Fleet Foxes have released a stunning short film for their Crack-Up album opener “I Am All That I Need / Arroyo Seco / Thumbprint Scar”. Directed by Sean Pecknold, with art direction and production design by Adi Goodrich, both of Sing-Sing, and choreography by Steve Reker. The film was shot entirely on 35mm film in southern California, creating a look that feels like an old technicolor movie, with everything hand-made and in-camera. It was made in partnership with WeTransfer who commissioned and helped produce the video. WeTransfer will be hosting the video on their editorial platform WePresent alongside a conversation between the Pecknold siblings Robin (lead-singer), Sean (filmmaker) and Aja (band manager) who have shaped the visuals, sounds and story of Fleet Foxes for a decade.
On making the film, director Sean Pecknold says, “For me, the song encapsulated the themes and feelings of the whole record like an overture; the darkness / lightness, the fast / slow, the tension between two competing voices and the unpredictable dynamic shifts of tempo and voice. I wanted to create a striking visual allegory that felt both intimate and lonely, grand and triumphant.”
“With the film I wanted to visualize the struggle within the song through the story of a fictional character trying to escape from his house and reach an ever elusive mythical place only to be brought back to the start by the pull of a mysterious red cube. At the start of the film it’s as if we have happened upon a man tired from a repetitive struggle that has been going on for weeks, months, even years. There becomes a frustrating sense of repetition as he attempts to reach these metaphorical end goals and fails time after time. It’s something I can relate to, and hopefully others can too.”