I was forwarded this video by my assistant. It’s a remarkable piece of direction and got me thinking about the effective use of one’s influences.
This group of Quebec students is obviously influenced by the music of the Black Eyed Peas but there’s more going on here.
The one-shot, one-take style of the video is very reminiscent of Touch of Evil and the reunion shot at the end had me thinking of the cafeteria scene from The Game.
Of course, short of asking the filmmakers, there’s no way of knowing for sure what inspired them. Based on their ages, they could have just as easily been influenced by the shot in The Player, or Lisa Loeb’s video for Stay.
The real fun of it is trying to guess what past greatness they sprinkled into their own work.
What other homages can you spot in this video? Which filmmakers have influenced you?