Spike Jonze Speaks on Kanye West Video

Spike Jonze, the director behind the recently leaked short film We Were Once a Fairytale spoke to The New York Times about the concept behind the disturbing clip, which stars Kanye West.

Originally intended to be a music video for the Lil Wayne assisted “See You in my Nightmares,” from Kanye’s 808s and Heartbreak, the collaboration eventually became a more intense project.

Shot over two days in West Hollywood’s Foxtail nightclub, the dark, surreal mini-movie finds Ye acting drunk and inappropriate before having sex with a fellow party goer. After waking up, West vomits rose pedals, then stabs himself in the stomach and removes an “animated rodent-like demon” which then kills itself.

Describing the meaning of the video, Jonze told the Times that he wanted to elaborate on the gloomy concept and emotions of 808s. “We rehearsed the night before we shot, and talked about trying to get to that raw place, that sad, pathetic, drunken, lost place,” the director said. “I told him, the more shameless it is, the more pathetic it is, the better. He just went for it.”

Although hitting the net last weekend, including Kanye’s own Web site, the clip was taken down shortly thereafter. Jonze said it was accidently leaked from the post-production facility and Ye was unaware of the retail date.

We Were Once a Fairytale will be officially released on iTunes on Tuesday (October 27), yet Jonze is weary of how the video's sale will do, now that it's been leaked. “I like the idea of trying to put it out on iTunes as an experiment in, can you make a short film yourself, put it out for sale," he asked? “It’s an experiment to see if that is feasible.”

“I don’t actually know if that makes any business sense at all,” he added, “because once it’s out there, it’s out there.” 

This is not the first time Jonze and the Grammy award winning rapper have worked together. In 2007, West recruited the Where the Wild Things Are director for his controversial "Flashing Lights" music video.  -Elan Mancini