IN DEPTH: John Mayer "Waiting For The World To Change"

While John Mayer takes a ruminative stroll along NYC's East River, a group of graffiti artists decorate the streets with messages that encourage people to pay attention to the precarious state of the world. And, in a nice touch that should pacify those who disapprove of guerrilla artists and other scofflaws, a final message tells viewers that all the artworks were commissioned and done with permission on private property.

Director Philip Andelman fills in the backstory:

The idea came from a brainstorming session between John [Mayer] and I, which started with his fascination with street art.  It turns out he's pretty tight with a lot of the old-school graffiti artists in the city and after a few phone calls we suddenly had this all-star cast.  The group of five is the Tats Cru from the Bronx, the guy with the gas mask is Daze, and the one wearing the Mexican wrestling hat is Futura 2000.  He actually rolled up to set at around 8am wearing that and I burst out laughing.  I thought it was so cool.  He gave me this sly smile and said something to the effect of, "You digging the hat, huh?"  Needless to say, it stayed on the duration of the shoot.

We shot John's performance on the first day at sunrise in blistering NYC summer heat. I wanted a feeling of old New York street photography, of John feeling a little vulnerable and introverted, so we put him in this big jacket while the rest of the crew sweated away in t-shirts. After that, we spent two and half days running around the boroughs capturing the various artists tagging walls. Though Daze had previously been commissioned to do his mural, the others were all done based on the song — each artist did some sketches based on conversations we had after all listening to the song, but nothing was concretely laid out before hand. All the walls were private property which we had permission to shoot on, but Futura's friend fell through at the last minute and we were stuck with no location. So, we started rolling around looking for a wall. This guy is about 50 years old, runs a clothing and design empire, hasn't tagged in years  — he told me the last time he did a wall was at the last Documenta for fuck's sake! — and here we are driving around trying to get a shot. You could tell he was having the time of his life, as if he were flashing back to being a 12 year old kid again in the city. -- watch "Waiting For The World To Change"

John Mayer  "Waiting For The World To Change" (Columbia)
Philip Andelman, director | Magali Selosse-Bishop, producer | Partizan, production co | Shawn Kim, DP | Barney Miller, editor

BOOKED: Lostprophets - Ryan Smith, director

artist: Lostprophets
song: "Can't Catch Tomorrow (Good Shoes Won't Save You This Time)" 
label: Columbia
director(s):  Ryan Smith
production co: Merge @ Crossroads
rep: Labuda Management

BOOKED: Citizen Cope - Paul Dektor, director

artist: Citizen Cope
song: "Back Together"
label: RCA
director(s): Paul Dektor
production co: Dektor Films
rep: Laure Scott

SHOT: Shiny Toy Guns - No Brain, director

artist: Shiny Toy Guns
song: "Le Disko"
label: Universal
director(s): No Brain
production co: Continuum
rep: Laure Scott

NEW RELEASE: Erase Errata "Tax Dollar"

Erase Errata
"Tax Dollar" (Kill Rock Stars)
Jeremy Solterbeck, director/editor | Anne Cook, producer | Canopus, production co | Rob Poswall, DP | Description: Erase Errata find themselves in a cartoonish cut and paste world that matches the absurdity of life during wartime. Toy soldiers and caricatures of well-known war mongers scurry back and forth, while big black censor bars block out actual weapons and keep the video's participants from seeing the truth of the situation. * It's now illegal in California to rent fake firearms as props, so this is where we got the idea to use censor bars over the soldier's weapons. If you take away the censor bars, they're all just holding sticks. Seemed appropriate considering the subject matter. - Jeremy Solterbeck, director
-- watch "Tax Dollar" or download as a podcast

DVD: Prince & The NPG "Diamonds & Pearls"

Prince And The New Power Generation
"Diamonds And Pearls: Video Collection"
(Paisley Park/Warner Reprise Video)
All the videos from the Prince And The N.P.G. album Diamonds And Pearls finally makes it to DVD via the aptly titled Diamonds And Pearls: The Video Collection. The videos are sequenced with a few live concert and interview snippets forming a sort of extended-length piece. The most memorable clips included are the "Cream" and "Diamonds And Pearl" videos directed by Rebecca Blake, "Gett Off" directed by Randee St. Nicholas, and "Money Don't Matter 2 Night" directed by Spike Lee.

SHOT: Easy Star All-Stars - Syndrome, directors

Micha, Mars and James (far right) of  the Syndrome creative team with reggae legend Toots (center) of Toots & The Maytals and Easy Star's Eric Smith (far right) on the set of "Let Down." The video supports the new Easy Star All-Stars album Radiodread, which gives the Radiohead album OK Computer a reggae makeover.

artist: Easy Star All-Stars  feat. Toots & The Maytals   
song: "Let Down"
label: Easy Star
director(s): Syndrome
production co: Robot Films
rep: Robin Frank Management

BOOKED: Head Automatica - Shane Drake, director

Shane Drake — aka the director behind Panic! At The Disco's "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" aka the top award winner at the '06 MTV VMAs — is directing "Lying Through Your Teeth" for Head Automatica. The clip will feature the band on a set resembling the classic TV series The Ed Sullivan Show. Although this video is being produced through his own Red Van Pictures, Drake is signed to Merge @ Crossroads.

artist: Head Automatica
song: "Lying Through Your Teeth"
label: Reprise/Warner Bros.
director(s): Shane Drake
production co: Red Van Pictures
rep: Labuda Management

SHOT: Misery Index - Rick Carmona, director

artist: Misery Index
song: "Conquistadores"
label: Relapse
director(s): Rick Carmona
production co: Raging Nation Films

BOOKED: Seventeen Evergreen - Encyclopedia Pictura, directors

artist: Seventeen Evergreen
song: "Haven't Been Yoursef"
label: Lucky Number Music
director(s): Encyclopedia Pictura
production co: Ghost Robot