Metallica video director EXCLUSIVE pic and interview
Have you seen the new Metallica video for All Nightmare long? We spoke to the director Robert Schober aka Roboshobo. Watch the video and read what he says…
First, watch the amazing Metallica ‘All Nightmare Long’ video here. Then see below for our chat with the guy who created it. He has also given us this exclusive image: the monster that runs down the hall at the very end of the video and freaks out the scientists. It was modeled by UK-based artist Andy Nisbet. 
Whose initial idea was it?
Whose initial idea was it?
The initial idea was mine; I think it was just one of dozens of treatments submitted to the band, and to my surprise, that was the one that jumped out at them. The idea of creating a story about uncovering a long lost film or films and then building a reality around that is what appealed to them immediately.
How did you get from the seed of the idea to the finished plot in its entirety?
The video’s plot is a bit different than the initial pitch. It was going to be entirely animated and revolve around an alternate history of WWI with steampunk airships and an alien virus that produced hybrids from wrecked war machines and corpses. But we decided that since TDTNC vid had already dealt with a war theme we should distance it a bit and go with a more sci-fi horror slant. Metallica also wanted to see some live documentary footage worked in, and i’m glad we did because I think that the ending is much more frightening for it. Also, with the song clocking in at 8 minutes, it deserved to have an epic story that spanned several decades and employed different visual styles…
The video’s plot is a bit different than the initial pitch. It was going to be entirely animated and revolve around an alternate history of WWI with steampunk airships and an alien virus that produced hybrids from wrecked war machines and corpses. But we decided that since TDTNC vid had already dealt with a war theme we should distance it a bit and go with a more sci-fi horror slant. Metallica also wanted to see some live documentary footage worked in, and i’m glad we did because I think that the ending is much more frightening for it. Also, with the song clocking in at 8 minutes, it deserved to have an epic story that spanned several decades and employed different visual styles…
There have been a lot of post-viral apocalypse movies of late, why do you think this is? And why did you decide to use the theme?
I think there’s two answers to that question: the first is that those movies are incredibly successful at the box office, and so it makes sense from a business perspective to make more of them. The second answer is that it taps into a lot of the imagery and fear that things like surviving a nuclear holocaust or ecological meltdown conjure. Its not hard to imagine many of the global crises facing us today leaving the surviving population in the aftermath of such an event stumbling about emaciated and resorting to a mob mentality. Thats all zombies are. Even though zombies are popular again, Metallica isn’t exactly jumping on a bandwagon…corpses and demons and have been a huge part of their iconography for over 20 years and as a life-long fan, I’ve always wanted to see that in one of their videos.
I think there’s two answers to that question: the first is that those movies are incredibly successful at the box office, and so it makes sense from a business perspective to make more of them. The second answer is that it taps into a lot of the imagery and fear that things like surviving a nuclear holocaust or ecological meltdown conjure. Its not hard to imagine many of the global crises facing us today leaving the surviving population in the aftermath of such an event stumbling about emaciated and resorting to a mob mentality. Thats all zombies are. Even though zombies are popular again, Metallica isn’t exactly jumping on a bandwagon…corpses and demons and have been a huge part of their iconography for over 20 years and as a life-long fan, I’ve always wanted to see that in one of their videos.
But I also want to point out that the video I did wasn’t post-apocalyptic. The zombie invasion was totally a hypothetical event told in the form of a military briefing film. It wasn’t my point to paint the Russians as evil or present an ‘Us vs. Them” scenario. The idea was that the US had brought this horrific form of asymmetrical warfare into the world via the A-Bomb and this led to an out-of-control race to see who could fuck up the largest population in the worst way imaginable. I mean, between the two superpowers of the day we produced weaponized hallucinogens, neutron bombs, and germ warfare that ranged from intestine-barfing plagues to rendering entire populations sterile. Considering all of the things that the American and Soviet think tanks imagined, I wouldn’t be surprised if one (or both) of the two sides brought plans for a zombie-fueled holocaust to the table.
How much creative freedom did you have from the band?
Tons. And not just from Metallica, but from Devin Sarno, the commissioner at WBR, Jeff Watson and the marketing dept, and Marc Reiter and all of the band’s management. I was able to create an entire viral campaign with a blog about the cold war and propaganda films (written by Mr Destructo author Jeb Lund), produce fake news stories, and even had Kirk do a vlog on youtube about ‘finding’ these films when they were touring in Russia. That to me was exciting; being able to work with a band that i have such respect for and to have their trust and blessing to really just go nuts.
What was the band’s first reaction?
Very positive- emails from James and Kirk were passed along to me that expressed excitement about it; the way it looked, how it was unique and different from the tried and true formula of most videos. Everyone was into it at the start and Metallica, the label and management were very pleased with the final piece. It was very nerve-wracking to be a huge fan of the biggest band in the world and to want to impress them…so i was relieved to have their approval.
Very positive- emails from James and Kirk were passed along to me that expressed excitement about it; the way it looked, how it was unique and different from the tried and true formula of most videos. Everyone was into it at the start and Metallica, the label and management were very pleased with the final piece. It was very nerve-wracking to be a huge fan of the biggest band in the world and to want to impress them…so i was relieved to have their approval.
How much parallel is there between the lyrical content and the video?
I think there is a lot. James was inspired by Hounds of Tindalos which is a terrifying piece by Frank Belknap Long about these things, often portrayed as wolves, but possibly something more bat or wraith-like that emerge from a cloud of smoke and that can follow you through time and even into your sleep. In the video, rather than literally transcribing the story, I tried to create parallels to it in my narrative. For example, the ‘hound’ in this version is the organism that suddenly appears in Siberia after the Tunguska Event. The organism also propagates itself in a cloud of spores, much like the hounds materialize in a cloud of smoke. I think the video is very loyal to the meaning of the song. The path to mutually-assured destruction in the Cold War was very much a game of hunting one another down without mercy, and our zombies and firebombings of the US at the end of the video certainly evokes imagery of crawling from the wreckage, immolation, and crypts.
I think there is a lot. James was inspired by Hounds of Tindalos which is a terrifying piece by Frank Belknap Long about these things, often portrayed as wolves, but possibly something more bat or wraith-like that emerge from a cloud of smoke and that can follow you through time and even into your sleep. In the video, rather than literally transcribing the story, I tried to create parallels to it in my narrative. For example, the ‘hound’ in this version is the organism that suddenly appears in Siberia after the Tunguska Event. The organism also propagates itself in a cloud of spores, much like the hounds materialize in a cloud of smoke. I think the video is very loyal to the meaning of the song. The path to mutually-assured destruction in the Cold War was very much a game of hunting one another down without mercy, and our zombies and firebombings of the US at the end of the video certainly evokes imagery of crawling from the wreckage, immolation, and crypts.
In a time of disposable YouTube viewers it was a very brave move to make a clever, narrative video with a serious theme, how do you think it will be received?
Thanks for the kind words, first of all. I think that YouTube viewers actually the opposite of disposable and this is why I chose this route. The internet is not TV; you can’t just put whatever you want on a dozen channels and expect people will watch because they are locked into a regimented table of programming. If you don’t like what you see on YouTube because it’s a rehash of the same-old or because you feel that you are being pandered to, you have millions if not billions of other links to jump to.
Thanks for the kind words, first of all. I think that YouTube viewers actually the opposite of disposable and this is why I chose this route. The internet is not TV; you can’t just put whatever you want on a dozen channels and expect people will watch because they are locked into a regimented table of programming. If you don’t like what you see on YouTube because it’s a rehash of the same-old or because you feel that you are being pandered to, you have millions if not billions of other links to jump to.
So that’s why I went- and why I think Metallica and the label let me go- in this direction. The video is an immersive piece of entertainment meant to give the fans more than just a typical video that they might enjoy, but only watch once. The video was rolled out with a blog http://newkremlinology.blogspot.com that gives viewers an education on the Cold War, on espionage and the arms race, and an introduction to propaganda and animation of the era. The Tuguska Event, cryptozoology, balloon bombs, disinformation…these are all things that fans can go take to Wikipedia or wherever on the web to research and then they can come back to the story with a more enriched experience. I wanted to keep people entertained for hours or even days.
The reception has been wonderful; Rolling Stone thought it was their best video since “One” and even Kanye West put it up on the front of his blog the other day. The reception has been great on YouTube too. A majority of the fans are happy to see something different from the usual metal video and I thought that was great. I know that some fans are disappointed that Metallica did not actually appear and perform in the video but at the same time, those fans should realize that the video commissioned for ANL was not for a performance video. Metal fans are intelligent and many are obsessed like I am with esoteric and paranormal things. They wanted to do something new and exciting for the fans. With a song as epic as All Nightmare Long, we wanted to give fans an equally epic storyline and world that they could get lost in. And who doesn’t love volcano-borne insects, zombies, soviet experiments, giant robots, and fire? That shit’s metal as fuck.
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Fuckin aweome video and song
I think its an awful music video. Almost as bad as the one they did for the day that never comes… great songs but bad videos.
I think the allnightmarelong one deserves to be thrown into the abyss and never released again
nah i think its a good video but not the best of ideas … the day that never comes is a really good vid … their music is awesome anyway it does matter about the fucking video
You people are fucking retarded….this video is INSANE!!! This video is the best Metallica video yet, and Nightmare is the best song of Death Magnetic. This thing is so metal it eats barbwire and shits missles! You fucking morons wouldn’t know metal if it hit you in the face with a wet combat boot.
This video is the best theyve ever done, and this song is the best off the new album. That simple.
You’re wrong. It’s ok, try not to let it happen again.
josh it’s ok that you dont like the video it just happens that you are stupid and you are so stucked in your brain that you need two huge german cranes to unblock you from the early 80’s.that simple
Anyone dissing this video needs to crawl back into Mama and give life another try…
A greeting to the new generations of thrashers
Awesome song … amazing video.