＊NSYNC - Thinking Of You (I Drive Myself Crazy)

JUL 01 1999 · 12:00

＊NSYNC - Thinking Of You (I Drive Myself Crazy) (1999) Director: Tim Story Era: Late Teen-Pop Boom (1999) - Peak of the US boy band phenomenon; *NSYNC transitioning from European import act to domestic mainstream dominance on the cusp of the No Strings Attached era High curatorial value as a confluence of two significant cultural artifacts: a transitional *NSYNC single documenting the band's final phase before their commercial peak, and an early directorial credit for Tim Story before his Hollywood breakthrough. The Camarillo location adds documentary heritage value. The video's TRL debut and rapid-cut aesthetic make it a precise time-stamp of 1999 pop-video production norms. Context: Released February–April 1999, 'Thinking of You (I Drive Myself Crazy)' arrived at the apex of the US boy band commercial cycle, when *NSYNC was consolidating domestic popularity following protracted legal battles with manager Lou Pearlman and BMG. The asylum concept, framing romantic obsession as institutionalised madness, was a comedic visual metaphor entirely in step with the self-deprecating, fan-service-oriented music video grammar of TRL-era MTV. The video's location at the decommissioned Camarillo State Hospital grounds grounds the theatrical absurdity in a recognisable real-world space, and its rapid editorial pace was calibrated for the sub-2-minute attention window of peak TRL rotation. Director notes: Directed in early 1999 during Story's music video period, which he undertook to resolve debt from his second indie feature The Firing Squad. The video was shot on location at California State University Channel Islands, the former Camarillo State Mental Hospital (closed 1997), lending authentic institutional architecture to the asylum concept. The video debuted on TRL on April 1, 1999. Produced by Ron Mohrhoff. The production features a comedic narrative structure in which each band member's in-asylum breakdown is cross-cut with the romantic flashback that precipitated his institutionalisation.