Dezeen Magazine

Markus Hofko imagines an invisible man for Flying Lotus' Phantasm music video

Dezeen Music Project: a fluffy character unwraps an ethereal figure formed from archive footage in this music video directed by New Zealander Markus Hofko for Los Angeles beat-maker Flying Lotus.

Flying-Lotus-(feat.-Laura-Darlington)-Phantasm_dezeen_2

Hofko used an analog-meets-digital concept for the Phantasm video, mixing footage from the Prelinger Archive, an online film collection founded in 1983 by  American filmmaker Rick Prelinger, and shooting each scene on a Canon 5d Mark II with vintage lenses.

Flying Lotus wool

In the short film an embalmed person is unravelled by a strange wooly creature, revealing an iridescent figure who later wanders the sandy plains before being wrapped up again.

Phantasm Flying Lotus

"I love those 'the invisible man' sort of ideas and wanted to do my own take on it," he told Dezeen. "The idea has been lying around in my head for ages, but I never had a reason to execute it."

Flying Lotus Invisible

According to Hofko, only a few simple props were needed to realise his imaginative idea: two sacks of raw sheep wool, one green suit, one camera and one computer.

Flying Lotus Desert

The ethereal video was filmed over two days of shooting on location at Desert Road on New Zealand's North Island.

"Everyone should have their own interpretations," he suggested. "The lyrics might help to narrow down the possibilities, but generally I think it's quite an obvious metaphorical scenario."

New Zealand desert Flying Lotus

Hofko is an art director and photographer based in Auckland, who runs The Bow — a one-man venture that explores possibilities of narration through images. He has previously worked with a number of electronic musicians, designing cover artwork for Debruit and Ghost Tapes.

Wool Flying Lotus

Phantasm features vocals by Laura Darlington and is taken from Flying Lotus' album Until The Quiet Comes, released on Warp Records in 2012.