Hateful Chains

She Smiles Video Shoot Part Two!

This is where we brought in the boys.

One tuesday evening we gathered to our friend's apartment, that is me, the rest of the band, director/shooter, two dancers and the make-up artist, and we shot the band scenes for She Smiles music video. Before that I spent the morning by getting some snacks for everyone and doing my hair in somewhat fifties' style. About noonish the make-up artist showed up and started experimenting with latex and my face...

The idea was to create a mask to cover my mouth, so that I couldn't speak, and it would look like I had no mouth. I would rip it off in the final scene, exposing a smiling mouth. It was supposed to be taken with one shot. First the eyes and lips were done and I ate something before a thin film of latex was glued onto my mouth. We realized the one shot wasn't gonna happen, because the lipstick went off right away... But we decided it could be ripped off, fixed and then take the final smile, and maybe there would be something that could be used in the video. After the latex some scar gel was added and then the pale foundation. The final result actually looked like I had a plaster mask.

Now I couldn't eat or drink for the rest of the evening. But the hardest part was actually keeping a resting face and not to laugh. Everyone laughed of course when they first saw me, and I couldn't but react to that. Throughout the evening the mask was cracking and I was of course sweating underneath it, so it would need to be fixed between takes. But it held together surprisingly well after all.

I wore my grandmothers old dress, a black velvet funeral dress. It didn't quite sit on me, but that was just plus. The nature of these band parts was to be the negative side of life anyway, a gray reality where everything is dull and stagnant. Under the dress I wore a corset. That way I would be forced to sit more straight and move in an overall constricted way, hopefully adding to the idea the director had in mind.

Living Room, scene is set

The band members were all dressed up in suits, like to a funeral or old dance music gig. They had some pale foundation on their faces and dark shadows under their eyes, as did I. Like we hadn't slept for a week. We sat around sadly on the sofas around a coffee table and played out the story the director had in mind. We didn't use the music for these scenes and didn't play our instruments, except for my brief moment at the piano, which maybe is included in the final cut, or not.

Although some of the band members didn't have very much experience with acting, it all came together when we concentrated and were able to focus on the moment. The articulate and calm way the director managed the whole thing was a great help in that too. I must say the band were great playing dead in the end scenes! No reaction at all to my efforts of waking them up.

Later the two dancers came in, one of the "naked" masked ones and the breakdance/dark character. This time they didn't dance, but were present in the scenes as characters from the fantasy world. The dark character was painted black again, while we did some scenes with the other one. And then we realized something had been forgotten again: black gloves for the black character! We used black mittens then, and I'm slightly worried about the takes that show his hands...

We did mostly the same scenes and actions that we did with just the band, now added by the fantasy characters.

Photo by Rotkoarts

Photo by Rotkoarts

After everything else was captured, it was time for the final scene and ripping off the mask. The big moment. I stuck my fingers in it and pulled it apart, trying to be slow. It came off quite good, as a single piece but under it was a red jaw and lips, stained by lipstick and sweat. So I had to sit down for the make-up artist to fix it. No eating yet, and I was so hungry! Fixed and ready, I then held the remnants of the mask close to my face and revealed the final smile. 

I was so relieved when it was all over, and first of all I drank a coffee drink I had reserved for this occasion. Then there was snacks and laughter and thank yous and goodbyes. We got it all taken in a few hours but it was the make-up that took the most time and effort. That's why Rotkoarts deserves my everlasting thanks for dedicating the day for this video project. I'm in your dept!

Also thank you for Teemu for letting us use your apartment, Ville/ Solkigraphy for shooting and directing, the band (love you guys) and dancers, for adding your skill to the mix!

We left and went to the store to get some supper supplies, with our pale foundation and funeral clothes still on. People looked