Prior to the Aug. 28 MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) ceremony, Eastman Kodak held a luncheon to fete the DP nominees in the cinematography category: Director/cinematographer Samuel Bayer, for Green Day’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” which went on to win the MTV Award for best cinematography; Michael Bernard, for Simple Plan’s “Untitled”; Omer Ganai, for U2’s “Vertigo”; Danny Hiele, for Modest Mouse’s “The Ocean Breathes Salty”; Harris Savides, ASC, for Coldplay’s “Speed of Sound”; and Chris Soos, CSC, for White Stripes’ “Blue Orchid.”
(“Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” produced by bicoastal Black Dog Films, went on to win a total of six VMA honors: best direction and best cinematography for Bayer, best editing for Tim Royes, and video of the year, best rock video, and best group video.)
Additionally, Kodak bestowed a Lifetime Achievement Award upon Bayer, who helmed the latest string of Green Day videos. Bayer’s career in music videos actually took off in 1991 with Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” which is today still considered a milestone in the music video era. His body of work also includes tremendous success in the commercial arena, with spots such as “If you Let Me Play,” for Nike via Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore. (Bayer directs ads via bicoastal RSA USA.) Furthermore, Bayer is in prepro on a feature starring Bruce Willis, set to go into production this winter.
“The look of my work, the style, is as important as the content,” he said of his music video work. “I don’t do my work to make it look different, it’s the way I see things–I try and push myself. All the Green Day videos–I think every one looks different.”
Currently in rotation, Bayer’s latest Green Day effort is the thought provoking “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” a seven-minute clip about a young couple whose life together is interrupted when the man goes to war. The clip features dialogue sequences as well as a graphic battle.
“It’s probably the best video I’ve every made; I’m really proud of it,” said Bayer. “It’s an anti-war statement, but it’s not the anti-Iraq statement. It’s more like ‘it’s a terrible thing if you are 18 years old and you have to go off and maybe lose your life before you’ve lived your life’.
“I’m pissed off about the war, maybe I’m pissed off that a media channel like MTV isn’t doing more to energize kids,” he added. “I applaud MTV for playing [‘Wake Me Up When September Ends’]. There are guns in it; there’s blood; it’s pretty brutal. I’d like it to start discussions. I’d to have kids on [MTV program] TRL not talk about what Gwen Stefani is wearing, but maybe about the Iraq war.”
