At first, this project seemed like a simple plug and play. Some moments aligned almost perfectly on their own, suggesting a deeper thematic overlap between the two works. Then I realized that so many beats of this song could fit well with different parts of the animated story, and I began to extend and shift things around.

So obviously, plug and play just wouldn’t cut it.

The Intermission portion of this was by far the most difficult part to fit. It is a playful circus organ adaptation of the main riff in Jimmy, that abruptly ends to start the latter song. It’s a perfect segue to punctuate the sudden violence after what seems like a playful seesaw struggle between the two figures.

Intermission is only 56 seconds long, the animation of the 2 figures is a mere 32 seconds. This meant that nearly half of the runtime would have to be repeated or slowed down to fill the gaps and have the effect on the transition I wanted to achieve. It wasn’t easy, and some of the seams and repeats may be noticeable, but I think the end-product has the intended effect.

Now, on to Jimmy.

The remaining 5 min and 47 seconds of the song had a about the same amount of animation to work with, and thankfully Sabin Bălașa’s work is slow-paced and has many parts that can be spliced together without issue between cuts.

Many scenes of this short film are cut in such a way that they can certainly drag as you watch, which may have been Bălașa’s intent, but it makes for a visual that is unrelentingly arduous to people who don’t care for avant-garde film, and also doesn’t quite fit the tone of some parts of the song.

For these moments, I simply took 2 or 3 parts that occurred back-to-back, and cut them up to appear as though they might be happening simultaneously.

A good example of this is the point in time where the little white birds are attempting to break through the red barrier that the Phoenix is slowly inching along. It’s not exactly the most well-paced portion, but it was necessary for the story of the song. It’s always important to me to keep the audience of my videos engaged, feeling like shots aren’t hanging too long, and that there is a cohesive storytelling element.

Lastly, my more substantial edit to the original was cropping the heads of the little blue birds to make them look down at the falling bodies of the red birds. I originally did a masking element, but decided that a simple crop and layer was the easier solution (not that it makes a difference). This made it possible to have their heads move independently, instead of having to rely on footage that had other elements.

So that’s the gist of my work on this one. Not too too many edits and I think overall the story is cohesive and tells a life, struggle, death, and renewal story pretty well. Jimmy is a song about MJK coming to terms with is mother suffering a paralyzing stroke when he was only 11 years old. I tried to set the timing and tone of what was on screen to the lyrics as well, and I hope that comes through in the final product:

What was it like to see / the face of your own stability, (the “birds” literally looking up and seeing the figure above them) Suddenly look away / leaving you with the dead and hopeless? (the red “birds” falling and dying, causing the three blue birds to look away and see the dead ones falling in great numbers) Eleven and she was gone (the middle bird flying away, “gone”) Eleven is when we waved goodbye (the middle bird — now dead — floating downward) Eleven is standing still (Waiting for me) (the “birds” contemplating and considering what the cause is and what to do) Waiting for me to free him by coming home (though one bird was killed by touching the red barrier, it opens up for the last bird and he is perhaps allowed to return?)

Much of that consideration continues with this music video, as the timing of the lyrics and what’s being shown on screen is important to me on this project. I’m particularly proud of later in the video, when the “Under a dead Ohio sky…” lyric begins.

In the context of the song, Maynard considers himself and his being (human body/mind/soul) to be two aspects working together, inseparable yet distinct, as suggested by the lyrics "waiting me to free him by coming home". It seems that he considers his being to have light (ie. consciousness) and it is his duty to reunite with the light in order for both him and his being to evolve together. This is actually an interesting philosophical concept, that we exist in order to learn and evolve our souls to the next level, which are eternal. We come into existence as humans in order to learn lessons from our experience.

His mother’s paralysis and coma a part of his life that Keenan has based many song lyrics off of (see Wings for Marie Parts 1 & 2, The Patient, and Judith with his other band, A Perfect Circle). and has the overarching theme of reconciliation and growth by confronting his past and then healing from it:

As soon as pain allows so we can Reunite and both move on together Hold your light, Eleven Lead me through each gentle step, by step By inch by loaded memory until One and one are one, eleven So glow, child, glow I'm heading back home

If all that’s not a phoenix archetype, I don’t know what is.

I want to end with this:

It cannot be understated the amount of work and genius artistry that Sabin Bălașa displays in his films. They are so incredibly interesting to watch, and I recommend them to anyone who has a love of older, cosmically Romanticist (his description for his work) films like his. I’ll likely be using his work again for inspiration.

For a great overview of his work, I recommend this video: