Video Contest: "We've Got Everything"

by Stephen Tringali*

Modest Mouse recently made a proposition to college filmmakers: create a music video for the band’s song “We’ve Got Everything” and have the chance to see it broadcast on mtvU and its accompanying college filmmaker-friendly website, Best Film on Campus.

Chris Cullari, a junior studying film at Emerson College in Boston, MA and a graduate of Pennsylvania's Hershey High School, expressed no interest in the project — that is, until MTV took notice of Cullari’s work in music videos.

“I wasn’t going to do it,” Cullari said. “But I was encouraged to by some of the people at MTV who have seen my stuff before, and they really really wanted to see something.”

Since becoming a member of the Best Film On Campus community, Cullari has gained a favorable reputation for his music videos. His first, shot for Settle’s song “Murder,” featured a film noir aesthetic and storyline that complemented the band’s suave brand of dance-pop. His others include videos for Zac Clark and The Appreciation Post, as well as a contest submission for Emery’s “So Cold I Could See Your Breath.”

With all the attention given to his videos, Cullari felt he had to submit something to the contest. It didn’t matter that he had absolutely no film crew and only one week to go from idea to finished product.

“As I was trying to [get the project going], it [seemed] nearly impossible to get everything organized,” Cullari said. “And then Matt [Watkins] kind of stepped in and took a look at everything and made phone calls. That was the first step. It was just seeing who could do it and put in the time and the weird hours.”

From that point, Cullari concocted a storyline that would correctly complement the Modest Mouse song. Later, his friends pulled through, helping him out with everything from lighting and costumes to acting and troubleshooting.

“I tried to come up with something that would spin off on the idea [of] what happens once you know everything?” Cullari said. “And then I decided, since no one really ever could [know everything], they would…get rid of everything they didn’t understand.”

However, this approach is not what many attempt when making music videos, Cullari said. Instead of merely translating a song’s lyrics into visual terms, Cullari reinterprets them and creates a supplementary storyline.

“[In] the music videos that I make, I try to basically run a narrative kind of in almost a parallel universe to the song,” Cullari said. “So the song is about what the song is about, and I’m not necessarily going to illustrate that with a video. I’m going to use that material to illustrate something else.”

The result is an examination of how logic and pragmatism clash against folklore and religion. Two scientists believe they’ve discovered all there is to know about the world. They soon realize, however, that there are still “loose ends” running about, contradicting their findings. To maintain the correctness of their work, the scientists hire a hit man to exterminate every mythological, spiritual, and inexplicable element.

Cullari’s video, which he submitted to mtvU’s contest last week, has been ranked among the top five submissions. MtvU will announce the contest’s winner on June 4, and that person will receive a high-definition camcorder. (To see Cullari's video, please click here.)

For the remainder of the summer, Cullari plans to return to Boston and continue shooting music videos. He is currently negotiating video shoots with Holiday Parade, The Radio Spirit, Show Me Action, and The Hint.

*Stephen Tringali served on the production team for Cullari's video in the Modest Mouse contest.

(In the photo, Chris Cullari tapes the action as Matt Watkins attempts to stuff Mike Linskie – in the costume – into a trash bag. Photo by Amanda Benkovic and used with permission.)

Modest Mouse
video contest
music
music videos
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