Sound And Vision: Sam Raimi

In the article series Sound and Vision we take a look at music videos from notable directors. This week we look at two music videos by Sam Raimi.

In between Evil Dead II and Darkman Sam Raimi made two different music videos, his sole two to date. They are fairly similar in scope and action, in that they are both performance videos, focusing mostly on camera effects to heighten the style of the video. The set design in both music videos is spare. In Royal Court of China's Half the Truth (see below) the set is the band playing in a sort of junkyard, standing on cars and having a few rotating spotlights for optimum effect. In Iggy Pop's Cold Metal (see also below) the set is equally sparse, but more abstract, having just a few haggard and jaggy pieces of metal in frame, also bringing to mind the setting of a junk-yard.

Between the two, Half the Truth is the more subdued affair. The focus is mostly on the performances, with some moderately swirly camerawork. There are just a few shots that feel vintage Raimi, especially when the camera ramps up the speed in a semi-jump-cut, going from a wide angle-shot to a close-up. It is all very Evil Dead II.

There is a main reason that this music video does not stand out as much as it could have. One of the band members has said on YouTube in the comments that Raimi did in fact shot horror footage, or was planning to, and that Raimi's muse Bruce Campbell was involved as well in a productorial capacity. But apparently the footage was unused because of pressure from the record company. Another staple of Raimi that might be present yet absent (like Campbell) is his trusted Oldsmobile Delta 88. I want to believe that the car that shows up in almost every single Raimi feature is in fact also present in this junkyard, but due to the very low quality of the music video and my car blindness, I could not in fact verify this.

Cold Metal feels more like a Raimi-piece, because the camera goes apeshit here. Sam Raimi likes to have his camera perspectives be subjective, and from unusual angles. Here the camera swirls and twirls. A vintage Raimi shot is when the camera is inside a trash-can of which Iggy Pop opens the lid. It is all quite frantic and over-the-top, but at times also a master-class in how to heighten the style of a piece just by editing and cinematography.

There is a brilliant multi-plane shot in here, where one of the back-up musicians is shown in a wide angle, only to have the guitarist pop into frame somewhere on the mid-plane of the shot. That by itself would be a fun reveal, but to have Iggy Pop finally pop up in the closest plane of the mise-en-scene, in full close-up, makes this shot brilliant and brilliantly executed.

Also very good are the shots in which only Iggy Pop's eyes are shown, in close-up, with the rest of the frame taken up by a black void. It is Darkman avant-la-lettre. Sam Raimi might not necessarily have a story in these two music videos, nor have a visual hook, per say, but he elevates both of them by using his vintage style, with no rhyme or reason to it whatsoever. Unshackled by story or visual coherence, he goes wild, especially in Cold Metal's case. It is a sight to behold.