Ian Inaba directs Eminem’s “Mosh” Music Video
An Interview by Adriana de Barros
360:
First, I am curious to know how the video
project “Mosh” took way, how
you became the director and producer of
it?
Ian Inaba: Fellow GNN director Stephen
Marshall and I were given the opportunity
to work with Eminem on his previous album,
The Eminem Show. I produced and Stephen
directed the animated video for White America.
We then provided tour visuals for Eminem’s
past two Summer tours. As Stephen moved
into feature films, I continued to make
music videos, directing an animated video
for Chronic
Future in the Spring of 2004.
In July, a month after finishing the Chronic
Future video I had a concept for a video
I wanted to do to encourage young people
to vote in the upcoming presidential election.
I contacted the label, pitched the concept,
submitted a treatment and asked who would
be releasing an album around the election.
I didn’t hear back for weeks and was
beginning to think it was going to be just
another missed opportunity. Then in August,
I finally got a call back, they said they
think they might have a fit for the video
concept and I once again caught hope for
the project. Then they told me the artist
was Eminem and the song was called Mosh.
Without having heard the song, I knew this
was going to be able to reach the masses,
but with less than three months til the
election we were running out of time. Because
of the security around Eminem’s music
due to piracy, I wasn’t allowed to
listen to the song until the beginning of
September. And even then we were not allowed
to take the music home with us, only the
words and a loop of the beat. So with less
than 7 weeks to go we assembled a team and
began animating as if the future of the
world depended on it. We trained ourselves
to live on 3 hrs of sleep and found a render
farm in Alabama where we could rent 400
machines by the minute over the internet
with a credit card. Half way through we
needed more artists so we posted an ad on
the internet and scoured the web for great
animators. With a month to go we added the
needed additional artists who contributed
to the mix of styles. The geographically
dispersed team, located in Berkeley, Ca,
Torrence, Ca, Venice, Ca, Brooklyn, NY,
Queens, Ny created Mosh, 5 and a half minutes
of hi-res, broadcast ready animation in
just about six weeks.
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| Top: Television
news images of President Bush
were used for the video. Bottom:
Cartoon Eminem lines up to vote
in the US elections on November
2nd, 2004. |
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360: I know the video was targeted for a young
audience (ages from 18 to 35), which is about
36% of the total eligible voters in the United
States. Why do you think many of these citizens
have been uninterested in voting?
I: I think there are a few reasons young
people feel disconnected from the political
process. First, most young people don’t
follow the news which means many of them
aren’t tied into the mainstream mindset
of the country. So, many are simply uninterested
because it is not a part of their world,
or on the other side of the spectrum there
are young people who are aware of the corporate
control and corruption of the government
in the United States and therefore opt out
because they don’t want to have anything
to do with the system.
360: The video attempts to encourage electorates,
but it isn’t a neutral political statement
— it is an anti-Bush movement. Why would
you and Eminem risk influencing viewers?
I: I can’t speak for Eminem, but
my intention was not to make a pro-Kerry
video, instead it was to show young people
that they can question and challenge power,
no matter who is in office.
360: Well, we now know who won the US election
(2004). Are you heartbroken?
I: For a week or so I was, but I’m
not sure we really know exactly what went
down in this election. One of my GNN partners
and I were down in Atlanta filming for my
documentary project on election day. When
they finally announced the results early
the next morning, we looked at each other
and said, “Four more years…of
dissent.”
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| An image
from the new post-election version
of the “Mosh” video.
John Kerry and John Edwards cry
over their party’s loss.
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View more stills |
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360: With the international and national
Anti-War in Iraq campaigns, among the debates
over many of President Bush’s political
actions, why do you think he still won?
I: From a high level, unfortunately but
predictably, love won out over hate. The
people who voted for Bush went out to the
polls to vote for their candidate. I think
a lot of people who voted for Kerry were
voting out of hate for Bush. And negativity
is never a good way to accomplish anything.
But like I said before, I don’t think
we know what really went down on election
day and probably wont for some time.
360: Do you think/or know if the national
news media has omitted information from
being broadcast to US citizens? Are people
aware of what has been going on, or are
they getting bits and pieces throughout
time?
I: Not sure what you mean by this…
See our book True
Lies. Stories are omitted all the
time but for different reasons.
360: I’m not sure if this is relevant,
but in the scenes where we see Eminem wearing
a suit with a red tie preaching to the masses,
is this in any way influenced from Martin
Luther King Jr.? He also puts his fist in
the air, is this connected with the black
power statement from the Olympic Games in
1968?
I: There were many elements in the video
influenced by the Black Power and Civil
Rights Movement. I wanted to try and reference
these things so that young people today
could learn from our past in the US and
be aware that the struggle continues.
360: Eminem has been a controversial rapper
since day one. He’s a love/hate celebrity,
who has gone to the full extent of negatively
criticizing most things and people in society,
in his music. Controversy does sell, even
if at times we like it or not. How is this
video different than his others? Why would
anyone take him seriously, and not think
it is another way to sell an album?
I: Some people did think this was just
another clever way to sell an album. But
most people really felt inspired by the
video and Eminem’s bravery to speak
out so boldly at such a critical time in
our history.
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