Back to The Future The Ride- Zero Ghost from rob heppell on Vimeo.
A friend recently complained to me that most Americans seemed to view Paris as a “Disneyland for romance”. Based on her tone, it seemed like she was referring to the trite romance of candlelit dinners and accordion serenades. The implication was that this widely held view had made Paris a less appealing destination for the type of traveler who is looking for the type of romance that can’t be so easily packaged and sold.
Rob Heppell’s new video for the song “Zero Ghost” by Back to The Future The Ride takes us on an unusual journey through the streets of Paris; rather than a city of traditional romance, Paris becomes a hotbed of paranormal activity. These ghosts appear to us as dancing lights that float around the branches of cherry blossom trees. As the somber, repetitive keyboard tones set a mood that alternates between sublime and paranoid, we wonder if these spirits are to be trusted. There is something radically romantic in this ambiguity. It is made clear that something sinister is at work when the words “Phantomes Quitter!” (Ghosts, leave!) appear in the glass pane of a phone booth. Rather than wanting these ghosts to leave, I find myself more and more anxious to know their story.
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