary situations suddenly reveal illegal or dangerous behavior. A purse snatching, an abduction, gambling, a boxing match, an armed robbery, and arson appear in sharply staged fragments. The video repeatedly withholds key information, using camera movement and delayed reveals to turn apparently harmless scenes into criminal episodes. Rather than showing the band perform, it builds a darkly playful visual counterpart to the song's insistence that wrongdoing is widespread and sometimes rewarding.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was produced by Matchbook Pictures, with Dan Cerruti producing and Dorian Tocker editing.

• The concept originated with Ted Feldman and filmmaker Sam Shainberg during a conversation over Vietnamese sandwiches.

• Production took four days and was filmed around New York City, where Feldman, Shainberg, and members of the production team had grown up.

• The song appeared on Bear Hands' debut full-length album, "Burning Bush Supper Club," released by Cantora Records in November 2010.

• The production credits also list Cara Alpert for art and costume and Maya Kazan for casting.