Giant Mushrooms - Music Video - Director

 

The Client: Rock harpist & singer Erin Hill

The Project: Direct a music video for her original song "Giant Mushrooms" from her album Girl Inventor.

The Directive: Erin approached me to direct this video as she was aware of my love for the original Twilight Zone television series. At our first meeting regarding the tone and concept for the video we quickly hit on an homage to late 1950s Sci-Fi television.

The Process: I had a clear vision to illustrate the song with two intertwining visual narratives.
In this video, I shot footage of Erin Hill and her 5-piece band performing in a studio and interspersed an unfolding visual narrative cast in a vintage motif. The star, a young boy, is the bridge between the two realities as he appears both in the studio with the band and in scenes from his bygone world.

The Story:
The story follows this young boy in his acquisition of a "Grow your own" giant mushroom kit, an advertisement often placed on the back of comics in that era. He secretly grows them in his cellar and is eventually discovered by his mother who becomes intoxicated by their power. In a twist, they present the psychedelic mushroom as a gift to the patriarch when he comes home from work, assuring that he will live in their new mushroom-fueled world

The Visuals: The use of mid-century modern visuals, including camera techniques, set design, and a muted color pallet, exist in contrast to the psychedelic, counterculture storyline and modern studio recording of Erin and her band. This successfully creates a nostalgic tension for the viewer who is most willing to bounce back and forth between the two worlds, each one acting as a palate cleanser.

The oscillating narratives, MCM visuals, and my important choice to incorporate the actual band, who are not trained actors, for the studio portions. And, my casting of highly experienced Broadway performers to pull off the slightly theatrical tone of a mid-century television actor.

We are very proud to deliver our vision as a compelling finished product.
Please enjoy!