Eminem's Mosh

Eminem's Mosh http://www.gnn.tv/content/eminem_mosh.html

Mon, 25 Oct 2004 16:05:45 -0700
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Eminem's Mosh Music Video - Directed by GNN's Ian Inaba
*Directors Note:* Most Americans are well aware that in 2000, the
presidential election was decided by 537 votes. From hanging chads to
the hourly updates of the manual recount, this story was obsessively
covered by the mainstream press. However, what wasn't covered was what
journalist Greg Palast discovered
that thousands of
primarily minority voters were scrubbed from the voter registry in
Florida and prevented from potentially changing the course of America's
turbulent last four years.

By the spring of 2004 all around the country, groups from both sides of
the aisle were organizing and activating plans to impact the coming
presidential election from MoveOn to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Here
at GNN we were finishing our book, True Lies
, two related documentary projects
and barely had enough time
for our own attempt of an online voter registration campaign.
Through Palast's reporting and our own
investigations into electronic voting machines and the crossover
campaign that defeated Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, we became
increasingly aware of the fallibility of elections and the fragile state
of America's most fundamental democratic process. We also knew the
potential power of the youth vote. With more than 55 million voters
between the ages of 18 and 35, this demographic group accounts for 36%
of the total eligible voters in the U.S. And as witnessed in 2000 it all
comes down to who shows up to vote on election day.

So on the eve of one of the most spirited elections in recent times,
it's time to try and turn out the vote. As a music video director, ideas
for videos usually come independent of the song and are then adapted to
fit the timing and lyrics of the featured track. I initially developed a
concept for this video in June 2004 and contacted Interscope shortly
after to find out what artists in their roster would be releasing albums
near the election. The goal was to make a video that inspired young
people to vote because they too often disregard it as a powerless
exercise. To show them that political decisions do impact their daily
lives and that voting is the most powerful act we all have to voice our
opinion and effect change. And to educate and reiterate the point that
whether or not people want to accept it, there are forces in play that
attempt to suppress the youth and minority vote.

When I got the callback that our favorite conspirator of controversy,
Eminem would be releasing an album in November, I knew we had the
potential to say something that would be heard by the masses. And after
hearing the song later that month it seemed Mr. Mathers had also been in
the lab concocting his own plans for the election and it was precisely
the anthem I had been looking for. So with less than six weeks to
deliver we put together a team and forgot about what it meant to sleep.
In order to produce animation for a song that runs 5:20 in just over 5
weeks we were going to need a lot of green tea and mate and a little
help from Marshall himself. This video was made possible by a team of
artists who came together inspired by a song and video that might be
able to effect the next four years of all of our lives.

Two years ago, this video would not have been approved by a single
record label. A year ago it would never had the possibility of being
played on television. But with the changing tide of public sentiment
marked by the success of our last video for Chronic Future, an anti-war
message that made it into rotation on TRL we think it might just have a
chance.

Now, it's up to the broadcasters. Will they ban the top selling musical
artist for being anti-establishment while they allow other propaganda to
air? Or
will they finally allow an artist who has the courage to speak out to
take center stage and utilize the airwaves for something other than
typical celebrity fodder?

Stay tuned here for updates on
the unfolding antics and remember to show up and vote for you candidate
of choice on November 2nd.

To purchase GNN's new book, /True Lies/, go here
.

To purchase DVDs of other GNN videos go here
.

*More info on issues raised in Mosh*:

*Soldiers' Rights:*
National Gulf War Resource Center
Operation Truth
Soldiers for the Truth

*Voting activism and information:*
My Polling Place
League of Pissed Off Voters
Black Box Voting
Air Traffic Control: Documenting and Supporting Music and Activism


*Poverty:*
Kensington Welfare Rights Union
(see GNN's Drug War Reality Tour video
)

*Police Brutality:*
CopWatch
(see GNN's CopWatch video )
Human Rights Watch

*Media:*
Indymedia
Media Matters
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting
(see GNN's Countdown video
)


Credits

Track: Eminem, "Mosh" from the album Encore

Producer, Director, Editor: Ian Inaba:

Art Director, 3-D Animation: Anson Vogt

Character Animation: Haik Hoisington

Motion Graphics: Steve Ogden

Illustration, Animation: Craig Patches

Eminem Animation: Kevin Elam

After Effector: Mark Nicola

Green Screen Producer, Cameraman: John Quigly

Illustration Design: Thomas Brohdal

Illustration Support: Nicholas Sanchez