The video for 'Let Forever Be' by The Chemical Brothers was directed by acclaimed music video director Michel Gondry. In the video below he talks about his influences on the video, specifically the filmmaking technique of using a much lower quality camera for outside shots, due to limitations with video cameras in the 1970s and 80s, and the idea of recreating cheesy retro effects, but in real life using real props, rather than cheap software.
Let Forever Be: The Making Of
Voyeurism
The whole video is set up to be a voyeuristic portrayal of a girl's nightmare, with us constantly watching her as she flits between realistic sequences and abstract, bizarre ones, and as the two intertwine.Demands of Record Label/Selling The Artist
Due to Michel Gondry being such a renowned director, I suspect he was given more free reign by the record label to create an unconventional video, as they knew his fame would attract viewers anyway.
Lyrics/Visuals
Once again quite unconventional, the lyrics do not match up with the video much, expect for the lyric 'to wake up in the sun' which connects with the shots of the girl supposedly waking up. Also, the repetitive nature of the lyrics is echoed in the repetitive nature of the video.
Music/Visuals
The opening shot features a character dressed as a rabbi playing drums to the song, and the trippy dance sequences are on beat and related.
Intertextuality
In the making of, Gondry states that he was trying to emulate the look of old British sitcoms such as Benny Hill, as well as referring to old video effects that were cutting edge at the time but look quite cheesy now. However, he flipped this convention by using real props instead of effects.
Genre
This song is part of a genre known as 'big beat', a form electronic dance music employing old funk and soul samples, heavy breakbeats and distorted basslines. As is common in many dance music videos, the artists themselves are not present, but there are plenty of choreographed dance sequences instead.
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