The Mars Universe

I live in Los Angeles, the city of angels. This morning I was awakened by the sound of a hawk that lives above the house. The cry of the hawk is very interesting. After that I heard the trash truck backing up down the street — I suppose it’s a nice representation of the dichotomy of this planet.

My house is like a laboratory. We built and paid for our own recording studio, which is downstairs in the house. That’s where we’ve been working for the last couple of years to record our latest record, This is War. There are a lot of people who work out of the house, and we have several projects going all day long. My assistant is also in the house, working away and helping me to realise some of the other projects.

From the minute I get up it’s pretty full-on. I make a shake for myself with a bunch of fruit and berries. Am I a health freak? I’m a freak for sure, and healthy at times as well. I start my day by looking at some emails and things that were left over from yesterday. There might be a business meeting then.

In our continuing efforts to take you — the loyal music lover — deeper into the minds of today’s artists, MTV News presents “Frame by Frame.” Each week, we’ll get a musician to give you the inside scoop on their latest music video.

By Matt Harper

Last week, we showed you an inside look at the first half of 30 Seconds to Mars’ epic video for “Kings and Queens.” We now present the conclusion of the video with insight from band members Jared Leto and Tomo Milicevic.

The band’s other videos have taken us around the world, from China to the Arctic. And while “Kings and Queens” is certainly less international in scope, it is no less grand or cinematic.

In our continuing efforts to take you — the loyal music lover — deeper into the minds of today’s artists, MTV News presents “Frame By Frame.” Each week, we’ll get a musician to give you the inside scoop on their latest music video.

By Matt Harper

30 Seconds to Mars is no stranger to Epic (yes, that’s a capital “e”) music videos. The band has already made ground-breaking videos in China and the Arctic, and while “Kings and Queens,” their latest effort, was filmed in Los Angeles (with some scenes literally shot in frontman Jared Leto’s back yard), the video is no less grand in scope.

Leto is passionate when talking about the video (no surprise there, considering he not only wrote the song but also directed the clip). “That shot was one of the earliest shots I storyboarded,” he said, referring to an immaculately framed silhouette shot of dozens of bikers moving in slow motion, backed by a sunset. And while he admits that a lot of the shots were painstakingly set-up and difficult to get, a few of the iconic moments from the video were achieved through happy accidents. “We were supposed to shoot downtown, but shot the other way instead because the smog was so bad,” he said of one sequence. So you can thank the notorious Los Angeles air pollution for those shimmering silhouette shots of the band.