David M. Helman directs a superb study of interconnected lives for American Football's cover of Mazzy Star's classic Fade Into You. Focused on a series of captivating vignettes, the video for Fade Into You captures transitionary moments in seemingly random characters' lives. But then the scenes reveal themselves to be like beads on a chain: a background character in a scene moves centre stage into the next one, then passing the baton onto the next character.Helman's method - each scene is a beautifully-shot portrait, with a slow zoom moving closer to the characters - is a wonderful device to create a sense of a narrative, but also hint at something rather more profound. Reality and a touch of surreality sit side-by-side, mirroring the serendipitous nature of life and who we meet on our journeys. This is terrific work, that lingers long after watching - the sign of a very good video indeed.
Rob Ulitski - 8th Apr 2022