Jayanti's Blog
The mundane is merely Magic in disguise…Archive for October, 2010
Girl from Mars – the music video
The day before I spread my wings and fly to LA, my very first real music video drops and honestly, I’m so happy right now I don’t even need wings or a plane! Feels like I really just came flying down from Mars! I’m afloat! Soaring high!
My brilliant best friends Winand and Vinod Singh are responsible for conjuring the concept of every scene, finding ways to manually and cerebrally execute their ideas. We started out with brainstorm sessions, the twins with paper and pen in hand, while I looked from one to the other, wide eyed and amazed. The things they come up with! Because they know me so well (and of course, because they’re so talented and smart!), they visualized the theme of my song perfectly: seeing things from a different perspective, in a different light, and giving your love freely, for we all come from the same source made entirely of that same love. And we loved making this video, gave it our all! Our all came down to a bucket of paint, 7 rolls of DUCT tape, 1 roll of barrier tape, 253 tea lights and high spirits.
intro
So peculiar, I’m this girl from Mars…
I bought a bucket of white paint, which the guys used to write JAYANTI on a crosswalk around 6 am on a Sunday morning. It took them exactly 12 minutes, and I was scared the police would show up the whole time. But they didn’t! There were some taxi drivers parked on the side of the street, nodding, waving and even taping our guerilla shoot. It was such a rush, and weeks after, you could still see the paint marks. Naughty.
1st scene – verse 1
You don’t understand me, but you really do…
We shot this scene on some stairs outside, the guys used 7 rolls of colored DUCT tape to make a moon and some stars, which cost them 6 hours, leg pain and back strain. We featured my cousins Rosa, Samuel, Priya and Uma in the scene, and had them walk up and down the stairs using the special gravity defying superpowers we all possessed before our 13th birthdays (and maybe some of us still do, and in that case I say: “Congratulations and welcome to our secret society!”).
2nd scene – verse 2
I’m holding a fire, while my hands are cool…
Vinod spotted this empty exhibition space, and asked the people of Roodkapje whether we could use this room for our video. He pulled some strings and we got in! The twins used a roll of barrier tape to offset the clean ethereal white room and gave you a clue to what I am. Martian, perhaps, but ultimately, just a girl.
3rd scene – bridge
I’m so peculiar, outer space, new to you, true to you…
This scene was shot in an empty office space, courtesy of Schieblock. Winand passionately explained the concept of the video and they were very generous in handing us the keys to the largest room, which we were able to use for two nights. We ignited 253 tea lights to show you where I came from and I felt like I was dancing in a fairytale… :o>
Vinod, Winand and I would like to thank the sorcerers who waved their wands to make this video possible, and believed in our project enough to lend us their time, space and designer outfits. Thank you all so much for being so generous and warm-hearted!
- Roodkapje (exhibition room verse 2)
- Schieblock (empty office space bridge)
- Wendela van Dijk (outfits intro, verse 2 and bridge)
Big thank you to *you*, for caring enough about me as an artist and how we made this video, to read this ridiculously long post all the way to the end. I see you, and you’re beautiful.
