Click to listen to the premiere of Old Wave's debut recordThe plights of the daydreaming filmmaker permeate the scenery of the beautiful new video from Portland avant-popsters Old Wave. The talented quartet teamed up with filmmaker Evan Gütt for their stunning new short film for “Riddles,” the lead track from the band’s self-titled debut LP, released in January 2015—listen to that record here.
For the video, Gütt stuck close to songwriter Adam Brock’s sprawling storyline, utilizing real footage, animation and other assorted effects.
“It's an homage to the look and feel of classic cinema, while maintaining a character that is 'original Evan,'” Brock explains. “I think that aesthetic applies to the music as well, [taking] cues from classic songwriting and arranging without, hopefully, sounding like a cover or a faux-retro copy.”
The video stars Anna Becker, the lead actress on two levels—the film within the video and the video itself. It’s precisely this metaphysical contingent that allows for Gütt’s vision to unfold in such dreamy, imaginative strokes.
“The concept is about a troubled filmmaker (I can relate) who gets pulled so far into the storyline of his own film that he becomes consumed by it figuratively and literally,” Gütt describes. “His almost creepy infatuation with the lead actress leads him to do some things that he may regret. I had this idea of representing the filmmaker’s internal struggle as a script page tornado that follows him around; as if he can’t escape the world he’s created. I had a great time working on this video with Adam and the rest of Old Wave. It was challenging at first because the storyline and the song are so big, but we had to figure out a way to tell it without breaking the bank. So, most of the shots were made with the help of a green screen and some other tricks up my sleeve.”
