— by Joe D'Angelo
With sheep roaming rampant, cannibalistic vultures, nursery-rhyme heroines and bandmembers wearing furry fake mustaches, there certainly is a lot going on in Modest Mouse's video for "Float On." Upon closer examination, however, there are even more subtle images and nuances lurking inside the pink man's tiny magical box than first meet the eye.
Directed by Christopher Mills (Interpol, Broken Social Scene), the elaborate "Float On" took weeks to craft from conception to final edit. The clip, which blends crude stop-animation photography with high-tech CGI, is so visually alluring that it's easy to overlook the underlying theme. The sheep are destined for the slaughterhouse, but with the mantra "everybody's gotta go sometime" running through their wooly little heads, they're making the most of the time on this surreal world.
It's a little sad to see sheep that, just moments before, were jovially rolling around on grassy knolls and swimming in the ocean, being sent on their way to becoming succulent mutton chops, but one thing's for sure: The clip is no pro-vegetarian condemnation of carnivores. In fact, on the last day of post-production, any sympathy Mills might have felt for the fluffy farm animals yielded to hunger, and he ordered ground lamb for lunch that day.
Here are some other fun factoids you probably didn't know about "Float On":
THE PINK MAN: The Pink Man is a cross between Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, Burl Ives and Pee Wee Herman, Mills said. The magic boxes he carries, each one containing an individual universe, were inspired by a piece of art singer Isaac Brock's father had given him.
BAND ONSTAGE: Due to visa issues that prevented them from entering Canada (where the video was shot), guitarist Dann Gallucci and bassist Eric Judy missed the shoot and had their heads filmed via a video teleconference and then attached in post-production. The red backdrop behind the stage is actuallly a strip of curtain from Mills' living room.
LYNN IN TV: Country legend Loretta Lynn, or at least her likeness, appears twice in the video. Mills' original treatment for "Float On" depicted the band as diamond miners, but when the idea shifted to "sheep world," the image of the coal miner's daughter remained. The TV set, crafted from some scraps of wood, plastic and duct tape, is so small it could fit in the palm of your hand.
ELECTRIC TOWER WITH VULTURES: All the characters in the video were hand-drawn and painted by Ernest Harris Jr., who also created electric towers out of extra-long fireplace matchsticks. Harris made the stream by filming a wrinkled piece of Saran Wrap being dragged across a table and looping it. The gate near Little Bo Peep was made with tiny twigs that had been whittled down and bleached.
BARN SHOWING POPSICLE STICKS AND BENDY STRAWS:
The corral leading into the slaughterhouse is actually a few bendable drinking straws, and the house itself and the surrounding fence are constructed entirely of Popsicle sticks. But rather than simply making a trip to the crafts store and buying a package of them, Harris obtained his sticks the hard way ... by eating every single Popsicle himself. His favorite flavor is — or at least was — banana.
MOLLY IN THE CLOUDS: The Beatles had "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" in 1967, 37 years later Modest Mouse see Molly up there in the clouds. The fluffy formation is actually molded in the likeness of 1980s teen screen-queen Molly Ringwald, whom the director admits to once having a bit of a crush on. If the onetime Claire Standish (1985's
The Breakfast Club) isn't immediately apparent, her face becomes clearer as the camera pans back.
SINGING SHEEP: If you think a few of the sheep slightly resemble Isaac Brock, the singer won't take it as an insult. Brock's eye is superimposed on one of the sheep, and his mouth is used on a few of them as they sing the chorus.
MOM ON THE MOON:
You've undoubtedly heard of the man on the moon, but in this world, women rock the orbiting mass of green cheese. The woman in the moon (seen yawning toward the end of the clip) is actually Mills' mother, who, rather than rockin' to Modest Mouse, prefers Michael Bolton and Kenny G.
