Prism Prize Eligible Video: Michael Peter Olsen - Mayday
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 a multi-faceted Toronto artist.
By External Source
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 a multi-faceted Toronto artist.
Michael Peter Olsen - Mayday
A Toronto-based cellist, engineer, producer, film composer, and Grammy-nominated songwriter, Michael Peter Olsen has recorded and performed on well over 100 recordings. Including the likes of Drake’s VIEWS’, Arcade Fire’s Funeral’, K-OS’s Joyful Rebellion, and many more. Olsen completed The Slaight Music Residency at the Canadian Film Centre in 2015.
His song Mayday is the first single off his debut album. Full of melancholy melodies, Olsen’s music can be more thoroughly understood through its juxtaposition of elements of performance and fantasy, with a touch of emotional exploration.
The imagery that accompanies the song in the Mayday video is unlike anything else. In collaboration with Trudy Elmore, the video showcases the climax of Renaissance-inspired beauty. The use of movement in the video without the subjects actually moving is a captivating method. As they begin the mannequins are full of colour until they slowly turn to stone and eventually crack out of each other’s hands, falling to their faith; exploring the temporality of existence and the inevitably of death.
A Film by TRUE e Trudy Elmore
Music by Michael Peter Olsen
Edited by Rich Williamson
