Thoughts on “Manipulation Machine” music video:
The video was made independently without a song. My intention was to make a video based on the 1933 film version – with a few twists. I truly wanted to compose a song for the video and I composed many… But I was drawn to the intro drums of “Manipulation Machine” – it was as if Kong was stomping towards the girl. So out of curiosity, I decided to go ahead and sync the audio and video together and wanted to see just how far apart – how many minutes apart was the audio from the video. It was quite eerie…. I was stunned by how well the two fit together…
The verse “Puppets on a stage” aligned perfectly as Kong my toy puppet was on the top of the mountain cave. The lyric “War Machine” as the WW1 planes were flying by….creepy?? As the song & video were winding down for the first time in the editing room, it was like watching the final seconds of an NBA finals game, I was on the edge of my seat – would they end perfectly? ( highly unlikely – what are the odds? ) Which part would be longer ? Would the audio be longer than the video and force me to cut scenes which I did not want to do or vice versa ? As I climbed the ladder & hugged the girl in the final scene and the song ended to perfection – I jumped out of my chair and began to scream “Eureka!” “Eureka!” like some mad scientist or mathematician in a laboratory. The sudden, unexpected realization that “Manipulation Machine” was the song for my video all along was mind-blowing…the experience was totally out of this world… It was eerie and magical as if the video was created subconsciously all along for this song. Moreover, how Kong represents the all mighty powerful – all made sense and matched the song’s lyrics…it left me happy but gave me chills and goose bumps at the same time.
An interesting note, one of the final scenes of Kong on the building has a continuity goof. If you look closely in one of the final scenes, Kong is not wearing his cuffs and chains. Originally it was an accident but I quickly realized it was not an accident at all. I decided to not edit out the scene out of pure superstition to the original. In the original 1933 film version – after Kong escapes from his bonds in the theater in New York, he leaves the right cuff of his shackles on his wrist. During the subsequent rampage through the city, the cuff is missing in several scattered shots, and in the entirety of the sequence in which Kong destroys the elevated train. That sequence was reportedly conceived, designed, and filmed when the picture came from the editing room at thirteen reels in length, to which producer-director Merian C. Cooper objected superstitiously. Hence, I decided to not cut out the scene – paying homage to the original…. as if the higher power overseeing my creation wanted it to remain that way.
PS – I wrote and recorded two new songs last week and mixed and edited the songs this week ( June 19, 2015 ). Music videos are a must for both songs ! I intend to continue writing and recording throughout the summer and hopefully start filming a new video before summers end. Will these new songs lead to a new album ? I don’t know – but I’ll keep recording and keep you updated along the way.
