by Ricky Echolette
MoonPaper 1&2/94

We had decided to shoot the video for "fools" in Mexico, rooster-fights, desert of cactii, dusty country roads, derelict haciendas and, naturally, the people who live there. Towards the end of April we boarded a plane to there. Mexico City presents a breathtaking view when approaching it by air, houses right up to the horizon, the largest city in the world. We were picked up at the airport by Jamie. He had been making preparations there as a production manager for several days already, putting the team together, renting equipment, etc.

We drove into the mountains, four hundred kilometers north of Mexico City, to San Miguel de Allende, an old, small town of Spanish-Mexican style, more or less protected as a historic monument. Everything there is built out of a kind of sandstone, that has been polished by the winds in the course of centuries. The church on the plaza in the center looks as if Gaudi had made it up. San Miguel served only as a base for us. From there we went up into the highlands, to the haciendas and other dusty places. It is hard to believe, but this mountainous landscape is incredibly fertile.

Underneath the stone desert the water lies in wait - only six feet deep. As soon as someone drills a well and irrigates the land, blossoming gardens appear.

The first day on the set was terribly hot and sun-burned our noses, even though it was cloudy. Later we sat underneath a big umbrella and felt as if we were shooting an old Tex-Mex western movie, with all the cows and goats and the many children of the hacienda running around us.

The team was quite a band, as it contained no less than 25 members. with trucks for make-up, for the stage-sets, and for the tracks including the Elemac. On top of that there was extra cast, which was hired from out of the local population whenever needed. Scott Kennedy, the director, and Alec, his cameraman, came from New York. The rest of the crew were people from Mexico City or San Miguel. We were especially lucky to find Chabir, the art director, who would come up magically and over night with the craziest objects as decoration for the sets. Scott and Alec work well together as a team. They always agreed on the little tricks and gimmicks they would use during the shots. Camera!, running!: Off! - on!, off! - on!, or 'wacky glass'. Scott loves to let the camera look through old shards of glass. And for those of you who'd like to know: We used a 35mm Arriflex, shooting in color and in black-and-white.

Once more we wanted to give the director as much leeway as possible. We trusted Scott fully all along, that he would interpret the song with his highly impressionate scenes. Even as we were shooting it we were convinced that we were going to get a wonderful video.

Only two occurrences are left to be mentioned. One is the fact that, in the week when we were shooting, it rained cats and dogs two days - in the desert! The result was that the entire crew was up to their ankles in mud. Of course we continued with the work.

The other was an event that took place on the last day, when we were already back in our hotel rooms in Mexico City. I woke up at seven in the morning as someone hammered against my door. With a towel around my waist I opened, and somebody held a gun up to my head. It was the police - who else? After the obligatory search of our luggage, durting the course of which a suspicious looking garlic toe was secured, it turned out that the suspicion had arisen that we had not paid our Mexican crew the amount promised. "Aha", we thought, "negotiating Mexican style." Keep cool. Easier said than done. The last day on the set in Mexico seemed endangered. After collecting our passports, as usual, and a ride to the police in charge of foreigners, who wasn't interested in the affair, it became clear around noon that the whole thing was a giant bluff. Caramba!

A musical recommendation as a footnote, straight from the sunny Mexico of the 30's: Antonio Machin "El Manisero". This is Mariaci at its best.