EXCLUSIVE Holy Hail: “Born of a Star”
You may not recognize the name, but you’re probably familiar with the work of my main man Elliot Jokelson. Remember that incredible video for Pinback’s “Fortress”? You know, the one that’s one of the best animated videos of the last five years? Or maybe you can recall the amazing video for TV On The Radio’s “Staring At The Sun”, with all its synthetic neon glory? Still no dice? How about that epic clip for TVotR’s “Dreams”? Well, long story short: this guy is the man when it comes to consistent music video brilliance.
That said, it’s been over a year since we last heard from him, and what a long wait it’s been. Wait no more though, as we’re here to debut his brand new video for “Born of a Star” by Brooklyn up-and-comers Holy Hail. Elliot’s always scored big in the special effects department and his latest effort is no different, fucking you up with some crazy optical effects that I might refer to as “swirling fractals” if I were the kind of douchebag that pulls pretentious terms out of his ass just because he can (oh wait, that sums me up pretty well). So yeah, I’ll just defer to Elliot on this one:
“When I first heard ‘Born of a Star’ I was immediately struck by its primal, unembellished drum and bass line. In keeping with that aesthetic I set out to contstruct a video armed only with variations on a simple theme… Basically the idea was to use these gradual variations to move from a representational image into a completely abstract image.”
The sparse arrangement of the track is perfectly reflected by the minimalist structure of the video, but the special effects are enough to keep things interesting and make this one of the year’s finest post-production accomplishments. Jokelson’s done it again.
Video: “Born of a Star”
Artist: Holy Hail
Director: Elliot Jokelson
Watch: [YouTube]
Download: [Quicktime • 20 MB]
Also, make sure not to sleep on the track itself, as it’s fucking great. Sure, it took a little while to grow on me, but once it gets in your head it’s there to stay. Plus, they’re signed to a UK label, so you know they’re good. Download the original and Shir Khan’s sufficiently ill remix below.
MP3s:
“Born of a Star” - Holy Hail
“Born of a Star” (Shir Khan Remix) - Holy Hail
May 10th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
yah, but swirling fractals is spott on. love jokelson
May 10th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
I was really underwhelmed by this song.
I just felt like I was waiting for it to break into something really cool but it never did.
May 11th, 2007 at 12:59 am
[…] The really nice thing about Jitter and the Panasonic P2 format is that I could be on set at the shoot, literally running through the footage as it came off of the P2 cards, into Jitter, and we could see the effected results in realtime, see what works, what doesnt, re-shoot as needed. Very very nice, fluid and adaptable workflow. Apparently the video is airing on MTV. You can read some reviews here and here. […]
May 11th, 2007 at 3:10 am
that remix is growing on me though.
its a lot heavier and has more of a bite.
I love the video, they should have made a video remix or summat.
May 11th, 2007 at 10:02 am
i liked the video, not a big fan of the song though.
May 11th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
It’s just “Let’s Make Love..Death From Above” lite.
May 12th, 2007 at 2:50 am
ummm… what was on her arm? some of the effects were pretty tasty. but overall the song was really lacking imho.
May 16th, 2007 at 5:00 am
The new SMD and Justice have dropped. Write about it
May 16th, 2007 at 11:13 am
The remix is SEX! its so scene I LOVE YOU
May 17th, 2007 at 9:38 am
hey Vade,
Brilliant!!! I would love to use some of those visuals for dance show!
amazing!
May 19th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
Uh, Marlon, this isn’t vade’s blog…
vade’s blog is over there.
June 17th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
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October 11th, 2007 at 9:38 am
this song is amazing. Kinda reminds me luscious jackson, if they were still around and good. Can you please email me the mp3? It seems to be impossible to find.. even to purchase (damn living in Canada).