A huge thanks is owed to all the talanted people who made the Motion City Soundtrack video happen this weekend.
Virtual reality, cloning machines, death rays, and a choreographed dance sequence. I think we covered all the bases.


Also, check out Spin Magazine's list of the best music videos of 2009. Manchester Orchestra comes in at #8 on the countdown-
Lady Gaga got robbed!



If you haven't gotten your fill yet, there's more Manchester Orchestra action over at videostatic, where Keith Schofield was nice enough to join me for a video commentary. Hear us discuss the finer points of filmmaking and count the number of times I use the word "like".

I'm in Chicago, speaking at Bjorn's amazing CoLab forum, which is one of those rich, rewarding experiences that helps me to appreciate 1) how many extremely talented people Steve and I are surrounded by, 2) how it would be impossible to do what we do without those people, and 3) how difficult it is to explain how I do what I do without simply bragging about these people. Seriously, we have the greatest group of creative friends anyone could ever ask for.

But it's also really cold out here (my first time ever in the midwest in winter), and I'm ready to get back to LA. We have a bunch of projects coming up with some fun bands and some weird ideas, and I can't wait to walk around my apartment again in jeans shorts with all the windows open.

My new video for Manchester Orchestra is debuting on the web today. I watched Over The Top around 10 times over the course of the production, which is about 9 more times than anyone should have to watch Stallone do pushups on the back of a parked 18-wheeler.

After four years of slapping band-aids and duct tape on my crumbling web portfolio, it was time to finally give the whole thing a massive overhaul. If you're one of the few people who reads this blog without having been redirected from my site, check it out.

You can always count on honest design critiques from Bjorn. For goodness sake's man, it's a Stallone movie, I'm pretty sure big homey didn't even know what Helvetica was.

Also, I have a really quick cameo in the new Lenny Kravitz/Justice video. Somewhere around the 3:20 mark. Look mom, I'm my name is on TV the internet! Thanks Keith. Any color timers out there want to explain what it is they do?

I spent the weekend in Nashville shooting a Manchester Orchestra video and getting acquainted with the south. Like every trip to a location with it's own dialect, I ended up subconsciously assimilating myself and by sunday afternoon I had a lazy drawl that made me sound folksier than a will call at the Grand Ole Opry. I caught myself telling a key grip to "move that there C-stand" and was so embarrassed that I spent the next hour reciting Wu-Tang lyrics in my head to cleanse my palette.

Dear Kanye,

Today I found a box of costumes from the "Best I Ever Had" video under my desk. Do your video girls still need these? I was thinking about giving them to my girlfriend's nephews for Christmas. They sure love sports.

Good luck on your VMA nominations!
Isaac

ps - If you win, my producer and I are storming the stage looking like this:

The video I directed for Cage The Elephant premieres on the MTVs this Thursday. A super huge thanks to Max, Marc, and everyone else who pushed it so hard. We still don't know if they're airing the director's cut or the "broadcast safe" version, but either way, it gets pretty grizzly.

I don't even have cable, so if someone wants to tivo that, that'd be great. In the meantime, I guess I'll just have to celebrate a job well done in a more unorthodox style:

A huge thanks to everyone who helped out on last week's shoot. We spent all day filming off of moving golf carts in downtown LA, and then finished the night by bashing some life-sized pinatas. Sometimes it was hard to tell if we were filming a music video or putting together the ultimate quinceanera.

If I'm ever on Jeopardy, I hope one of the categories is "garden gnomes", because I learned enough about them last week to completely dominate. I directed a video for Cage The Elephant on Monday that will feature little people, psychedelic forest sets, and a vague metaphor about the perils of hiding secrets. The guys put on a great Letterman performance last night, which was a relief since I was sure that their throats were coated with fake snow and spray paint fumes from the set. We're in post now and already in pre-production for the next video- it's shaping up to be a busy summer.

Personally, it's been one of those weeks (months? seasons? it's hard to tell sometimes), and I'm extremely grateful to be surrounded by good people. The kind that genuinely care about me and will remind me to do the right thing when I'm feeling unsure. The kind that will kick my butt a little when I'm not being myself and the kind that will put an arm around me when I'm up to my neck in stuff that's out of my control. I still believe that truth, and love, and goodness always triumph in the end, and you're all a constant reminder of that. Thanks guys.

This Maira Kalman piece for the New York Times is worth reading ten time in a row. (Via Steve)

"Serious Business" photo by Ryan Reichenfeld

• LA Film Festival is screening one of my music videos this Saturday at the Italian Cultural Institute downtown. It's part of a music video showcase that starts at 7:00. If you like music videos and you want to see me wear a tie, come on down.

• On the 25th, They're screening a selection of my videos, along with stuff from Keith Schofield, Josh Forbes, and Andy Bruntel, at Space Fifteen Twenty. I'll post a flyer or something when I get one.

"And brothers, you can't change nothin' with rhetoric and slogans. Because if a man's really got the truth in his pocket, he doesn't talk about it. He hangs it out on a shingle where people can see it." - Putney Swopes

If you're in LA on May 1st, Dublab is screening a few of my videos as part of a showcase at the Silent Movie Theatre on Fairfax. More details at dublab.

Also, David Torno has an extremely in-depth video about the fx techniques in our Pistol Youth video at Pro Video Coalition. (RIP Bea).

Alligator Dave between takes at the Red Stripe shoot.

Things have been relatively quiet this week except for the persistent sound of my wheezing cough, which was just one of about 20 equally disgusting and annoying symptoms from the cold I caught after last week's shoot. Hours after completing a 16 hour day that celebrated all things Red Stripe, I fell into a week-long battle with every sinus in my face, and spent the majority of the week clutching my stomach in the fetal position my bed. It wasn't pretty, but it's amazing how refreshed and focused you feel after consecutive days of either staring at the chipped paint in your ceiling or the wrinkles in your comforter. Inertia isn't a very good look for me.

A spot I directed a while ago was featured on an MSNBC segment last week. It's a political spot for an environmentalist group, and while I'm not looking to become the next James Carville, it's kind of cool to see serious people in suits talk about something ridiculous I made. Watch the msnbc segment here(fast forward about 25 seconds to get into my clip).

Just a few things

Joaquin has a new music blog that combines mini-essays on Third Eye Blind with hand-drawn illustrations.

It turns out Kate was right all along, I've been overwashing my hair.

My new self-help mantra: Live every day like you're Busta Rhymes making his first appearance on the Arsenio Hall Show. 

If you're short on time, the best part is at 3:25 when Phife hold's Busta's mic so he can use both hands to turn his reversible Dr. Suess hat inside out while rapping.

She knows the scientific name for every type of cloud formation. She can draw a map of America with her eyes closed. She knows all of the words to A Shaker Hymn and she remembers Lil' Kim verses from 5 years ago. She laughs because babies can't make decisions for themselves and she sighs when the moon is low in the sky. She's patient. She's stubborn. She's detail-oriented. We're pretty sure she's the reincarnation of Louisa May Alcott.

She takes pictures of everything.

We shot the Great Lake Swimmers video last night in Topanga. Controlled chaos in the middle of a pitch black canyon. Giant thanks to Corban, Kari, Marc, Robbie, Flip, Schlam, Josh Forbes, all of the grips and gaffers that spent the night pushing generators and lights uphill through poison oak, and of course, Steve, who hasn't slept in days. 

I'm not one to hype my own projects, but I'm pretty sure this is going to be the Citizen Kane of Canadian folk music videos.

The Pistol Youth video landed in this week's issue of TV Guide (full page here). This is full circle, right? A TV show about old women gets co-opted by young men for the internet, which gets covered by a magazine about TV that's mostly read by old people, in a section devoted to what young people are doing on the internet. Also worth pondering, is why Jimmy Fallon has a water cooler in his office. Is his office in a hallway? Does the break room at NBC have internet access? Someone get that guy an espresso machine or something.

It's another busy week of writing, and revising, and editing, and decision making. And sometimes when I get antsy I cannonball onto city skylines.


Yup, Kate took this.

"the type to get hurt, but that's the past tense"

I've been a hermit all week- stop-motion animating, designing, and growing my moody beard. I'll get back to posting more often next week, in the meantime thanks to everyone for their nice e-mails. If I haven't gotten back to you yet, I will before Monday.  

Also, is it bad that watching little Charles Hamilton hold his own against Serius Jones was just as inspirational to me as the entire inauguration day? I've watched the video enough times to teach a grad school course on it and I still get chills watching that split second when Hamilton decides to go in for his 2nd verse. 

Not that "Buddy Holly" and "Windowlicker" aren't two of my favorite videos ever, but let's keep it real.

The Pistol Youth video has gotten a few nice reviews around the internet:
Pitchfork, Videostatic, abduzeedo, Boards, idolator, and urban outfitters were all really generous, but my favorite thing so far is this comment:

Pistol Youth - In My Eyes

This is finally ready to see the light of day! A huge thanks to David Torno for his unbelievable fx work, Bjorn who donated his design skills to the title sequence, and Brad and the band, who somehow trusted me when I pitched this.