MGMT "COOL SONG No. 2"
COLUMBIA RECORDS*Noisy/Vice: Music Video of the Year
*UKMVA Nominated for Best Alternative Video & Best Cinematography
*Winner Ciclope International Festival of Craft - Music Video Finalist
*Winner Antville Music Video Awards - Best Cinematography
*Best Music Video's of 2013: Vice-Noisy | Videostatic | Promonews | IMVDB
*Director Interviews at PromoNews | IMVDB | YoursTruly | Word Is Cheap
Director's Audio Commentary | Share | Download
"Plant Hunter" is the narrative-driven music video for MGMT’s "Cool Song Number 2." The video stars Michael Kenneth Williams, known for his iconic roles as Omar in The Wire and Chalky in Boardwalk Empire, as The Plant Hunter—a new jack thief who commandeers genetically engineered plants and processes them into euphoria-inducing drugs—and Henry Hopper as Tree, his lover who has been mutated by the drug and is undergoing the final chapter of a bizarre physical transformation.
My stylist Mindy and I wrote this story while stuck in an airport in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. We were on a two-day safari after a three-week commercial and ready to fly home. But the radar was down at the one lane airport and we spent the next 24 hours, trying to get transportation back to Cape Town, and writing this entire film.
Creating this video was a bit of a dream, with MGMT melting our minds with a symbiotic soundtrack and Michael and Henry are so strong, bringing an emotional weight needed to authenticate the viscous visuals.On the cinematography front, Bradford Young (DP) and I have an interesting tension that builds similar to when you make art with a sibling. It was a bit relentless, and we pushed each other well past our comfort zones, with a result that was so much more that I ever could have imagined.
On the costume front, Mindy pulled together every favor she could - and spent night after night making costumes from scratch. We actually just kept telling ourselves, amidst getting ulcers, It’s gonna be worth it. I guess Braxton knew this as well, considering he’s produced for my heroes, including Paul Schrader. He took the suicide mission, quickly bringing in Michael and his buddy Barney Burman, who won an Oscar for his work on Star Trek, to design the prosthetics.
CREDITS
Starring Michael Kenneth Williams & Henry Hopper
Written by Isaiah Seret & Mindy Le Brock
Director Isaiah Seret
Produced by Braxton Pope
Executive Producer Candice Ouaknine
Director of Photography Bradford Young
Costume Designer & Creative Director Mindy Le Brock
Production Designer Jahmin Assa
Special Effects & Prosthetics by Barney Burman & B2FX
Make Up Megumi
Hair Abraham Esparza
Stunt Choreography Wayne Dalgish
Editor Luke Lynch
Steadycam Ari Robins
1st Assistant Director Todd Thompson
2nd AD Nicole Disson
Prod Manager Alex Moon
Art Director Max Sweeney
Color Correction Alex Bickel @Color Collective
VFX by Andres Barrios
Crystal Footage by Seven Dair and N. Butyl Lithium
Wardrobe Assistant Adrian Gilliland
Commissioner Bryan Younce
Music Video Rep Jamie Rabineau
Cast Philip Pavel, Sabine Hallauer, Jodie Smith, Cecily Rose Manson, Jalan Durimel, Jibril Durimel, Nicole Disson, Chris Jai Alex, Jerrod Paige
Special Thanks Robert Stone, Mich Rogers, Nick’s Nursery, David Gonzalez, The Hass Brothers & Osk Studio
Produced by PRETTYBIRD
