Travel filmmakers Jungles in Paris on their favourite music videos

Date
15 September 2014

If you’ve not yet heard of Jungles in Paris, allow me to introduce you to the best means of procrastination you’ll come across all week. The brainchild of brothers Oliver and Darrell Hartman, Jungles in Paris is an online archive of travel documentaries and short films made by the pair to document “unfamiliar ways of living and extreme natural environments” the world over – from the swimming horses of Jamaica to Borneo’s last remaining blowpipe experts. Their archive is a testament to beautiful and unintrusive documentary filmmaking, so we had a chat with the pair to find out what qualities they look for in music videos. The results are insightful and surprising!

Oliver Hartman: Salem: King Night, directed by Theo Wenner

It’s certainly different the work we do with Jungles, but this video is very memorable because I first saw it as I was getting into producing and I was really curious to know whether the car crash scene was real and they just encountered it, or if it was setup.  But beyond that, I think the simple imagery is really on point with the song – it’s very evocative, dark, and strangely lyrical. The hulking truck reminds me of the relentless 1971 movie Duel) and that shot of it barrelling through low-hanging trees with leaves flying is so solid. Overall, it the congruency between the visuals and the music and the band whole packaging feels right on. 

Darrell Hartman: Boards of Canada: Dayvan Cowboy, directed by Melissa Olson

I love how perfectly the found footage is paired with the music in this video; sky becomes sea and drifts down through the atmosphere rolling along giant waves. The first part uses film of Joe Kittinger’s famous 1960 sky jump, when he parachuted from 24 miles above the earth. There’s a sense throughout of gentle free-fall, of suspension in time, of magic surfaces. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that director and band have tapped into some deeper earth rhythms here. Just a beautiful vid.

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About the Author

Maisie Skidmore

Maisie joined It’s Nice That fresh out of university in the summer of 2013 as an intern before joining full time as an Assistant Editor. Maisie left It’s Nice That in July 2015.

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