Monday, January 21, 2008

Drag Show: "Lithium"

It suddenly occurred to me: I should perform Ali Milner's version of "Lithium" by Nirvana! I got all excited about this and was halfway through the storyboard before my worst suspicions were realized: like most Nirvana songs, "Lithium" makes no conventional sense and doesn't tell a story, even though it SOUNDS like it does.

And I'm not exactly an "I love you, I kill you" type of person.

So somehow the project morphed into a "crazy housewife" story, and here are the results:



There were supposed to be candles all through the video but my smoke alarm went INSANE and I had to blow them all out. I also experimented with the "low light" setting during the kitchen clips, since my kitchen light is annoyingly dim. I now think of this camera feature as the "turn your kitchen yellow" setting.

A lyric in the song refers to "broken mirrors," and just before I left for Club Abstract that night I broke a REAL mirror, thinking it was made out of cheap metal instead of glass. Judging by the way things turned out at the bar I guess I'll suffer seven years of guys who fart on the dancefloor.

10 comments:

Kimber said...

Niiiiiiice! Aubergine really is your colour, too.

I especially liked the plunger and your sly little look.

Do you set up all the shots yourself or do you have a lackey of some sort to help you? If you do it all on your own, I am doubly impressed by the continuity.

Adam Thornton said...

It's just me and my good-for-nothing cat!

I make a storyboard beforehand and then film all the shots out of sequence...set up the tripod, do a test to make sure that my head won't be cut off and that the blocking is acceptable, film all the scenes for that location, then move everything around again.

So I think I can be excused if my bracelet appears and disappears occasionally, especially since the smoke alarm was going off constantly. :)

I liked the plunger idea too, though I didn't much like repeatedly looking into it.

Toni Lea Andrews said...

I love that this post starts out with "It suddenly occurred to me."

My sudden thought usually lean toward remembering I'm about to run out of toilet paper or that I've forgotten to call the vet for the results of Oscar's blood test.

I seldom get the urge to lip-synch on camera. And I should! I really should! Now, to find the perfect song...

Anonymous said...

Bravo!

Adam Thornton said...

Toni, I guess you need to keep enough room in the "it suddenly occurred to me" part of your brain for both lip-synching AND blood tests!

Variety, spice of life, that sort of thing.

Myself, I tend to forget about buying the toilet paper.

Adam Thornton said...

Thanks, Johnny!

Eli McIlveen said...

The crazy housewife angle was inspired!

I was thinking a few off-kilter camera angles might be good for the "not gonna crack" sequence... though running the camera and performing at the same time already sounds like a lot of work.

I giggle every time you pop out from behind furniture.

No Zsa Zsa cameo, though!

Adam Thornton said...

Crazy camera angles...aha! I'd never thought of that! My tripod has many knobs and screws that can be adjusted, I'll need to see what sort of "going crazy" effects I can achieve.

Zsa Zsa didn't do a cameo because she was terrified by the smoke alarm. By the time she'd gotten over it, I'd brought out the broom, and I think that's when she decided to retire elsewhere.

tanzi said...

I love it! Man, you sure put your back into plunging that sink! I know who to call when I'm having toilet issues...

Adam Thornton said...

We'll talk, Tanzi. I may be a good "plunger" but I'm not so hot about unplugging toilets, you see. I'm strange like that.