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Put up at the "Hotel California"! 

Sunday, 20 July 2008

Do you know that? You listen to a song and have a certain picture in your head? To such a song like "Hotel California" there are very likely as many ideas as people listening. Of course, we had our own idea how we could picturize this story so that it would still remain a music video.
 

Lisa: Cowgirl "natural"

Mona: Cowgirl "profligate"

First we had a certain outfit in mind. It should fit into the desert - western-like, but a bit shabby-chic on the other side, like we imagined the hotel too. Before we started with the shooting at all, we trudged round some large stores (for the clothes and (sham) jewellery). Finally we endet up at "Boot Barn", a western shop in Woodland Hills, L. A. where we bought boots and hats.

At home we spent some time with the make-up and styled ourselves according to the parts we intended to adopt: Lisa as the narrator was the "natural" cowgirl, Mona was the profligate run-down saloon girl that would like to be something better.

OK, that was done so far. But as the next thing we had to find this "dark desert highway" and an old, rusty pickup truck that we could "drive". Michaela remembered the Palmdale area which we passed on our way to Death Valley last year. She saw many old rust buckets stored on the lots of the Mexican citizens. We decided to go there and ask if we could borrow something.

In Palmdale we drove along some streets, in search of the typical asphalted but little frequented awfully long streets through a cacti desert, leading to nowhere, purled with old power poles. We had to hurry up as it got darker and darker and among other things, we wanted to have the sunset on our pictures.
 

At a cross-roads (see map "pickup car deal) we suddenly found all at once: THE car and, as it turned out later, THE highway too. The old pickup belonged to a Mexican who carried his pottery with it. He was ready to lend us his car for $ 50. He said he would have to bring his amphoras home first.

So we followed him all across the desert to his caravan/mobile home. His lot showed an unconventional idyll - old caravan wrecks, corrugated-iron shacks, some goats and hens and a cow skeleton. His son helped him with unloading the pottery and offered to accompany and show us the ideal highway.
 

With such a setting it's not difficult to see things from the reader's viewpoint - "up ahead in the distance I saw a shimmering light ..."

He didn't promise too much. Passing an old rail track we rumbled across the desert to this highway ...

We couldn't believe our eyes - it was exactly the scene we had had in our minds.

To top it all it had rained that day, and the grey-blue clouds matched perfectly with the setting sun for a real "Hotel California" atmosphere.

But not only the light was unique ...

Another pluspoint of getting escorted by the man was that he drove the pickup up and down the street while we were sitting on the loading area and our Dad could focus on shooting.

One time Daddy was on the loading area with us - when he filmed the guitar solo. That would all have become much more complex without our companion and would have cost much more time. But so the timing was perfect. Right before nightfall we had finished all the scenes we wanted to have. We would never have managed that without our helper.
 

To thank him for his assistance we went to the next gas station and paid him a full tank. By that he was helped at least as much as we were helped with the car and his support.

Solely that in the middle of nowhere someone helps you without asking hundreds of questions - in this case someone who doesn't have much himself, regardless of color or origin, was such an impressive experience that is with us every time we watch this video. But we think that it was an exciting change in the daily routine of the Mexican family too (sorry, we only say "Mexicans" as we don't know their names). We are sure that they told it all their relatives ;)! And we hope that they will watch this page and the video one day and know how much they did for us. It was an everlasting impression for us.
 

We don't want to catapult you out of the nightly scene: That's a photomontage, similar to the one in the video :)

By the way, we found the bakestone "Hotel California" in San Francisco/Oakland (see map). In former days it had been a hotel, nowadays it has become a flophouse for homeless people.

The neighborhood was quite creepy and we made ourselves scarce as soon as possible. But somehow the atmosphere corresponded with the song. 

With some tricks like e.g. the lighting of the hotel (which wasn't on at noon) our Dad conjured more of the weird atmosphere and also Michaela contributed her part to the video. Besides, while we three were filming she was the one who made all the nice pictures in order to be able to document the making-of of the videos on these pages. She did all the artwork for the "California-Dreaming"-CD as well and then found time to play the saxophone and percussion for "California Dreaming". And while we go to school in Australia she continues to make up and update the website for us. *hug*

It's so cool that in our family everyone is so creative and has just the right skills that are needed for such projects. And that we then find all those nice people who personally engage in our issues (the Mexicans here, but also Dirk with his motorboat and Joel in San Francisco) - Seriously, we are real lucky devils!

That had to be said somewhere. But now we send you back to the "dark desert highway". Let's see what you will experience in the "Hotel California"!
 

Ciao,
Mona and Lisa

And here are the other two making-of's and videos:

> San Francisco
> California Dreamin'

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