At Sub Pop Inc. office, Westport City, in a retrofitted upstairs office in a former city hall building. Dusty wood paneling. There were two rotary phones on the desk and the air smelled faintly of cigarettes and typewriter ink.
Joseph Kennedy Sr. sat at a large walnut desk, organized with a clipboard, legal pads, and a shortwave radio murmuring low in the background. A black-and-white TV in the corner played MTV on mute. Blondie was on-screen, but he wasn't watching.
He had just hung up a call. A long pause as he steepled his fingers, and digested.
His secretary came to the door and leaned, she said, "Mr. Kennedy, that's the fifth station manager this morning who called about the Chris Cornell video."
Joseph Kennedy Sr. asked in a questioning tone, "Fifth already?"
The secretary replied with a positive tone, "Yes, sir. One said, quote, 'it looked like something from the Warsaw Uprising if it had a Marshall stack.'"
Joseph Kennedy Sr. lets out a small and approving exhale.
He turned to a yellow pad labeled 'PR REACTIONS - MTV' and began jotting quickly.
"Unfiltered power."
"Raw, poetic violence."
"Unlike anything on network TV."
"Who is this Chris Cornell?"
"The kid looks possessed. In a good way."
He checked the last note and circled it twice.
He stood and slowly walked to the window, overlooking Westport's tree-lined street. He sipped the black coffee from a China cup and behind him, the door opened softly, James walked in, yawning, holding a wrapped sandwich.
James asked, "Phone has been ringing off the hook?"
Joseph Kennedy Sr. smiled, "Like a man on fire trying to find the ocean. It's begun, Sir. They're not just curious, they're startled."
James nodded, "Good!"
Joseph Kennedy Sr. nodded back, "Very. But attention alone is air. We need fire."
James agreed, "We have three more videos in the works. 'Beyond the Wheel' might actually break minds."
Joseph Kennedy Sr. nodded again, "Agreed. But while they're whispering in New York, we must shout in Los Angeles."
He walked back to his desk and pulled out a thick Manila folder marked "MTV: Key Contacts & Future Partnerships."
He added, "I'll set up a private screening in Burbank for label scouts and college radio tastemakers. We'll rent out a 16mm theater, project 'Circle of Power' and early cuts from 'Beyond the Wheel.'"
James asked, "Invite press?"
Joseph Kennedy Sr. answered, "Only the ones brave enough to run headlines like 'Cornell Dismantles the American Stage.'"
James bit into the sandwich and chewed it thoughtfully.
Then, he asked, "You think he can keep up with this pace?"
Joseph Kennedy Sr. paused before answering with a smile, "Chris is volcanic right now. And we are the tectonic plates guiding the pressure."
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Joseph Kennedy Sr. tapped into the typewriter and began drafting:
[Subject: Private Screening — Cornell Music Films]
[To: Selected press, scouts, KROQ, KXLU]
["In the wake of MTV's early experimental programming, Sub Pop Inc. presents the arrival of a voice unfiltered and uncompromising. Limited seating. Visuals by Murnau. Energy by the future."]
He pulled out another sheet.
[Subject: "Circle of Power" — National Radio Push]
["Arrange coordinated phone interviews for Chris with KCMU, WLIR, WRIF, and KSAN. Mention MTV exposure in the subject line. Send vinyl samplers with screen grabs from the video."]
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As the clock striked 1:00 PM, Joseph Kennedy Sr. glanced at a photo frame on his desk, it was a sepia-toned portrait of himself with Franklin Roosevelt. He smiled faintly.
"Politics prepared me for war. But music… this is a revolution."
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The new schedules of "Flower" music video filming were given to all staff.
Filming Dates were on August 7, 1981 where the interior studio scenes were prioritized. Next date was on August 8, 1981. It was the garden and night forest scenes. Then on August 9, 1981, it would be for optical effects work. On the last day, August 10, 1981, it was all about pickup shots and transfer to Betamax work.
The filming locations were finalized and they were at a decrepit 1910 greenhouse in Westport City outskirts and a black-painted soundstage set designed to mimic a gothic mansion.
Cinematography equipment were the Zeiss Super Speed primes for lenses, Black Pro-Mist, Soft FX for filters, Kodak 7219 Vision3 500T (16mm) for film, and Arri fresnels, candles, rotating gobos for dreamlike shadow effects for lighting.
Other equipment were Bolex 16mm camera w/ custom hand-crank modifications, stop-motion frame timer, to be used for decaying flower effect, manual iris control to create "surge" effect during chorus and fog machines, projected cloud plates, and hand-painted matte backdrops.
James and Friedrich Wilhem Murnau planned that the "Flower" music video will center on transformation, decay, and fleeting beauty. Friedrich Wilhem Murnau conceptualized the music video as a silent-era horror-romantic parable, which James nodded in agreement. It was a woman's beauty blooming and withers as Chris Cornell watches, powerless.
The theme of objectification and disillusionment was visualized with stop-motion decay, gothic interiors, and chiaroscuro shadows. It was not a literal narrative but a symbolic, dreamlike expression, fitting the 1980's thirst for visuals that were more artistic than commercial, especially on the freshly launched MTV.
The artists in this music video were Chris Cornell as the shadowy observer, occasional physical performer, the locally hired model and actress Sophie Lang who played the "The Flower" and a choreographer who was experienced in silent-era theatrical movements.
As the set started, the intro echoed in the set and Chris Cornell sat in a shadowy parlor, bathed in warm lamp-glow. A record began to turn by itself. The music faded in. The scene cut to extreme close-up of a white lily bloomed in reverse, it was filmed via stop-motion.
When the verse started, the "Flower" girl danced slowly in the greenhouse, the sunlight flickered through cracked glass. Chris Cornell watched from behind a curtain, never touching, never intervening.
Friedrich Wilhem Murnau used iris shots and silhouette framing, giving it a Nosferatu-esque gaze.
The chorus dropped and it was shot through montages of the actress's face which began to crack like porcelain, petals falling in reverse and wind blowing through a bedroom filled with flowers pinned to the ceiling.
The second verse was filmed and shot. The actress looked into a mirror, but her reflection was wilting. Chris Cornell walked through a hedge maze at night, led only by echoing laughter and flower petals falling like snow.
These were all shot through warped lenses and smeared Vaseline filters for disorientation.
For the bridge, it was shots of fast cut montages of burning roses, moths tearing paper petals, Chris Cornell sinking into soil, it was done via reverse photography, and the actress's arms turned to branches, she became the flower itself.
The final chorus and outro were filmed with Chris Cornell walking into the greenhouse again, which turned empty, decayed. The girl was gone. Only her dress remained.
As he kneeled, a single black-petaled flower sprouted from the soil where she stood. He plucked it. Then the camera froze the frame on his face then it all faded to black.