Call me biased, or have the biggest pop-culture stories of the past few months all been music videos*?
Robin Thicke "Blurred Lines"... Miley Cyrus "We Can't Stop"... Jay Z "Picasso Baby"... and now Mumford & Sons "Hopeless Wanderer" starring the comedic dreamteam of Ed Helms, Jason Sudiekis, Will Forte and Jason Bateman seems to entering similar territory.
Case in point: USA Today, about as mainstream a media outlet as there is, has an interview with "Hopeless Wanderer" director Sam Jones, billed as "Director shares secrets of new Mumford & Sons video."
Note: No secrets are actually shared. And the article is actually a recasting of a Los Angeles Times article, which actually does have some good tidbits, like...
- Jones pitched the vide without having any comedians or actors on board. Luckily, he had a connection with Sudeikis through a photo shoot, who in turn helped get the other actors involved.
- The band at one point wanted to switch tracks to "Babel," which Jones resisted. (Wisely, in my opinion. The video Jones directed for "Babel" is as perfect as this one, emphasizing the power of that anthem, while the humor of this one helps sell what's a slower and more subtle song).
- Forte got a bit too into the instument smashing section, destroying one too many banjos — thus forcing the producer to send someone out to get a replacement so they could shoot the synchronized banjo dance.
- And lastly, all the actors got paid SAG minimum. (Which for a music video is a bit of a nebulous number, subject to negotiation.)
*For pop culture stories, I'm discounting all non-entertainment stories, such as childbirth, sexting, mental illness and other gossip bottomfeeding crap.
