LOS ANGELES-The new Luscious Jackson video, "Naked Eye," borrows its creative concept from an unusual source-the 1977 French-Spanish film "That Obscure Object Of Desire."
In the art house film, which was directed by Luis Bunuel, the female lead role is played by two actresses, each representing various aspects of the character's personality. In the music video, the female lead is played by all four members of Luscious Jackson.
"I felt the video should have something to do with how one perceives the person they're with," says director Marcus Raboy, whose work includes videos by Naughty By Nature, Salt-NPepa, Ice Cube, Rancid, and Mary J. Blige.
Raboy says he talked the project over with Mike Diamond-onethird of the Beastie Boys and CEO of Grand Royal Records, which distributes the group's albums with Capitol Records-and Carolyn Chen, the director of photography. "We all started talking about the Bunuel movie and agreed that it would be a great idea to do something similar with the Luscious Jackson video," Raboy says.
Daniel Lockwood, associate director of video production at Capitol, was also a major force in pulling the video together.
"We received many treatments for the video, but I was looking for something that would capture the psychological side of the song," says lead singer/bassist Jill Cunniff. "Then Marcus sent in his treatment based on `That Obscure Object Of Desire,' in which we were all supposed to be archetypes that exist within one woman's psyche. Kate [Schellenbach, drummer] was supposed to be the more lusty one. Gabby [Glaser, guitarist] was the emotional, needy persona. I was the narrator, and Vivian [Trimble, keyboardist] was what we call the French girlfriend. She's the cool one."
The video depicts a couple's final moments at an airport as they prepare to say goodbye to one another. Since the action consists mainly of the couple moving through the airport terminal, Raboy and the band decided to add a little tension to the clip. The idea was to keep the action moving, as well as to create a sense of intrigue.
"The song has sort of a spy feeling to it, so we needed some kind of tension, like something is being delivered [in a suitcase], and you're not sure what's going on," says Cunniff.
The clip also fashions a retro-futuristic look that was inspired by studying several French films, including "Mon Oncle" by Jacques Tati.
"Those old '60s movies have this kind of sterile, optimistic quality to them, which is almost science-fiction-like. They communicated this idea of, `Won't the future be great,' Raboy adds. "So we created a very sterile look, but the characters have a very raw energy compared to the sterile background, which makes for an interesting contrast."
"Naked Eye" made its MTV debut Nov. 17 and went into active rotation Nov. 25, according to Clark Staub, senior director of marketing at Capitol. The clip was also serviced to local and regional video shows nationwide.
In addition, a "Naked Eye" club video has been serviced to more than 100 clubs throughout the nation, according to Linda Ingrisano, VP of visual marketing at Capitol.
The club version, directed by Michael Meister, does not include a band appearance. Instead, it is a compilation of "Super 8 road footage of fairs and carnivals and different visuals," says Staub. "It's pretty eye-catching, and it's all done to a remix of the song."
There will be a "Luscious Giveaway" competition during December that ties in with the video, says Ingrisano. Prizes will include $500 in cash, a Luscious Jackson CD catalog, and T-shirts.
Several regional video shows will be involved with the competition and will ask viewers to guess what's inside the suitcase and to answer other questions related to the video. Participating shows include Chicagobased "JBTV" Boston-based "Rage," and Denver-based "Music Link." Retail stores tied in with the giveaway include Tower Records in Boston and Chicago and Twist & Shout and Wax Trax in Denver.