Today I’d like to share an EXCLUSIVE STORY on making of the ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ video told by its director ๐ท๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐จ๐๐ ๐๐́.
๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐จ - ๐๐จ๐ง๐ ๐๐จ ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐จ๐๐๐ฒ๐ (๐๐๐๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐๐๐จ, ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง)
➡️ https://bit.ly/39uPJX4
⭐️An excerpt is taken from the ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐ "๐๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐จ. ๐๐จ๐๐ค ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐จ๐ซ๐๐จ๐ง๐ง๐๐ง๐๐" ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ก๐ข๐๐ซ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฌ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ, ๐๐๐๐⭐️
I totally believe, it’s going to be a very interesting and moving read for you. Enjoy and then, please share your thoughts on the idea behing the video and Brian's response on it...๐❤️
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| Screenshot from the video |
Carol Fairbrother from Virgin Music asked me to write [a script of] the video for this song. And along with it, the one for the song 'Because I Want You' which was supposed to be released as single in the UK. And ‘Song To Say Goodbye’ was intended for France and other European countries. The record company asked me to come up with a common idea for both songs and was going to entrust me with shooting one of the videos. I wrote two scripts for 'Song To Say Goodbye' and two for 'Because I Want You'. I had a third option for 'Song To Say Goodbye' too, but I didn't dare send it. It was too unusual ... more like a short film than a video ... of course, the band was not supposed to appear in it. And it was kind of not in the spirit of Placebo at all, considering their previous video works. I didn’t describe my idea in the best way: ten lines on one page and several photos that I took in Los Angeles. That’s all. But luckily, I sent this option too. Brian liked the idea immediately and chose this script.
Later he told me that my idea was very different from those that he had ever received, and that I had succeeded in giving his lyrics a new interpretation. Brian knew me mostly from the video I shot for 'Another Chance' by Roger Sanchez. In it, a girl wanders around New York at night with a huge red heart in her hands which shrinks until she meets her soulmate. He said that was his favorite video. First, we talked by the phone. Everything was very simple and natural. We talked mainly about photography, cinema which he loves: Wenders, Gus Van Sente, Jarmusch and others. We had the same guidelines for the video. I told him about Antonini and Ozu, about their ideal tricks for filming children: when you place cameras at knee level to show everything as the child sees it. He and I intended to do something like a short film. He really didn't want to appear in the video. It was a feeling that we were on the same wavelength, he trusted me completely, and preparations for the filming started.
Philip doesn’t shoot many videos because he believes that videos can mostly simplify and impoverish music. But he admits that with Placebo, everything was completely different. They belong to those rare musicians who allow the author to give free rein to his imagination and expect real cooperation and response from him. “Usually, the idea comes to me when I listen to the lyrics and feel the tempo, vibration of music. I listen to the song 50 times, 100 times. First of all, it is necessary to plunge into the personal universe of the artist, the band - if I’m not familiar with them well enough. Sometimes this is not so easy, as it requires a very hasty analysis to quickly "enter" the topic and find an appropriate angle [of view]. It is absolutely impossible to fit an already existing idea into a band. It is necessary to proceed from what a band, an artist is, and look for an idea from the inside. It may sound simple, but sometimes it takes a week to develop an idea while the record label asks for a project "the next day." We have to deliberately delay the case. In the case of ‘Song To Say Goodbye’, the music was leading me to something constantly moving, floating but at the same time impetuous, and the idea of an unusual road movie came up very quickly. The emotions that were born in me when listening to the song pushed me to a narrative video, with the actors ... to a touching story. I didn't want something static, I didn't want the action to happen in one place. But at the same time, I didn’t have the opportunity to shoot in different places. But the option of moving by car was well within the budget. Sometimes difficulties lead to the fact that the idea "shrinks" and transforms in a natural way. As always, I like to start with a simple idea, it's kind of a trick. The girl who carries a huge heart with her that keeps shrinking is for Sanchez. A doll that chooses words as she pulls straw from her wounds and eventually begins to sing transforming into Emilie Simon. An eight-year-old child driving a car with a confused man behind him. His father? We don’t know that. All roles seem to be mixed up. Sometimes this thought comes immediately. Sometimes - after a long time working with the text:
๐๐๐ข ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐บ๐๐’๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ก๐๐๐๐
๐๐๐ข ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐, ๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ […]
๐ต๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ก
๐ต๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐ค๐๐กโ ๐๐ข๐๐๐ฆ ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐
๐ด๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ ๐กโ๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฆ.
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| Photo credits unknown |
As I listened to these words and started imagining a boy driving, driving an adult he needed to take care of, I felt like I had found an idea." The director conceived a story in which he deliberately created voids in order to leave room for emotions not related to the characters in the video, and to show the beautiful acting of the actors. English is not a native language for Philippe Andrรฉ, and he always tries not to be literal in his understanding of a certain lyric and leave each viewer the right to add their own emotional coloring to it. Initially, Brian wanted the video to be filmed in Australia, but in the end the filming took place in California - it was easier for Philip.
“Brian had Sydney in his head, but I preferred Los Angeles where I was doing another project at the time. And to save time, I wanted to shoot the video right after I was done with this project. In addition, the local places were in perfect harmony with the plot in the style of a road movie. And also, it was much easier to cast in Los Angeles to find an 8-9-year-old to star ... we did it in just a week! During the casting, I reviewed fifty children and immediately chose two, Field Cate was among them. He's an incredible actor. I confidently say "actor", because at the age of 9 he attends acting courses besides school. His ability to concentrate, his ability to listen to the director is amazing! We only had a few rehearsals after which he played his part perfectly over the course of three days of filming. When Field was driving a huge American car, passers-by on the streets of Los Angeles stopped to look at him although they were already used to different filming. His car was pulled on a cable by another car from which we filmed, but the system I came up with allowed Field to turn the steering wheel in corners and at the same time be quite far from the car pulling him in front. So, he was completely in his role, and people on the sidewalks saw only a small head sticking out from behind the wheel.
Most of the scenes were written, but I wanted to leave some room for improvisation: we ended up filming - almost without permission - on the streets of Los Angeles downtown among the homeless. We got there at the last moment, shot some takes and left. It's quite difficult to do it in America where everything has to be organized, thought out in advance ... while the main idea of the video was to make everything look as simple as possible and not too “staged”. The same was true for the extras. I mixed them with ordinary people who didn't even know we were shooting. As for the role of the father, it was more of an anti-acting, and in fact it was not easy to play an adult, a bit wild, lost, who leaves the maximum space for the role of a child. At first, I wanted Ray Liotta to play but he refused in the end. I was also thinking about Robert Downey Jr who would be perfect for this role. Several very famous actors agreed, but Brian wanted someone who was not known to the general public to make the story more universal. He didn't want it to be, “Oh, yes! That video with ... ". Sometimes it's too easy. And I found a great actor in Michael Carr, who played this mutism excellently and also helped Field a lot during filming. I edited the clip in Los Angeles and sent it by the internet to London for feedback. Despite the fact that I was absolutely satisfied with the result of my work, having sent the video, I was worried and nervous. But luckily, the record label was delighted with the video, and so did Placebo. I know Brian was really touched by the video. I don’t think I’ll betray him if I quote the e-mail he sent me:
๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฝ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐. ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐! ๐ผ ๐๐๐'๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐! […] ๐จ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐! ๐ช๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐'๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐. ๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐'๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ !
๐ฉ๐น๐จ๐ฝ๐ถ!
๐ฉ๐๐๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐๐
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Screenshot from the video |
In fact, I immediately suggested making a long version, since, I think, the road movie format favors this. Plus, I shot a lot of scenes that I didn't use in the video. Placebo gave me a terrific gift: they went back to the studio to mix the 8-minute version of the song, which allowed me to finish the long version that Virgin soon included on the DVD."
(๐ต๐๐๐ "๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ข๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐" ๐๐ฆ ๐โ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐ท๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐ , 2009)
▪๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ธ๐๐๐๐๐ โ ๐๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ต๐ข๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ด๐๐ฆ๐ค๐๐ฆ.
Post by Olga
