Danny Elfman Releases Lockdown-Themed Video for ‘Love in the Time of Covid’

Danny Elfman explores the horror — and the comedy — of the pandemic lockdown in his new video for “Love in the Time of Covid.”

Directed by German filmmaker and photographer Sven Gutjahr and Elfman’s creative director Berit Gilma, the video stars a demon in isolation looking for love on Tinder and elsewhere while social distancing. Filmed in Berlin, the video’s main character is played by Scottish performer Shrek 666, a queer artist who wears extensive makeup and prosthetics as part of their performances. Elfman appears in a few surprise cameos in the video.

“There’s certainly nothing light-hearted or funny about Covid, but I can still poke a little fun at the crazy way social isolation has changed our lives in every way shape, and form, and that’s what ‘Love in the Time of Covid’ is about,” Elfman says. “An expression of the borderline madness that so many of us have been experiencing. Lord knows I have. I wrote it from the viewpoint of a young man going crazy in his apartment. Creators Gutjahr and Gilma had the idea to turn the lead character into a green-skinned animal-like creature. As many of us feel completely alienated in this insane new world we live in, I thought it was an interesting idea.”