The Unofficial Music Video
I can’t count the number of times that I’ve clicked a music video on YouTube, only to discover that it was fan-made, and usually poorly made, but with a deceptively good thumbnail image. It’ll usually be just a photo with music playing underneath, or clips from other music videos spliced together.
For some reason, I’ve only recently stumbled into the world of cinematic fan-made videos, each taking scenes from a single film (or serial episode) and putting them together in a way that compliments the music. It makes sense; songs that appear on a movie soundtrack have been doing this for a while. The best of these videos are a real labor of love, filling a void in the absence of the original artist’s vision. Finding the right visual match for the song takes sensitivity and broad exposure to varied source material.
This video is a great example of a well-executed fan-made cinematic music video. It takes scenes from the film Columbus to make an unofficial video for “Apocalypse” by Cigarettes After Sex. It’s a song partially about someone being stuck in a place they don’t really want to be, and that’s also a primary theme in Columbus. It’s a great song, a great film, and a truly inspired pairing.
(Columbus, incidentally, is a beautiful movie. After watching this music video, I had to see it, and it turned out to be a really touching and nuanced story. And—as you can see—it’s full of captivating cinematography. Highly recommended.)
A few more videos in this style that I’ve really enjoyed:
- Pale Waves – “Red” by John McAleese
- Bahamas – “All I’ve Ever Known” by i’m cyborg but that’s okay
- The Midnight – “Sunset” by Retrowave Cinema
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