Controversial film director, Chris Cunningham, responsible for projects like Aphex Twin’s ‘Come to Daddy’ and ‘Windowlicker,ย has been drafted in to direct a 24-hour long video, for the follow up to Pharrell Williams’ global smash hit โHappyโ. ย
Cunningham thinks Pharrell’s new song ‘Miserable’ will surprise a lot of fans. โThere are probably lots of people out there whoโve heard โHappyโ and maybe โGet Luckyโ, and think thatโs what Pharrell is all about – staying up late, drinking with women, clapping a lot… but this new track is going to introduce them to the real Pharrell Williams! ย Deep down, heโs a haunted, fractured soul.โ
Asked why he thought heโd been picked for the project, Cunningham replied, โYoann Lemoine did a fantastic job on the โHappyโ video, but all that dancing would have been inappropriate on this. I’m one of the only people that’s ever managed to make a depressing Madonna video โ remember that one where she dissolves into crows? So it was probably clear to them that I was the right man for the job.โ
Getting the right concept proved a real challenge, Cunningham reveals. โThe basic idea came to me when I was watching Despicable Me 2. I saw that bald guy pushing over those people doing Tai Chi, but I knew that we could take things further โ a lot further! ย As soon as I heard the song, I could see there was potential to give audiences something really harrowing… you know, for a whole day.โ Cunninghamโs original ideas of having a world where everyone had Pharrellโs face and two Pharrell-bots having sex on a big white table, were quickly deemed โnot miserable enoughโ, while viewers found an early pilot version featuring 24 hours of footage of the singerโs giant hat strangely endearing. โThat was a set back in the early stagesโ, Cunningham reveals. โThe important thing is we learned from it and moved on, so Iโm confident we’ve got things right.โ
Cunningham remains tight-lipped about the finished product. โYouโll just have to wait and see!โ, laughs Cunningham. โTrust me, you really just need to see it for yourself. I put a lot of little details in there that you might not notice the first time round, so it repays repeated viewings.โ
A spokesperson for Pharrell Williams said that he was delighted to be involved in anything that would help people forget his part in โBlurred Linesโ.
