music video?

[Ang Mo]

Not to be all Don Quixote about it but after watching the video several times I confirm that it is indeed a windmill........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8nypWKa_aU

Love that video. Vienna looks fantastic and the song is very beautiful also. I love the ocean theme and backdrop. I sure wish they would put this as an extra on the new CD. It is really well done.

[Scot]

OK, but what's with the second guy coming up from the ground?

s

[Rotkehlchen]

OK, but what's with the second guy coming up from the ground?

this is the same guy
no not the same guy
this is the same guy, love
no not the same guy we've seen before

[roofboy179]

Usually, i would insert a clever (well, not really) remark here.

I'm to excited and amazed. I think i peed myself a bit watchign this :]

[Fred]

OK, but what's with the second guy coming up from the ground?

this is the same guy
no not the same guy
this is the same guy, love
no not the same guy we've seen before

Thought it was the same guy. Guess I'll have to watch it 8 or 9 more times to be sure.

[Reileen]

I offer my brief thoughts on the music video here on my LJ.

[Ang Mo]

OK, but what's with the second guy coming up from the ground?

I believe it explains what happened to one Mr. James Hoffa........

Sincerely,

Ang Mo, aka: Chairman Mo, aka: Sifu Diet Coke, etc., etc., etc.

[Kalenabear]

I offer my brief thoughts on the music video here on my LJ.

Reileen, I didn't know about the Inland Territory video on the Amazon.de site until I clicked on the link. THANK YOU! I'm quite speechless right now after watching it! *dies*

OK, but what's with the second guy coming up from the ground?

this is the same guy
no not the same guy
this is the same guy, love
no not the same guy we've seen before

Hahahah. Brilliant answer, Rotkehlchen!

[FatMonsterFilms]

When we developed the concept for the "Gravity" video we deliberately sought to make it allegorical, rather than having a specific story line. While those who prefer linear stories may be put off by the ambiguities, we felt "Gravity" touches a number of layered emotions worthy of a more impressionistic treatment.

Thus, after listening to the song several times, my partner Tim came up with the concept of a character we refer to as the Harbinger who first appears washed up on a desolate beach. These portions of the video were shot on a very cold winter day at Cape Disappointment on the Oregon coast in order to take advantage of the flat light and overcast skies that you can rarely find in Southern California where we usually shoot.

The Harbinger is metaphorical and our idea was to make him somewhat of a displaced spirit or a dream-like character out of place and out of time (you are, of course, free to attach whatever interpretation you find from watching the video and I assure you there are no "incorrect" answers). His eyes are clouded with cataracts and he arises to begin walking without fully knowing what destination he seeks.

Vienna was dressed in a period costume to mirror the sense of being an atavistic presence in a world that too often spins out of control. While the song "Gravity" is, on its surface, a "relationship" song, it also echos (to us at least) a feeling of weight, pressure and not-too-comfortable obligation that often accompanies troubled relationships.

We cut between the Harbinger and Vienna to imply an impending resolution of an unstable and uncertain present. Again, we weren't intending to be literal, but we wanted there to be some sort of ambiguous connection between her and the wandering spirit of the Harbinger.

Apparently some of you saw the footage of the lighthouse on Cape Disappointment that didn't make it into the finished cut. While it was a beautiful frame, we just didn't like how it played in the first cut we made. Thus, we used the later scene of a windmill shot in the rain in Redmond, Washington. The Harbinger digs up a box that has a timepiece at the base of the windmill and this was intended to be a metaphor for all the milestones and "clues" that guide all of us on our own paths through this troubled world.

Eventually the Harbinger pulls open the buried box and reveals himself underneath. The close-up shows the eyes of his "found self" are now clear and he arises to continue his quest. We expected this to be a "WTF?" moment for many people. I guess you can say that we like to challenge people a bit and force them to think a little. The scene is sort of a "rebirth" in my mind and represents a turning point of enlightenment as the Harbinger immediately thereafter makes his way to where Vienna is.

In the final scene the spirit of the restless soul reaches the beach and stands mute watching Vienna play. As she senses his presence she turns but he is nowhere in sight. However, the camera rack focuses onto the timepiece in the foreground that Vienna doesn't notice. To me this conclusion represents the way we often come so close to reaching each other but accidents of geography, emotion or time prevent us from ever really touching. (Again, this is just my interpretation and we deliberately kept the images ambiguous enough to permit other meanings).

I have to say that shooting with Vienna on Whidbey Island was one of the best times I've ever had. Few people match expectations, but Vienna certainly did exceed everything I imagined. She reminds me of a passage from Herman Hesse's "Steppenwolf" in which he describes those very few artists who shine so bright that they illuminate the world the rest of us live in so that we have a whole new understanding of what it means to live.

Mark Johnson
Fat Monster Films

[Reileen]

However, the camera rack focuses onto the timepiece in the foreground that Vienna doesn't notice.

The way I saw it was that she did notice it, and that the reason that the camera focused in on it was to show that this is what she was looking at when she turned around.

Also, with regards to switching from the lighthouse to the windmill: it fits anyway with the song, since the camera focuses in on the windmill just as Vienna is singing "I am turning in revolution..." (Despite the fact that, you know, the windmill isn't moving. )

Thank you for bringing us such a beautifully shot music video!

[micro]

@FatMonsterFilms
Thanks for that post Mark, always interesting to know the filmmakers' thoughts behind the movie. Fans have been anxiously waiting for this video for some time and it was worth the wait. Any news you can share about the next video for Vienna? Seem to recall a post that it was a possibility.

PS seen your other shorts on dvxuser, they are all fantastic.

[Walking Stranger]

[...] allegorical [...] impressionistic treatment.

[...] The Harbinger is metaphorical [..]. His eyes are clouded with cataracts and he arises to begin walking without fully knowing what destination he seeks.

[...] to mirror the sense of being an atavistic presence in a world that too often spins out of control.

[...] a metaphor for all the milestones and "clues" that guide all of us on our own paths through this troubled world.

Eventually the Harbinger pulls open the buried box and reveals himself underneath. The close-up shows the eyes of his "found self" are now clear and he arises to continue his quest. [...] a "rebirth" [...] a turning point of enlightenment as the Harbinger immediately thereafter makes his way to where Vienna is.

[...] the way we often come so close to reaching each other but accidents of geography, emotion or time prevent us from ever really touching.
[...] She reminds me of a passage from Herman Hesse's "Steppenwolf" in which he describes those very few artists who shine so bright that they illuminate the world the rest of us live in so that we have a whole new understanding of what it means to live.

Mark Johnson
Fat Monster Films

Thanks Mark for these explanation lines and for sharing with us VT forumers your feelings.
Reading them and learning that you also read Herman Hesse's "Steppenwolf" motives me to read that book again and more closely.

Have a nice day !
[EDIT : English and French quotations related to "shining above the chaos" are here ]

[arcsol]

wow. just... wow. i'm quite speechless on this. i mean, the song by itself is a masterpiece. the video is another. and the sad thing is, a lot of people don't know the awesomeness they're missing. may the video spread the good word more.

and i dunno if any of you saw eric cheng's tweet re: vienna's video, but i just have to share this one, it made my day.

Vienna Teng's new video, "Gravity". It's about zombies. http://is.gd/icwS 2:17 AM yesterday from TweetDeck

from here

[Reileen]

Vienna Teng's new video, "Gravity". It's about zombies.

S'what I said (on LJ)! XD

(Well, sort of...)

[echeng]

Also seen in the area during the shooting of the music video: