Geese 'Taxes' by Noel Paul
Rob Ulitski - 16th July 2025
Noel Paul directs a characteristically immersive and offbeat promo for American rock band Geese.
The video for Taxes takes place at an intimate gig, with the first thirty seconds or so shot lo-fi on a mobile phone. But then it's all turned on its head, ramping up into a mesmerising fever dream of dancing, fighting and melting faces.
"When Cameron sings 'nail me down', everything changes," explains Paul. "The format morphs from strictly phone footage to a hodgepodge of textures and frame rates.
"The action becomes dislocated from documentary reality, instead taking the form of abstract isolated shots of expressions and gestures being repeated endlessly and maniacally by the people in the crowd. It's like we're inside a contemporary version of some medieval painting of the Damned, writhing and carousing in ecstasy and agony as they are herded towards Hell's gaping maw.
"Our crowd now becomes a vehicle for exploring a cavalcade of human expressions, gestures, and simple actions, boiled down to some kind of fetishized essence by way of filming them in hyperspeed with endlessly repeating manic motion. A simple action repeated over and over again and filmed in this style becomes mesmerizing and absurd and ritualistic."
Brilliantly frantic and executed to perfection, it's a standout visual.
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Rob Ulitski - 16th July 2025
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Credits
Production/Creative
- Director
- Noel Paul
- Producer
- Lucy Rennick
- Production Company
- F
- Executive Producer
- Mel Giles
- 1st AD
- Eliana Roseen
- Service EP
- Miranda Kahn Service Production Company
Camera
- Director of Photography
- Léa Taillefer
- Focus Puller
- Thomas Cameron
- 2nd AC
- Oona Mozelle
Lighting/Grip
- Gaffer
- Adam Reichardt
- Key Grip
- Alexei Topounov
Art
- Production designer
- Saara Untracht-oakner
- Kaceylin Prinea
Wardrobe
- Make-up
- Nina Carelli
Choreography
- Movement Director
- Monica Mirabile
Casting
- FEATURED EXTRAS
- Rubina Vidal, Carsyn Parmelee, Emma Ruth Matthews, Allison Hsu, Julia Chrzanowski, Laini Sharifi, Elizabeth Ross, Andy Nappi, Amouri Edwards, Agnes Walsh, Skyler Doud, Georgia Gooding, Kevin Nguyen, Tony Gray, Henry Kallerud, Jamie Walker, William Newman,, Leo Kennedy, Dennis Dayan Torin Cox, Teddy Davis BACKGROUND
Editorial
- Editor
- Noel Paul
Grading
- Colourist
- Belal Hibri
VFX
- VFX
- Miled Boulos
Agent
- Director's Representation
- Leethal Reppin'
Commission
- Commissioner
- Jake Crossland
- Label
- Partisan Records
Rob Ulitski - 16th July 2025