So They Think They Can Dance: Students And Alumni Of A Top Law School Make A Cute Music Video

Who says law students can't sing or dance? Check out this clever music video, by current and former Yale Law School students.

ATL: Congratulations on the video, Josiah! It’s fantastic. How did it come about?

I just graduated this year, and I decided that instead of backpacking around Southeast Asia or doing some other classic post-Bar exam trip, I’d rather do one last artistic project before the bulk of my time went toward law. Friends were happy to help out.

This was a song I’d written in law school and played with my law school band, known as A Reasonable Band. While not going into any details about anyone’s personal life, let’s just say it wasn’t hard for a song about seeing your ex everywhere to hit home in a school with one hallway. We used to play it at parties, and people got into it, learned the words and would sing along, so the video was mostly for their entertainment. We were surprised at how well it turned out, so we thought of ATL.

ATL: I loved the visual humor of that huge red X. But was it a pain to film with it?

As we filmed around NYC, the giant wooden X was treated like a celebrity. The conductor of the 1 train actually held the train at Times Square so he could get a picture of the X. Tourists posed for pictures with it, kids climbed on top of it, a homeless man attacked it with a stick. Top catcalls: “X marks the spot” (90%), “X Factor,” and “Are You Selling?” (as in ecstasy). A woman said she was an artist and begged us to give her the X when we were done.

ATL: What complications, if any, did you encounter?

A few logistical issues came up. We had planned to shoot the subway scene on the Grand Central shuttle, since the doors stayed open for a long time and the cars went back and forth regularly. But when we got there, the whole thing was coated in advertisements for 666 Park Avenue, so we had to find another option. We wound up using about five different stations to film, moving to avoid crowds — and making sure to stay in compliance with the MTA regulations, so no tripod.

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ATL: And what are you currently up to, Josiah?

I’m currently doing a fellowship at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.

ATL: Congrats again to you and your whole creative team. In case that whole “human rights law” thing doesn’t work out for you, you have a bright career in the arts!

(My Ex is available for download at the iTunes store and on Amazon (affiliate link below). Enjoy!)

My Ex by Josiah Pertz [Amazon (affiliate link)]
My Ex [YouTube]

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