Death Cab for Cutie – Crooked Teeth (‘Directions’ Music Video) - Death Cab for Cutie – Crooked Teeth (‘Directions’ Music Video)

What this video is

Released in early 2006 as part of the groundbreaking Directions: The Plans Video Album, this video exemplifies a pivotal moment in indie rock's relationship with the music video form. The Directions project — conceptualized by bassist Nick Harmer and video director Aaron Stewart-Ahn through their production company otaku-house — invited directors worldwide to submit proposals, then budgeted 12 finalists to create…

Why it matters

A landmark example of the post-performance music video within 2000s indie rock. The Directions project as a whole — and Schrab's entry in particular — challenged the dominant MTV-era convention of artist-as-star by replacing the band entirely with animated surrogates. The mixed-media, short-film…

The director

Rob Schrab (born November 12, 1969, Mayville, Wisconsin) is an American comic book creator, screenwriter, director, and producer. He created the critically acclaimed indie comic series Scud: The Disposable Assassin and co-wrote the animated feature Monster…