Sabrina Carpenter‘s video for “Manchild” was pretty elaborate, and now she’s giving fans a peek behind the scenes of the clip for Vevo’s Footnotes.
As you watch the video, interesting tidbits from Sabrina and the directors pop up, like the fact that it was her sister who hand-stitched the word “Manchild” onto the back of her cutoff shorts, and the fact that she had 35 outfit changes throughout the filming.
She also points out that in the scene where she’s riding in a motorcycle’s makeshift sidecar — a shopping cart — the bike’s license plate reads “MBF,” which stands for Man’s Best Friend, the title of Sabrina’s album, which she hadn’t announced at the time.
Sabrina also reveals that when she wrote “Manchild,” she “didn’t think much of it until I came back to the studio the next day and heard it with brand new ears.” After that, she said, “I knew I wanted it to be the next song that came out from that day.”
As for the concept of the video — which features Sabrina hitching a ride with a bizarre assortment of men, bathing with pigs and line dancing in a bar — the director says they were trying to “create a trailer for a nonsensical forgotten film.” The aesthetic they were going for, they explain, included “Americana, disco-era sensuality” and “strong post-60’s [sic] vibes,” making it feel “specific yet timeless.”
Ultimately, Sabrina says the hardest thing about making the video was editing it. “There was so much amazing footage and moments we couldn’t fit,” she explains.
“Manchild” is up for four Grammys, including best music video, record of the year, song of the year and best pop solo performance.
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