I always attritbuted this style to one music video director whose career started in the 90s and who had perfected the washed saturation and goth look. She was t

I always attritbuted this style to one music video director whose career started in the 90s and who had perfected the washed saturation and goth look. She was the originator of Marylin Manson's video aethetic in the 90s, and after she landed David Bowie's "little wonders," that's when I think the style really took off: https://etcanada.com/photos/171117/14-music-videos-directed-by-floria-sigismondi/#image-171129 https://etcanada.com/photos/171117/14-music-videos-directed-... While I don't know if she knew the Watchowskis then, the original Matrix movie was absolutely a stylistic homage to her videos, and that they would have been familiar with her work via Bowie and Manson videos, makes it more plausible. If you look up Floria Signismondi's work, it's so distinct and often emmulated or copied, and once you've seen it, you can't unsee it.