Kendrick Lamar’s video for “Humble,” off his still-untitled new record which may be coming out this Friday, got people talking in a way few videos do. (At least, few videos by people not named Beyoncé.) It’s a provocative, visually sumptuous clip, elevating the straight-forward bounce of the beat and Kendrick’s furious lyrical performance to something operatic. It’s not just the audacity of the imagery—commingling Catholicism, vanity, and violence, like an early-’90s Madonna video—but the sheer sumptuous quality of the visuals.
Cinematography Database tracked down director of photography Scott Cunningham, and breaks down every shot in the video over 22 minutes. It’s got a lot of incredibly nerdy, technical stuff about lighting and lensing, but even if you don’t follow every bit of gear discussed in it, the breakdown adds some insight onto what gives the video its spectral presence. Take that uncanny shot of all the nodding heads, for example: