A haunted funhouse that's anything but fun sets the stage for Run the Jewels's "Don't Get Captured" music video, which tackles class warfare with Tim Burton-esque claymation. Director Chris Hopewell of Jackknife Films lends his knack for spooky animation to Run the Jewels 3's aggressive anthem against injustice, recognizable from his Radiohead videos "There There" and "Burn the Witch.""My inspiration for the video was all about the lyrics of the track," Hopewell tells Creators. Hopewell's impeccably smooth stop-motion—Mike's blunt-smoking face is amazing—underscores the message of "Don't Get Captured."
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"It's a hard hitting piece about urban regeneration and crime and punishment—we followed the lines closely that Killer Mike and EL-P deliver and let the story unfold," Hopewell says. On the track Killer Mike raps, "Really ain't color, my brother / Here in Cabbagetown they put they white-ass out / Truth been told, I'm out." Just so, the skeletons in the video have no skin. The moneyed elite get top hats and cigars, cops get riot gear, and anyone outside the establishment is lucky to have a hat or jacket.
"Killer Mikes and EL-P's delivery of the lines was a real gift to the animation team as they put so much into their performances," Hopewell says. "The themes of urban gentrification really hit home with us as this was the very last video we shot at our downtown studio. It's currently being refurbished into a swanky bar. They say art emulates life…"Check out the full video for "Don't Get Captured" below.
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