Michael Jackson – XSCAPE - The Short Film We Never Got

MICHAEL JACKSON – XSCAPE - The Short Film We Never Got Written, Directed & Edited by GLYTCH Instagram ‣ / / glytch_dd Email ‣ directorglytch@gmail.com To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Invincible, I wanted to create a homage music video (short film) for “XSCAPE,” a song that originally came to life during the Invincible sessions. Xscape has always been one of my favorite Michael Jackson tracks from the 2000s era. The crazy part is that the song was originally recorded in 1999 during the Invincible sessions, didn’t make the final album, leaked a few years later, and then finally got an official release in 2014 on the XSCAPE album. For this video, I used the original version. And honestly… this song should’ve been on Invincible. With Invincible turning 25, I wanted to do something special and finally create the kind of visual I always imagined for this track. Michael was already trying to push music videos way beyond just “music videos.” He wanted them to feel like actual short films, with characters, stories, cinema, acting, world-building… So for Xscape, I decided to go all in on that idea. No performance video. No random cool shots just because they look cool. I wanted an actual story. To me, Xscape feels bigger than just escaping from a place. It feels like escaping the noise. The lies. The cameras. The paparazzi. The pressure. The expectations. The system. And eventually just trying to find some kind of freedom. That became the whole concept behind this film. All the visuals and photography were created with AI over the course of several weeks, then edited and shaped into the final film. Every shot, camera choice, edit, sound, transition and story beat was still manually directed and chosen. Also, MASSIVE shoutout to Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins and the Darkchild team for this track because… that beat is sick. The bass. The bounce. Michael’s flow. The production still sounds insane today. Anyway… This is just my own interpretation of Michael Jackson Xscape and the visual world I imagined around it. Hope you enjoy it. ❤️ And if Michael could somehow see this wherever he is… I hope he’d think it was cool. — GLYTCH In loving memory of LaShawn Daniels. Your heart lives on in the music you helped create. This one’s for you. ❤️ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎬 CREDITS MICHAEL JACKSON – XSCAPE Song: Michael Jackson – Xscape (Original Version) Directed by: GLYTCH Concept / Story: GLYTCH Editing: GLYTCH Sound Design: GLYTCH AI Visual Direction: GLYTCH Additional Shots by PITOUWORLD Original song written by Michael Jackson, Rodney Jerkins, Fred Jerkins III and LaShawn Daniels. Produced by Michael Jackson & Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins.