Jonathan Glazer’s note to self on the set of his Treat Me Like Your Mother video for The Dead Weather

• The Dead Weather “Treat Me Like Your Mother” (Third Man Records/Warner Bros.)
• Director: Jonathan Glazer
• Producer: Rachel Curl
• Production Company: Academy@HELLO!, Los Angeles
• DP: Max Malkin
• Editor: Paul Watts
• Post + Visual Effects: One Of Us Ltd./Stranger/Smoke & Mirrors
• Length of Production: 2 day shoot
• Location: Lancaster, California

Flux takes a look behind the scenes of the making of music videos – from script to screen. Our third feature is The Dead Weather’s Treat Me Like Your Mother, directed by Jonathan Glazer, whose award-winning career in music video and commercials was followed by the feature films Sexy Beast and Birth. After a long absence he has returned to music videos for TMLYM. Here you’ll find exclusive content from the making of the video including storyboards and behind the scenes films. Glazer, who has made videos for Radiohead and UNKLE, fills us in with his trademark crypticism on how the video came about:

You’ve always been very selective about which videos you do. What attracted you to this project?

Every so often something comes along and you think I really want to do that.

How much input did the band have on the concept of the film?

The idea was sparked by a phone call with Alison.

This moody behind the scenes clip captures the vibe on the set of Treat Me Like Your Mother

What inspired you to set up the conflict heard in the music as gun fight in the short?

The row in the song felt intractable and all the more real for it. I was looking for a way to show that. Relationships can be a dirty business.

Here’s an exclusive look at the boards used to map out the shots for Glazer’s video. Treat Me Like Your Mother Storyboards, PDF 3.7MB

Was there anything that happened during the shoot that was unexpected that caused you to alter your original plan?

Nothing specific or dramatic on this one.

Jack White explains the lyrics to the song in our second behind the scenes clip from Jonathan Glazer’s Treat Me Like Your Mother film.

Any happy accidents?

The wind.

The final cut of Glazer’s Treat Me Like Your Mother short in HD

At the end, what do the rays of light shining through Jack’s body represent?

You know what they mean. I’m never that mad on explaining it all away is all.

My feeling is that it is a kind of diminishment. Wounds to the soul.