Top Spot of the Week: Joe Connor Directs The Rolling Stones' "Living In a Ghost Town"

Joe Connor, whose commercialmaking roost is Rogue Films in London, directed The Rolling Stones’ music video “Living in a Ghost Town,” out of production company Just Fred.

For this new video--drawing inspiration from the undiscriminating and global impact of COVID-19 on cities and communities throughout the planet--Connor had the idea of deploying his spherical fisheye lens as a metaphor, both for “home”--the goldfish bowl we all now find ourselves living in--and as a way to represent the now empty-looking planet.

Shooting the world’s deserted spaces, particularly those that are usually teeming with people, and then connecting them through Underground systems, doorways and stairways emerging somewhere new but strangely, identical, it seemed to reinforce how every country, regardless of politics, culture, religion, race, geography and wealth, is now bound by the same rules and disorientating atmosphere. 

With the 180-degree lens avoiding the pretense of framing or staging and the stop-frame photography technique adding a hand-made charm to the experience, Connor gives us a unique, human point of view of our surreal new “norm.”  A striking collection of images from London, Los Angeles, Toronto, Oslo, Cape Town, Osaka and even Margate, the video is an artistic documentation of the crisis all over the globe. The images were captured by Connor in London, Hloni Coleman in Cape Town, Samantha Milligan in Kyoto, Nick Walker in L.A., Amer Chadha-Patel in Margate, Kristian Engelsen in Oslo, and Janick Laurent in Toronto. Connor also served as editor of the video.

The Rolling Stones’ song “Living in a Ghost Town” was written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, created and recorded in Los Angeles, London and in isolation. The music ensemble included Jagger (vocals/harmonica/guitar/backing vocals), Richards (guitar/backing vocals) Charlie Watts (drums), Ronnie Wood (guitar/backing vocals), Darryl Jones (bass) and Matt Clifford (keyboards, French horn, sax, flugelhorn).

Director Connor has had his work shortlisted at D&AD, the British Arrows and the Cannes Lions; he’s received four UKMVA nominations, and was named best director at the IMVAs.