METAL GEAR SOLID - 「We've Got Everything」 (Music Video)

Song: 'We've Got Everything' by Modest Mouse
Game(s): Metal Gear Solid 1-5

Footage collected from various cutscene compilations on YouTube.

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It didn’t occur to me until after publishing the video that the MGS1 footage is stretched. The cutscenes as I had them on my computer fit neatly behind a 2.35 letterbox, so I assumed that was the intended aspect ratio. I added the black bars to the whole MV so the 16:9 footage from the other games would blend together with the fake 2.35 footage and I ended up really liking the look anyway. (It also helped hide some additional subtitles.) It’s strangely fun to shift footage up and down so it looks good within the wider frame. There were also many instances where making the image “fit” properly actually lessened the energy compared to the more claustrophobic framing I inadvertently created. I let those parts stay as they were.

The hardest section to find the right footage for this time was the very beginning. I laid down most of the clips before I had the tiniest inkling how I was going to start the darn thing. Even in MVs that have virtually zero special effects, simple shot choices can make or break the texture of the experience. This song is crunchy and twangy; it feels like it’s swirling around you. The visuals should make you feel that way too. I’m mostly happy with what I landed on. I’m especially satisfied with balance of clips taken from the various games throughout the video. It feels like a healthy collage of futuristic sci-fi imagery of the main series and the dirty, organic, rustic vibes from the prequel games.

It's great how spiritually akin Metal Gear Solid is with this song. Both are off-kilter and sarcastically aggressive, with a pungent flavor that lingers long after. On a surface level they’re very literally about the technological singularity and the hubris of man that brings us to that point. You can break down the human soul into ones and zeroes, but what does that really give us? MGS never felt like it was asking this question derisively. Both MGS and Death Stranding are stories about how mankind’s self-destruction is baked deep within our DNA, and imo it does't read like an edgelord teenager pontificating about Society, Man™. The power-hungry, egotistical madmen that stir war after war are simply leaning in to their own helplessness. Meanwhile, the heroes trudge on, fighting a losing battle because betting on an optimistic future they barely believe in is the only semblance agency they have.

My goal this time around was to make an MV that wasn’t just about how lonely I feel. Fixating on it only makes it harder, so instead I’ll fixate on not fixating on it. That’s how that works, right? I think this video still ended up being at least 20% about that. When the lyrics say “I guess we’ll stop trying now,” my heart aches, and I’ve always got a specific person or two in mind when I make these. The themes of self-aware, self-pitying helplessness and choosing to move forward into a frightening unknown still ring true without the sci-fi mumbo jumbo.

I don't want people thinking this series is some big joke and nothing else. As funny as it can be at times, it's genuine as hell in its attempts to innovate gameplay and storytelling. I wouldn't be attracted to a military-centric, ludicrously-dense political conspiracy thriller if it wasn't exactly as fantastical and impressionistic as this.