Synopsis

Set in a decaying, dreamlike world, "Out Of My Mind" follows Duran Duran through a gothic ghost story of haunted rooms, strange aristocrats, spectral women and unsettling apparitions. Simon Le Bon appears to age dramatically as the imagery shifts between a prisoner, a weary wanderer and a tormented figure. Nick Rhodes appears in drag, while Warren Cuccurullo adopts the role of a dark lord. The fragmented narrative plays less like a conventional performance video than a surreal horror film assembled from symbolic, often nightmarish images.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was filmed over three days in February 1997 at Krumlov Castle in Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic. The location was chosen for its Old World atmosphere and unusually theatrical architecture.

• The song was used on the soundtrack to the 1997 film *The Saint* and later appeared on Duran Duran's *Medazzaland*. Its dark visual treatment helped position the track as a departure from the band's brighter 1980s image.

• Sophisticated prosthetic makeup was used to age Simon Le Bon throughout the video. The makeup was created by Screaming Mad George, known for his work in horror and fantasy productions.

• Several scenes that resemble moving watercolors were created from individual photographs. The images were developed in a darkroom, textured and then animated frame by frame.

• The ghostly library sequences were filmed with an old motion-control camera. The technique required long waits while the camera repeated carefully programmed movements.

• Nick Rhodes' drag sequence, including the moment when he raises his skirts and scatters pigeons, was conceived as one of the video's deliberately theatrical set pieces.

• The black-and-white passages draw on the look of early twentieth-century horror cinema. Reversed footage, speed changes, overexposure, drifting focus and layered images add to the sensation that the video is an imperfect memory.

• Although the production looks elaborate, the main expenses were reportedly travel and renting the castle. The local extras and much of the wardrobe were relatively inexpensive.

• The video was made during the period when John Taylor was absent from the lineup, leaving Simon, Nick and Warren as the central band members featured in the clip.