The A.V. Club gets more music video press releases per weekday than we care to count, but only one of them has ever touted the influence of the wizard-haired cinematographer Robert Richardson’s signature white-hot toplighting. That would the e-mail announcing the video for Sleigh Bells’ “I Can Only Stare,” co-directed by the noise pop duo’s guitarist-producer, Derek Miller, and A.V. Club favorite Alex Ross Perry.
“I Can Only Stare” marks the first foray into music videos for Perry, the indie writer-director behind The Color Wheel (one of this fine publication’s favorite movies of the decade so far and favorite modern comedies), Queen of Earth, Listen Up Philip, and, bizarrely enough, Disney’s upcoming remake of Winnie The Pooh. It stars vocalist Alexis Krauss as a variety of “doomed women” and was shot by regular cinematographer, the gifted Sean Price Williams. (It turns out, he can do a mean impression of the Richardson toplight.)
“I Can Only Stare” is the second video released from Sleigh Bells’ forthcoming Jessica Rabbit, which is due in physical and digital formats on November 11. In keeping with Perry and Williams’ pre-digital ethos, it was shot on Super 16mm and contains plenty of zooms and rear projection. You can enjoy its pretty images below.