Bury My Soul exudes atmospherics and symbolism to depict the surreal and unsettling world of emotions and thoughts askew as expressed by the storyteller of the song, the song's singer. The Singer expresses internal and external struggle with love, self-identity, and alienation. Ultimately, the film is a subversion of standard notions of love. Appearing on screen as Dead Day Revolution singer Mike Sandoz, The Singer's alter-ego is the Handsome Man, depicted by a handsome young actor playing opposite to the Beautiful Woman. The piece invites repeat viewings and induces the audience to imagine a world of things and possibilities beyond the edges of the frame.
Three words to describe the piece are artsy, sexy, and surreal. The visual concept of the film is that of an art gallery with exhibit pieces that are imbued with moving life. Precise care is taken with that the composition of each shot could be a stand-alone art piece in a gallery. In keeping with early cinema, many shots are locked down (meaning camera does not move during a shot) and others have slow push ins or pull outs. Action within that composition as well as the editing will synch to the rhythm of the song. Each composition employs hard cinematic lighting to create imagery with depth that pops with off the screen.
The film has a motif with the interaction of the Handsome Man and the Pretty Woman whose psychosexual game of give-and-take is interwoven with distorted reflections of the world around them including distorted fun house style mirror shots of the band performing the song as the couples "love is war" life plays out on screen.
The female form is used as art in various ways: sometimes as part of narrative between the Handsome Man and the Pretty Woman and sometimes as stand-alone art pieces with symbolism.
Several elements give piece a hint of a dark circus from yesteryear. I prefer cinematic narrative short films and cinematic styling that embraces the look of films, old and new, rather than employing flavor-of-the-week or approaches that will date quickly. Incorporating a narrative can bring texture and memorability to a band's sonic creations.
The project required three busy makeup artists, a large variety of beauty makeup and character designs, many costume changes and extensive previsualization.
