Bridget Clifford ([email protected])
Mon, 26 Oct 1998 15:23:56 +0400
"I'll Have Seen Everything When I See an Elephant Meet The Fly."
So say Chris Donovan as he takes up position at ringside to watch U2 shoot
their new video.
Of all the bizarre sights the residents of Fitzwilliam Street have been
privy to, this is undoubtedly the first involving an Indian elephant called
Rani.
It's 9am on Sunday and while the rest of D4 (Dublin) is recovering from
the night before, U2 are shooting the video for their new single, The
Sweetest Thing", which will be all over your TV screens this weekend.
Along with our generously-trunked friend - that's the elephant, not
Adam - the cast of hundreds includes Jean Butler (was the original lady
dancer in Riverdance), Steve Collins (the boxer), Boyzone, the Artane Boys
Band and a moonlighting trope of Chippendales.
"It's like a cross between the Magical Mystery Tour and the Malteser
ad," is the verdict of one on-looker who's dead chuffed (pleased) having
spent the past five minutes chatting to Bono. Apart from the Garda (police)
at either end of the road, there's little in the way of security with celebs
and fans mixing freely. A little too freely, perhaps, for Ronan Keating
(Boyzone lead singer) who's averaging about ten autographs a minute.
"The video we shot today is completely different to the one we met nine
days ago to discuss," laughs Dreamchaser Productions' Ned O'Hanlon. "The
original plan was to do a simple studio shoot with just the four members of
the band and a two-wall set but, in typical U2 fashion, that got scrapped
when The Edge remarked, "We ought to have Bono and Ali drinving round
Stephen's Green in a horse-drawn carriage." Myself and Kevin Godley, the
director are used to these creative u-turns but one of the guys who was over
with him was horrified when somebody said, "Yeah, and after that we can have
a herd of stampeding elephants."
The availability of elephants being what it is, the herd has dwindled to
just the one rock'n'roll animal who apparently when "bored" starts getting
stroppy (tantrum-like) as tea-time approaches.
"As opposed to the band who've been their normal impeccably behaved
selves," O'Hanlon resumes. "Considering what might've gone wrong, it's all
gone very smoothly. We got into a rhythm of shooting which, even allowing
for elephantine tantrums, meant we were able to get things wrapped up by the
time the sun went down."
As for the end product: "It looks like Bono and his mates made it which
is a nice contrast to the bigness of Pop. I have to live with something for
a while before I can judge it, but I think it's one of the most sucessful
videos they've done recently."
There were about four or five b/w photos printed with the article, which I
think gives a fun bit of background into the video.
Bridget
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b2 on Mon Oct 26 1998 - 03:36:16 PST