Music Video Production: 'Learn to Fly' by Foo Fighters

The narrative, characters, costume design, comedy and unrivalled celebrity casting make this video one of my favourite music videos to date. If Dave Grohl hadn't already blessed us with enough as one of the world's favourite iconic rock figures, his humour and newfound acting talents come to play in this video as he takes on the role of various different characters: a pilot, a young fan girl, an air hostess, a mother, the FBI and himself, Dave.

Now let's talk about the aesthetics, how the imagery completely reflects what we'd expect of an old aeroplane film, not to mention Airplane! 1980 and the intentional reference to Airport, 1975. Looking at the capture above, the high saturation and contrast really lends itself to the 70s feel and we, as the viewers, feel even more inclined to watch and relate. No wonder Jesse Peretz won the 2001 grammy for the best short form music video, his clever marketing and filming references offer no competition.

This video is so well put together that it is hard to remember that it is not a comedy sketch but it is the band themselves mocking the old-school film. Something that greatly drives the narrative of the video is of course, the costume and makeup, I mean Taylor Hawkins embodies the female air hostess so well that I honestly, I mean honestly, didn't initially clock on (shh, don't tell people, I'm meant to be a Foo Fighters super-fan).

Another notable costume has to be Dave as the young fan-girl, his pigtails, braces, ribbons and 'we only wear pink on Wednesdays' outfit is almost cringeworthy, seeing Dave dressed like this is rather... strange....hilarious? Both.

The variations of Dave's characters interact throughout the video which appears seamless and very well put together, through the use of special effects in post-production and split screen acting (filming the scene twice, i.e. Dave as Dave and Dave as the fan-girl). This is a technique we only usually see in movies, which again is why this production is so unique and unrivalled. It also massively adds to the comedy aspect, why have 1 Dave when you can make 2 with a few editors and some fancy software?

The set design and narrative space is limited to the small plane so the video is really carried by the quality of the acting and the humour, this does limit the cinematography as they have little space and few actors to focus on for 3 minutes, however, The Foo Fighter's do not shy away from having all this solid attention. Another notable mention before I tie this ramble to a close has to be the celebrity appearances, AKA Jack Black, Kyle Gass and Tenacious D - just how did these 3 get paired with this band? Beyond me, but I'm not complaining.

Their work, alongside Peretz, is honourable and totally worth the 3 minute YouTube watch. Go ahead, sing along, laugh out loud and learn to fly with the Foos!

Ash :)