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The Maccabees 'Young Lions' by Peter Szewczyk

David Knight - 21st June 2010

In Peter Szewczyk's delightful video for the Maccabees' Young Lions, a boy finds solace from a tough world with the help of a beautiful pet moth. When his cruel father intervenes both boy and insect escape in separate journeys in search of sanctuary.

Peter Szewczyk has a background in CG - having worked at Dreamworks, Lucasfilm and Weta - and was aiming to make a short loosely based on the James Thurber story Moth And The Star (he quotes Thurber on his Vimeo page: "Who flies afar from the sphere of our sorrow is here today and here tomorrow") then he realised the idea would work as a video for the track, pitched it to The Maccabees' Orlando Weeks, and took nearly two months to make it. Lovely.

Peter Szewczyk: 

"There wasn't much of a crew. Just me and my Canon 5D. I have a background in CG, having worked at Dreamworks, Lucasfilm and Weta. I got a bit burnt out out on Avatar, and thought I try my hand at directing. So all the post and editing I did myself at home. I had a friend assist as a camera operator. Since my speciality is lighting I acted as the DoP too. A colleague loaned me her kids for a few weekends of shooting. It took just under two months to make with four days of shooting in London, and two in Iceland.

"I was aiming to make a short loosely based on James Thurber "Moth and the Star" short story. While I was planning the project I noticed some parallels between my idea and The Maccabees' Young Lions. I met Orlando Weeks, lead singer of the band, through a friend and pitched the idea. He loved it but thought it would be enormously expensive. I assured him I could make it for under 1,000 GDP. In the end it cost about 750 GDP. I was on holiday in Iceland, so the footage shot there was just a convenient perk."

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David Knight - 21st June 2010

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Peter Szewczyk

David Knight - 21st June 2010

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