David Wilson's 'Mind Mischief' Promo for Tame Impala

Remember high school? Remember the never ending lessons, the all-consuming crushes, the deep fascination with the opposite sex? However long ago it was, it's a time everyone gets a little wistful about.

 

In his potent new film for Tame Impala's 'Mind Mischief', David Wilson revisits those curiosity-filled days of adolescence, viewing them through a nostalgic and psychedelic lens. It's a film in two parts that explores the magic and mystery of a teenage crush, revolving around the mildly explicit student/teacher fantasy of a wide-eyed schoolboy (played by the breakout star of cult film 'Son of Rambow', Bill Milner).

 

Illustrating the song's theme of 'mind mischief' and inspired by the deep, retro bassline, the film marries the band's opulent and dreamy sound with equally dreamy imagery. Tension is slowly built with misty, lingering scenes of a 70s-era classroom, before taking a cosmic trip through the boy's imagination and into his animated retrofuturistic fantasy. Using his unique talent for turning the familiar into the sublime, David has further developed his extraordinary blend of live action and animation to produce a video that captures the abstract notion of desire in magnificent – and only slightly NSFW – visuals.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Director: David Wilson

Animation Direction: David Wilson and Thomas Ormonde

EP: Tamsin Glasson

Producer: Julie Crosbie

Production Manager: Drew O'Neill

Casting: Anna Kennedy and Alec Drysdale

Schoolboy: Bill Milner

School Teacher: Liza Callinicos

Male Teacher: Andrew Docker

Schoolboy: Jake de la Mothe, Joshua Charles, Hugh Lovric, Laurence Montagu, Seb Luke-Virgo, Imran Mair, George Kirchner, Jack Kirkwood, James Welsh, Nima Bazcar, JJ Tominey, Stephen Rawson, Tim Walton

DP: Pau Castejon

1st AD: Paul Bennett

2nd AD: James Evered

Location Manager: Stephen Sanchez

Focus Puller: Fran Weston

Loader: Jenny John-Chuan

Grip: Ben Freeman

Gaffer: Jonathan Spencer

Electrician: Jason Martin, Oliver Poole, Lee Martin

Art Director: Laura Johnstone

Art Dept: Jack Johnstone, Luke Judlin, Cassia Dickinson, Susie Gaydos

Wardrobe: Natalie Marie Willis

School Emblem designed by Alex Trochut

Hair & Makeup: Anna Thompson

Runners: Natalia Maus, Jack Glossop

Editor: James Rose at Cut and Run

Illustrator: Andres Guzman

3D Previs: Simone Ghilardotti

Lead Animator: Jonathan Harris

Flash Animators: Michael Zauner, Matt Lloyd, Frankie Swan, Alice Dupre, Sarah Beeby, Ella McLean, Tom Brown, Jack Nelson, Patrick Koduah, David Wilson, Thomas Matuszewski, Tom Bunker

Colourists: Stefan Georgiou, Rezvan Abbaspour, Jamie Fraser, Claire Ritchie, Maria Cecilia, Emmy Castelain, Katy Beveridge, Jessie May Peters, Emma-Rose Dade, Janna Lundius, Steve Shaw, Dele Nuga, Julie Crosbie

Compositing: Thomas Ormonde, Simone Ghilardotti

Sound Mixer: Ben Gulvin at 750mph

Grade: James Bamford at The Mill

Ink Footage: James Lowrey

Commissioner: Glen Goetze at Modular Records

 

Special thanks to Jess Reese for loaning her 2CV, Barnaby Laws at Panalux and Chris Youlton at ARRI