hey listessa,
  i got cast to be in the new and upcoming perfect pumpkin video. it was
shot this sunday july 26th in hollywood. first i'll tell you what the
video is about and then my experience.
  the main theme for the perfect video is to be a follow up to the 1979
video. it's like a continuing saga. they also had two kids from the 1979
video there and it's like following them around. i don't know what the
other scenes are but that's the basic theme. the scene i shot was
located, in what looked like, an underground parking lot with lots of
tagging on the walls. there were 3 cylinder cement pillars holding
together a transparent stage, where the pumpkins played. they had cool
lighting and strob lights when we filmed. supposedly we were meant to be
in a small underground cult club or rave or something watching the band
play.
  here's my story: i got up to the shoot and when i went in they sent us
to the 4th floor where we waited for almost 3 hours. i went alone so i
made some friends and talked to some people. there was only 40 of us.
during this wait we roasted in a hot room while they changed some of our
apparell (they wanted us in mostly black) finally they had us line up
and we went down into the filming area (same place as above). i was
placed on the right side of this huge pillar right infront of james.
jonathon and valerie plus other crew members swarmed around and tested
the microphones. let me tell you it was loud and i had one amp about 1
foot from my right ear. james came out (no response from us) and started
tunning two guitars. one was black the other a v-shape cream color. he
also made some cracks about this fire sprinkler that hung straight down
where he was standing. it almost took him out a couple times. james had
on black jeans and a shirt and his hair looked awesome. really cool. he
also had electric blue eyeshadow all over his eyelids. it looked
spectacular. he was right infront of me and just standing there i could
have asked him a question or something but i thought it was
inappropriate. i'm too polite to annoy him even though he wasn't busy.
james also signed some autographs on what seemed to be all adore
booklets. i also hadn't brought anything to sign because i was in such a
rush to get up there.   
  next billy came out (no response from us) he started tunning his amber
color guitar. he had on black pants and a black shirt then he put on his
cool black coat that he wore the first night at the universal
amphitheater. billy didn't sign anything but i saw him answer a few
questions but not full on conversations. he too also had cool eye
make-up. it was black with silver and smeared.  
  after a little while more d'arcy came up and started tunning (no
response from us). she had on the black transparent shirt (which makes
me wonder if it will get aired) and black pants which were tight at the
top but really loose and flowing at the bottom. it seemed  like a satiny
material. she had dark smudged eyes and black lipstick and i believe a
wig becasue it was very longblonde hair, almost to her hip (1979 video). 
  by now i was so baffled and i wanted to see the pumpkins better (even
though i was a foot away from james and his guitar) i put on my glasses.
just then billy yelled something funny. it sounded like yelena's last
name said in a loving pet name way. next thing i know is this lady about
5'7" or 5'8" (i had on creepers so i'm not sure) comes walking right
next to me. she had on black pants (capri pants i think, stop right
below the knee) and a black shirt. she has a tattoo but i couldn't make
it out. her hair is short and black with thick bangs. she is really
pretty (a lot better in person). now she is stopped next to me and we're
squished together rubbing shoulders. billy comes over and whispers
something to her. i stare in amazement as this 6' plus giant's face is
practically in my face. i hear yelena say it looks great (the set) and
then he gives her a kiss on her forhead. it was so sincere.     
  billy is now joking with james saying "look at this place...and it's
going to cost us so much money". just then we start filming. the
pumpkins never did play perfect but they broke straight into the new
bwbw. it was great, totally rocking. the only problem was you couldn't
hear billy because the guitars drowned him out majorly. i started
hopping about and dancing around because, after all i came to be in the
video not just for amusement. they then broke into ava adore which was
great. another problem was they weren't playing for our entertainment
because when the cameras weren't on billy or whoever they would stop. 
during one of the songs (bwbw) kenny played this amazing drum solo. it
was great and billy stopped playing to watch him. (gees i'm reviewing it
as if it were a concert) then billy acted like he was asking us to
choose a song. people were shouting everything, primarily cherub rock.
so they played zero. they also played bodies, pug, and wbftt 3 times
progressing into the bwbw riff which i love. they also jammed this
new/obscure song i didn't know and i couldn't decipher it because i
couldn't hear the lyrics because of the sh*tty sound. that was the whole
set list.
  when we first started filming d'arcy started complaining and i thought
for a moment she was going to have a hissy fit but they gave her some
water and she calmed down. also throughout the show billy remarked "this
reminds us of our old shows when we first started, except we rocked
then". billy also threw a hissy fit kind of. during the filming he
called over yelena (right next to me agian) and someone and tried to
explain what was wrong. yelena kept saying it looks really great and
billy kept grumbling. the other guy was like what? billy said "yelena
will explain it to you" yelena's remark "i have not a clue what he's
talking about." i guess this was a sighting of billy's perfectionism at
it's best. i think he might have been displeased with us, because it was
early in the set and we weren't too animated. during the show d'arcy
handed out two guitar picks and this guy next to me kept taking pictures
even though we were told not to. 
  after 3 hours of filming, music, jumping up and down (which became
quite abusive), and excitement it was over. the pumpkins left while
billy stood there shaking hands. i was like whatever and tried to get my
hand shaked but he stopped right when he got to me. oh well. now they
took us back upstairs and selected 5 boys and 5 girls to stay and shoot
this one scene. i tried to get in it because my dad wasn't coming for
another 3 hours. but i didn't.  the scene was meant to be by a boys
restroom. it turns out the scene took too long to set up so they
canceled it. 
  when i went out to call my dad d'arcy came out and signed autographs.
there were so many people around her i couldn't get through and
even though i am a humongous fan the thought of a sig wasn't that
important. she left. i had been told billy and james had just left too.
fleeing the building quickly not stopping to talk or anything so i
assumed it wise not to pursue autographs. james was seen leaving in a
volvo if anyone cares. that's about all the action.
  it was a really cool and memorable experience. i will always treasure
it. it was very awkward because i wasn't seeing the pumpkins play for
amusement it was like i was doing business with the them. certaintly a
strange way to do things but it was a neat contrast to normal concerts.
here they told me where to stand and i had to stay there. i couldn't
rush the stage like i would have done if this was a concert. it was
definitely different. something very obscure and unusual that barely
anyone has done. and this experience was satisfying enough that it made
up for not receiveing hand shakes or autographs. although i did get a
worker pass saying perfect video.
  i was just thinking here's a topic you guys can discuss. you know how
sp said adore is like gish the beginning of something new, very
different. well during the video billy said "we used to play shows like
this." so maybe it's a whole new realm or beginning. a complete circle
and now they're off again. 
  well thanks for listening and i hope you enjoyed a day in the making of
the "perfect" video, i sure did and i wouldn't trade this experience for
anything in the world. if you have any questions or comments feel free
to mail me. by the way the video is meant to come out in a couple weeks.
i was the girl in the long black sleeve shirt with color print skirt
black tights and short blonde hair straight down. i doubt they have any
footage of me but i still might be in it so it's worth a look. love you
all.
nicola