The new music video for Rye Pines‘ track, “Posthumous Fame,” is a literal take on the feeling of getting lost in your smartphone—with a Charlie Chaplin twist. Shot like a silent film, the black-and-white video features director K8 Howl trapped inside a giant abandoned mall that seems to represent the internet, or consumerism, or both. A flurry of CGI effects, pixelated textures, kinetic sculpture, and manual interactions with a digital screen filters these ideas through the whole history of cinema, framed by a 1:1 aspect ratio that reflects the entire journey from one-person kinetoscope to Instagram-style mobile framing.

The video represents two years of unfettered creativity from Howl and Jak Ritger’s production studio, TRLLM. “It took two years to complete because K8 and I have been and still are working on commissions and creative jobs,” Ritger tells The Creators Project.” This is a passion project that we worked on in-between projects. Our close relationship with the band, and no hard deadline gave K8 complete freedom to experiment and work through ideas. The struggle to make independent artwork today was a driving force during this filmmaking.” The result is a journey diverse in visuals, themes, techniques, and music.

Posthumous Fame – Rye Pines from K8 Howl on Vimeo.

“Posthumous Fame” comes from Rye Pines’ 2014 album Portrait of Dissonance as a Young Man. To hear more of their music, check out their 2015 EP Dead Ocean.

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