Music Video Breakdown: ‘Up in the Air’ by Thirty Seconds to Mars

The music video for “Up in the Air” by Thirty Seconds to Mars features animals and bugs, celebrities and athletes, and fancy tricks and performances. The band members—Jared Leto, Shannon Leto, and Tomo Miličević—add to the drama of the video with intense stares and deliberate moves. It was directed by Bartholomew Cubbins, a.k.a. Jared Leto (a pseudonym inspired by a Dr. Seuss character).

The video starts off with a seizure trigger warning for people with photosensitive epilepsy, which indicates its incredible level of artistry. The reason for this is that the video is random, colorful, and powerful. The characters of the video are not only the members of the band, but also performers like burlesque dancer Dita Von Teese, writer Neil Strauss, Olympic gymnasts McKayla Maroney and Jordyn Wieber, masked figures, drummers, bees, butterflies, zebras, etc…

The diversity of the video participants (human or otherwise) suggests that the only similarity between them all is the beauty they offer. The athletes and performers display their crafts as the animals offer the colors and patterns visible on their flesh. They then throw colorful chalk at each other at the end of the video, as if celebrating their external allure.

The power of the music resonates through the video with provocative imagery. A burlesque dancer rides a mechanical bull. A gap-toothed model named Ashley Smith shows off her cleavage. Images of a lion pacing, drummers harshly beating their drums, and fencers duelling emphasize strength.

The editing makes the short film noteworthy. The images quickly move and the scenes reverse in a sort of organized chaos. “Up in the Air” suggests that objects thrown in the air or sky will return to Earth (as that is the law of gravity). Yet one does not know when and how they will do so.

—Staff writer Kamila Czachorowski can be reached at kamila.czachorowski@thecrimson.com.

By Courtesy of YouTube