METZ “Hail Taxi”

Production Neuplot for Sub-Pop records
Director: A.F. Cortés
Shot at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in early summer of 2020. 

FILMMAKING IN THE TIME OF COVID-19

With HAIL TAXI for METZ, we wanted to use visual motifs to capture the song’s overarching idea of longing for the past. For many of us, moving forward is the hardest thing to do when we’re stuck between nostalgia for the past, anxiety about the future, and challenges in the present. 

Set against the backdrop of a locked-down New York City during peak pandemic, we created a timeless piece that captured the palpable sense of isolation within the subtext of the story without explicitly referencing it. The process of creating the video also reflected the ethos of the song and times.  

With a skeleton crew, barebones equipment, and a next-to-nothing budget, we set to shoot the piece on the rooftop of a typical NYC five-floor walk-up building with an old rowboat we found for $50. We used home-made lights, an inflatable pool, a small aquarium as a miniature set with small replicas of the boat, the mask, and other found items, and many old-school filmmaking techniques to create the effect of water and a woman stranded in the middle of the ocean. 

Given social distancing rules and store closures, we all had to wear multiple hats, like having our actress do her own makeup, and maneuvered to find props and wardrobe. A quixotic task, yet a process that freed us of many preconceptions of the film shoots from the past. 

This video was created with many limitations in a moment of personal change. It was a pure process, where the journey was as critical as the goal. Life is uncertain for all of us in the music and filmmaking industries, yet we need to embrace change and stop longing for the past. For just a few days, a small group of creatives decided to follow a crazy idea, live in the present, and embrace the uncertain future.

A.F. CORTES
NYC summer 2020.  

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