Update: Gus Van Sant Did Not Co-Direct Panther Video

Update: Ahh, there we go trusting Pitchfork’s Twitter feed, we should know better! A rep for Gus Vant Sant updates us and says the director did not co-direct this video. He was present on the day of the shoot, as were many friends and colleagues, but that’s it. He in no way co-directed the video shoot. The rep also gave us a shout saying, “nice eye for saying, ‘there’s nothing particularly Van Sant about this video.’ ” We called it… er sort of…

Previously:
Well this kind of came out of nowhere. The blogosphere is sort of buzzing about a new video by the largely unknown indie rock group Panther that has apparently been co-directed by Gus Van Sant (Kari Coleman is the director of this clip). The only source for this comes from Pitchfork’s twitter feed, but for everyone else its a complete surprise. There were previously no press releases or announcements so we’ll have to take their word for it [ed. bad idea on our part it seems].

Van Sant is no stranger to videos, having done spots for a wide range of artists including Elton John, John Mayer and Red Hot Chili Peppers, but that being said, there is nothing particularly “Van Sant” about this video. It doesn’t help that the song isn’t much to work with – it’s fairly dull slice of generic indie dance rock – but there is nothing visually that is particularly unique to Van Sant. In fact, it’s so dull we kind of wonder why Van Sant bothered with this at all. Does he know the band? Is he buds with Cari Coleman? Couldn’t we have gotten at least one slow tracking shot? Was this a favor someone called in? Is anyone really going to care about this after today? So many questions…

As for Van Sant, following the double whammy of “Milk” and “Paranoid Park” last year, he’s currently in negotiations to helm the romantic drama “Restless” produced by Bryce Dallas Howard and written by first timer Jason Lew.

Here’s the video for Panther’s “Birds That Move”: