posted on behalf of Alex de Campi
I'm sitting here on the verge of tears and I'm not sure why. For a friend's book I've been reminiscing about my favourite place in London, and it brought me to think of a time when I had a nice flat and a salary and things that a lot of people take for granted. We're also moving next week, from our North London council flat to a rented room south of the river already nicknamed "the hovel in Oval", and moving always depresses me. I suppose that's why I love airports and train stations - they don't lie to you that they're actually a home, that here is a place you can finally rest, and spread out all your things. They tell you straight: it won't last; you're just passing through.
As part of moving, we've been giving away a lot of our used but still useful stuff via Freecycle, but this hasn't gone nearly as well as back in December when I last moved: people not showing up, obvious profiteers looking to re-sell things on ebay, and a really dim girl who thought she could get a 3-piece leather sofa suite in the back of a Ford Ka... it culminated in a grasping Hampstead wife sending her cowed little gray husband to pick up the sofa from aforementioned suite - she was too lazy to come view it herself beforehand - and then upon discovering said FREE SOFA wasn't as nice as she had imagined in her mind, sending us a pissy little email about its poor quality and how her husband wouldn't be coming round to collect the matching armchairs. Sigh. Only in Hampstead. We did have a lovely Irish lady come round to re-home our VCR and tapes, but then she was from Wood Green.
On the music video front, it's been another week of struggle. I meant to get my storyboards done about 10 days ago but then spent rather a long time moping about our $5,000 budget cut and then telling various long-time friends & collaborators we wouldn't have any money to pay them. I've taken over a few roles where I just couldn't ask people to work for nowt, again - so storyboards got postponed further as I chased round the internet looking for obscure bits of costume and props.
Adding to the fun, we still don't have the money in from the label yet and I've had to max out my debit card (I'm no longer allowed to have credit cards) buying said costumes and props for the shoot. How I'm going to eat over the next few days, I just don't know. (Anyone currently thinking, "oh, boo hoo, she's going to get a fat director's fee at the end of this - no. I'm not getting a cent. I never have. I've done 12 music videos by now, never earned any money from them. This depresses me enormously.) Sometimes I wonder if I have the psychic energy for this job... I must find some posthaste as the artist flies in tomorrow and soon it becomes a whirlwind of pre-gig makeup checks, rehearsals, production meetings and fittings.
I have finally gotten the storyboards done, though. Storyboards and a shooting schedule are a really important part of my process, but they're always a nightmare. I hate doing storyboards, because it takes me a massive effort to draw very well; but I desperately need them, so I really work through themes, shot pacing and rhythm, and of course so I don't forget shots on the day when my brain falls over from everyone wanting attention at once.I'm working with a new DP for this video, the amazing Joe Dyer, who has yet to be forced to interpret my little scrawls. I can't wait to see his face... also when we tell him the only dolly we can afford is a crappy little focus dolly - for a video where pretty much every shot is on track.