The Turning Director Floria Sigismondi on Her Favorite Music Videos of All Time

In 1996, the music video director Floria Sigismondi experienced a pivotal moment in her career—all because she doodled a bald, freakishly tall guy in a rubber suit. Her drawing came to life in “The Beautiful People,” where a towering Marilyn Manson leads a cult rally, while wiggling earthworms and torturous dental devices add to the general sense of terror. “That was the first time I experienced seeing a sketch that I made transform into something real in front of me,” she tells me over the phone.

In the decades since, all sorts of otherworldly visions have materialized from Sigismondi’s mind. She’s unleashed thousands of moths onto Christina Aguilera, turned Katy Perry into a hot alien, soundtracked a nuclear apocalypse with Sigur Rós, and put a dancing Perfume Genius face to face with a distended blob. Sigismondi sometimes conceives of her surreal imagery while in a meditative state or during bouts of sleep deprivation. “For me, being an artist is about looking out to the cosmos for answers while also diving deep into the darkness and mystery within ourselves,” she says.

Given the intensity of Sigismondi’s imagination, it makes sense that she eventually branched out into feature films. She made her full-length directorial debut in 2010 with The Runaways, a biopic chronicling the struggles faced by the all-girl, ’70s rock band. For her new film, The Turning, Sigismondi returned to her signature nightmarish aesthetic. While the movie was inspired by Henry James’ 1898 novella The Turn of the Screw, the director set the tale of a young governess caring for a pair of creepy orphaned siblings in the early 1990s, an era she felt reflected the characters’ angst.

Though the film’s protagonist is a riot grrrl who mourns Kurt Cobain’s death and buys a copy of Hole’s Live Through This, The Turning avoids using actual music from the ’90s. Instead, the soundtrack is led mostly by modern indie stars like Mitski, Soccer Mommy, and Empress Of, who were tasked with writing original songs influenced by the movie’s decade and characters. “When you hear [old songs] in movies, you come in loaded with your own experiences of those songs,” Sigismondi says. “I wanted people to get lost in this world, so I wanted songs that evoke its isolating quality.”

Even as she moves further into the film and TV worlds, directing episodes of The Handmaid’s Tale and American Gods, Sigismondi will forever be a music video director at heart. “I always return to them because there’s this wonderful muscle of experimentation that I get to exercise,” she says. Here, Sigismondi shares a few of her favorite videos, chosen for their fearlessness and desire to transcend reality. “I love when a video forces you to see things a little differently.”

Tyler, the Creator: “Yonkers” (2011)

Director: Wolf Haley

Floria Sigismondi: This video is dark, it’s surprising, it’s got classic photography, but there’s something a little bit odd about it, even the way that the lens is breathing as it goes in and out of focus. There’s something really beautiful about the simplicity of that—the cockroach, the black eyes, the idea of making it feel like it’s one seamless take. And then the ending is really challenging. I always like when you get a little punch in the face, like, What did I just see? I love that he Tyler directed and starred in the video too. Sometimes, if you have a strong vision, directing it yourself allows you to really get what you want.

Massive Attack: “Teardrop” (1998)

Director: Walter Stern

I love high-concept videos, especially ones that take you to new worlds and feel like a dream. This one is incredible: You have this fetus in utero singing the song, and it’s not like the whole thing was done with visual effects—it’s a prosthetic baby and [director Walter Stern] got the particles to float around and created the light changing. As a director, I love when things feel difficult but you’re like, “I have this dream, I’ve got to make it.” Half the beauty of it is the challenge in the process. We get spoiled with visual effects now, but when you know something has been completely generated in the computer, sometimes it takes the emotion out of it—you’re watching it as if you’re going on a Disney ride rather than really connecting.

Aphex Twin: “Rubber Johnny” (2005)

Director: Chris Cunningham

It’s absolute madness, absolutely disturbing, and totally wonderful. For me, this is the true glimpse from a very dark place within the psyche, playing out our fears. I love how the photography is degenerated, like it’s a VHS tape. Chris Cunningham plays the Rubber Johnny [a teenage mutant locked in the basement]. Again, there’s this belief from the creator of doing anything they need to do to get this done, which is phenomenal.

King Krule: “Czech One” (2017)

Director: Frank Lebon

This video is a little bit French New Wave, and it’s got magical realism, and I love those techniques. It’s whimsical in a way, a much lighter kind of video—although not if you have a fear of flying. The way it goes from him on a plane and then this portal opens up and he’s on the street and you’ve been flying this whole time but all of the sudden at the end, he just slows down onto the road and walks away—it’s a beautiful, dream-like way of telling a story. Then there are details that are never explained, like the bandage over his eye. It gets your imagination going, and by the end of it you’re thinking—you’re not being spoon-fed the idea.

Originally Appeared on Pitchfork