James Franco, Sam Taylor-Wood Guest Direct R.E.M Videos

Michael Stipe has recruited a host of film talents—including James Franco and Sam Taylor-Wood—to create video clips to accompany each track on R.E.M.’s forthcoming Collapse Into Now.

“I went to people I really wanted to work with and I could trust them to do whatever they wanted,” Stipe told NME, discussing how he chose the directors for the project. “They had absolute free rein. In many instances I was surprised, in many instances I got what I wanted. What I wanted wasn’t primarily important though, what was important was to trust the directors with something as precious as a brand new song.”

Stipe, who curated the project and directed the video for “Discoverer” with his sister, Lynda Stipe, intended for the project to explore the idea of what an album is in 2011 as opposed to 20 years ago. “The way technology is right now, it’s possible to present something in any way you want to,” he said.

The films will be available for viewing via broadcast and web outlets over the course of the next few weeks. Collapse Into Now will be streaming in its entirety on NPR.com until the album is released March 8.

The songs and the directors for their respective videos are listed below:

Discoverer (Michael and Lynda Stipe)
All The Best (James Herbert)
Uberlin (Sam Taylor Wood)
Oh My Heart (Jem Cohen)
It Happened Today (Tom Gilroy)
Every Day Is Yours To Win (Jim McKay, Chris Moukarbel and Valerie Veatch)
Mine Smell Like Honey (Dominic DeJoseph)
Walk It Back (Sophie Calle)
Alligator_Aviator_ Antipilot_ Antimatter (Lance Bangs)
That Someone Is You (James Franco)
Me, Marlon Brando, Marlon Brando And I (Albert Maysles and Bradley Kaplan)
Blue (James Franco)

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