Prism Prize Eligible Video: The Besnard Lakes - Feud with a Gun

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The 2020 Prism Prize for Best Canadian Music Video was awarded to Peter Huang, for his clip for Jessie Reyez's Far Away. We will continue to profile noteworthy Canadian videos that were eligible for the prize, including this one from an acclaimed Montreal psych-rock band.

The Besnard Lakes - Feud with a Gun

The Besnard Lakes are an indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec comprised of husband and wife team Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas, plus Kevin Laing on drums, Richard White on guitar, Sheenah Ko on keyboards, and Robbie MacArthur on guitar. The six-piece band focuses on the sounds of Lasek and Goreas whose sound and musical expertise pulls from a lot of rock ‘n’ roll history. 

Their video for Feud with a Gun, animated by Jordan “Dr.Cool” Minkoff, pairs beautifully with the peaceful yet daunting track. The visuals feature a plethora of divers falling into the clouds in the sky while planes circle around them. The chosen colours give off a real '80s vision as the music plays behind.

When asked about the visuals, this is what Minkoff had to say: “I rotoscoped a couple of the big dives from a video of an extreme high-diving contest that took place in the '80s. About a week after I had animated the first guy’s big jump, I returned to the video to check out some other usable clips. I realized I had never watched the full clip of the first jump - I had just stopped once he hit the water. I found out that after he lands in the water, he floats back up unconscious and then gets taken away on a stretcher. So now what was I supposed to do? People in the comments were asking what had happened, but no one knew the answer. After a bunch of snooping around the internet, I found the guy’s Facebook and he’s TOTALLY alive. His name is Pat and he lives in Florida. I messaged him but he hasn’t answered.”

Video by Jordan "Dr.Cool" Minkoff

Additional animations by:

Lee "Cloud Master" McClure

Isabella Georgetti