Making the Video for "The Dolphin's Cry"
Chad Taylor
from Homespun Vol5: Fall 1999

It seems that most people are very curious about the process of making videos, so I thought I would document my day as we film the video for "The Dolphins Cry'.

August 14

9:00 AM EST Leave for airport, flying to Los Angeles, CA

4:30 PM PST Arrive in LA

6:00 PM Production meeting with Martin (director) to discuss wardrobe and last minute details for tomorrow's shoot. Tell Martin that I love his sense of style and ask him if he would quit his job and come on tour with me so I could look 'hot' like him, he denies my offer.

9:30 PM Dinner and drinks with friends...

2:00 AM Go to bed

August 15

6:00 AM Wake-Up call, shower and try to feel alive.

7:00 AM Depart for shoot location. Realize that Patrick has once again stayed out all night. I tell him he looks fine, yes I can lie to my friends.

8:00 AM Arrive, sort out breakfast, tell the make-up girl that my name is Pablo and that I react very badly to any make-up on me. She is scared of me, I find it to be very amusing. Tell wardrobe staff my name is Jo-Jo. Move Patrick onto his side so he stops snoring, it seems that the tequila has caught up to him.

9:00 AM My stunt guitar (Ruby Lou) has arrived, however, it is the wrong color and I call on the prop department to paint it. Yes, I said stunt guitar, it will get destroyed during the filming so the real Ruby Lou will have to stay at home.

11:00 AM Dressed ready to shoot and waiting for Martin to call us to the set, I am bored and out of my mind, just sitting and waiting....ahhh...the life of a musician.

11.30 AM Finally our first scene. We are about to have 6000 gallons of extremely cold water shot onto us. It will cause us to fly several feet through the air and look as though we have been hit by a tidal wave. Yes, we do our own stunts and after the safety meeting I am not so sure it was a good idea. Here goes nothin'.

12:00 PM We survive the first take, however, the pads that were supposed to break our fall shot out form under us and we landed on asphalt as well as each other. Our manager looks white as a ghost and the label starts flipping out, we are just fine but each of us have some new cuts and bruises to serve as proof that we have been working very hard. The second take works perfectly and we are able to break for lunch.

12:30 PM Lunch. Did I mention that Patrick recommends large amounts of cold water to cure a hangover, trust me he looks quite awake now.

2:00 PM We have a chance to get out of our cold, wet clothing and extras take over for a few hours. We now begin filming our performance shots from multiple angles. The girls start looking to prep Jo-Jo and Pablo, the director wonders who they are talking about.

8:00 PM Los Angeles is in the middle of it's coldest summer in years and we have not let this go unnoticed. We are all freezing after hours of being hosed down with water. We sit in our trailer shivering and hope for Martin to find some way to make the evening go faster.

9:30 PM After moving the water trucks and front-end loader as well as the lighting rig, we are ready for our final scene which we have us lay on our backs (in a rat infested alley) while 500 gallons of water are once again poured on us. We shoot this scenario from various angles and film speeds, of course I can no longer feel my toes and we are all anticipating Martins permission to leave and return to the warmth of our hotel beds.

11:00 PM Free at last, we are free at last. Martin tells us that we have provided him with all the footage he needs , so we say our goodbyes and get the hell out of Dodge before he changes his mind. Extras begin filming their final scenes and we shout goodbye to the cast and crew. Another video in the can, and one more day at work.

12:00 AM Nighty Night.

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