Kendra Brea Cooper
Los Angeles carries a ghost inside of it. The ghost is everything we can think of outside of the cement, buildings, and all city planning made for "living". What really lives is the idea of it. We're not drawn to any traffic or street signs, we're drawn to what it all means in our culture, which is why even the sidewalks are stamped with stars.
The streets are where the collective energy happens. They're where drama is played out, conversations are had, and revolutions are joined. In this video, Jared Leto and other actors/people spend their times on the streets because it's a space of defining yourself and building identity around other people.
The shots of Los Angeles from above reveal a string of connected roads with the energy of blood pumping through veins. It is meant to show the life of the city as a whole, with the movement, with the lights, and with all that has come together by human creation.
A city means nothing unless someone is there to express the meaning of it. Through interviews, this video has a group of people talk about what Los Angeles actually is to them. It's a discourse that builds the spirit of this place. The conversation is what sustains the myths, gives it a life, and makes it a home.
Thinking about Los Angeles brings up the images of people who have walked, and do walk, its ground. Some of those people talk in this music video. Part of your identity is attached to the place you live, and all the history, politics, and ideology sits in your backyard. From Marilyn Monroe to the 1992 Los Angeles riots, the people make the place what it is.
There's a promise that hangs onto Los Angeles, and it attaches itself to the pavement, stories, and history. It's the promise of all your dreams coming true. They are cemented on the streets and carved onto stars, making us think they are less fragile and fleeting than they really are.
Los Angeles is where creativity sits on a pedestal. It is where the soundtrack of your life and the movie that defines you is created. Elsewhere, creativity might be alienated and taken less seriously, but here in the land of dreams, creation is Queen.
In Los Angeles, fame is attached to dreams. This music video explicitly shines a light on fame as part of what this city means, and the ones who have experienced fame share their thoughts about what it is. It is what has teenagers packing their cars after high school and fleeing to the city. It is the feeling of importance, and the desire of all eyes on us as it consumes our society. We all want to be a big part of our generation, and we want a piece of what LA has to offer.
This music video understands the energy of the night time. It is shot in the back drop of the last minutes of a sunset, the backgrounds during the interviews are dark, and the story is told in the night. Business happens in the day, but the real creativity and the real connections happen under the cover of the night sky, where people take off their masks and let loose.
There is a sense of urgency on the streets of Los Angeles. It's more than just the cars on the freeways, it's that anxiety that comes with the fleeting aspects of creativity ,success, fame, and even life itself. When your identity is tied tight to the flow of trends, the need to be on point all the time is a city on speed.
For a short video, there are some very thoughtful interviews from people that live outside of stardom, the business, and even the system. For them, Los Angeles means something different. The dreams are more personal, and have nothing to do with the great draw of fame and fortune, but are closer to life and death.
Pop culture and all that ideology sitting in the blind spot. Also crafts.
