Die Shiny – Sacrament

In this deeply personal music video, musician Callie Crofts, accompanied by her partner and bandmate Zac Bryant (Die Shiny), expresses the experience of self-discovery and ownership in the wake of lifelong religious trauma. Sacrament delves into Crofts’ history of being conditioned and taught that her body doesn’t belong to her, but to god and her future husband. Despite on the surface seeming like a melancholy and dark song, it is really a celebration of awakening to the fact that her body is her own and that power and authority over herself are inherently attached to that. From a visual standpoint, we drew inspiration from the 1928 Carl Dreyer film “The Passion of Joan of Arc,” even paying homage to exact frames. To me, the defiance of Joan of Arc in that film culminates in a revelation that she knows where she stands with God, despite all the judgment and debate of “godly men.” She goes confidently to her death, knowing who she is and what she is worth. I see a similar defiance and self-acceptance in Callie’s lyrics. We also drew inspiration from Adam and Eve and partaking of fruit of knowledge, themes of her experience being married in the LDS temple, the support of other women in her life and their bond, and reclaiming traumatic objects (kneeling at the altar) and taking ownership over them (dancing around the altar). This was a true passion project and was self-funded, everyone donating their time and talents. We all just wanted to help bring the artistry of Die Shiny’s music to a visual level. We hope you enjoy the video!