Encyclopedia ‎ > ‎ Video clips comments Typescript by Rousse for Placebo Russia

Jump to: Teenage Angst

Nancy Boy

Bruise Pristine

Pure Morning

You Don’t Care About Us

Every You Every Me

Without You I’m Nothing

Taste in Men

Slave to the Wage

Special K

Black-Eyed

The Bitter End

This Picture

Special Needs

English Summer Rain

Protège Moi





36 degrees Brian: This is quite shocking, really. I look like... Marilyn Manson's younger sister. Quite ill.



Stef: This all done in postproduction. This all done in postproduction.

Brian: No, this was for real. It was the beginning of our relationship with water and videos, which we'll explore further. This was directed by Chris Cunningham, who went on to make videos for Aphex Twin and Madonna, including two favourites ‘Come to daddy' by Madonna and 'Windowlicker' by Aphex Twin. It was done in two days, one of which entailed us spending about 10 hours under water in this scuba pool. This is actually a man-made lake, a pond sort of thing. They had to do bacterial tests on the day to make sure we won't going to catch any weird diseases. In this pool with divers swimming around us we'd film for about 30 seconds - as long as we could hold our breaths. And I remember having extremely bloodshot eyes at the end of the day from the heavy-chlorinated pool.

Stef: Yeah, we were all weighted down. We had about ten feet to swim up for air. If we didn't get the air from divers with oxygen tubes, we'd panic, because you had to swim up weight on your back.

Brian: They'd feed us air between takes. It was hard to communicate with Chris, the director, underwater. This bit here, it wasn't 36 degrees that day, it was completely freezing. They had a bath of hot water in the dressing room, which I jumped in and out of so as not to catch a cold.

Stef: And this guy was freezing his nuts off.



Brian: That's Nick, who I went to college with.

I remember getting lockjaw during this video shoot. There was tension in my jaw from biting on the air the nozzle thing that they give you to keep you alive under there. There was so much tension, being underwater, that my jaw locked. I got pissed off with the cameramen for taking the piss out of me. That's Nick, who I went to college with.I remember getting lockjaw during this video shoot. There was tension in my jaw from biting on the air the nozzle thing that they give you to keep you alive under there. There was so much tension, being underwater, that my jaw locked. I got pissed off with the cameramen for taking the piss out of me.

Stef: Those hired instruments were never used after this performance.



Brian: After this we swore we'd never make another video underwater. We actually did, a couple of years later.



After this we swore we'd never make another video underwater. We actually did, a couple of years later.

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Teenage Angst

Stef: It was sunny, it was a summer day.

Brian: I had tonsillitis.

Stef: It’s got a very suggestive entrance.



Brian: This video was directed by Trevor Robinson, who responsible for the Tango adverts, where the fat orange man slaps people across the faces. I think is the only video he made. Maybe because the experience of working with us must be so traumatic, he’s never made one again. This video was directed by Trevor Robinson, who responsible for the Tango adverts, where the fat orange man slaps people across the faces. I think is the only video he made. Maybe because the experience of working with us must be so traumatic, he’s never made one again.

Stef: It was very very hot. It was like a box, so no air conditioning.

Brain: As you can see, this is before we start work with professional stylists.



Stef: There was a big deal about this guy. His parents had to give permission for us to shave his head. There was a big deal about this guy. His parents had to give permission for us to shave his head.



Brian: There was a hoo-ha about the scissors. Because that’s a video police regulation – you can have closed scissors but not open scissors, so the director was nervous, but you can have clippers, obviously. There was a hoo-ha about the scissors. Because that’s a video police regulation – you can have closed scissors but not open scissors, so the director was nervous, but you can have clippers, obviously.

Stef: It’s obviously not shot inside that box.





Brian: That was what we call a tongue piercing. Have you had much experience with tongue piercings? That was what we call a tongue piercing. Have you had much experience with tongue piercings?





Stef: I don’t like them. I don’t like metal against teeth. I don’t like them. I don’t like metal against teeth.

Brian: I find it quite nice, really. Hot and cold, you know? Kind of fleshy and metal.

Stef: Don’t like that either.

Brian: It’s quite nice.

What the hell are we wearing?



Stef: Red.

We’re trying to break that latex. Red.We’re trying to break that latex.



Brian: Put that away. Put that away.

Stef: It was very durable.

Brian & Steve: This kid is angry.



Brian: Yeah, those kids are really angry. Yeah, those kids are really angry.

Stef: Did that hurt?



Brian: No!



No! Steve: He felt nowt.





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Nancy Boy

Brian: This is the first time we worked with Howard Greenhalgh, who we’ve made several videos with since. He’s kind of become Placebo’s resident video director. There’s a few interesting stories about this. I remember Steve was still under contract to another record company. And we couldn’t show his face in the video, so we had to blur his face.

Stef: Cum shot!



Brian: There we go! There we go!

Stef: Right there!

Brian: I’m amazed we got away with that. The video police objected to that frame which shows a plastic ass, but they didn’t object to the cum shot, which is interesting. We were so impressed with this video, and we continued to work with Howard and built up an understanding and a good relationship with him. These days we just show up and he films us. We leave it in his hands, because we trust him so much. We wanted to work with him, because he directed an amazing video for Soundgarden’s called ‘Black Hole Sun’. That really impressed us, more than his videos for Sting and The Pet Shop Boys.

Steve: It’s probably his most masochistic video.

Brian: Yeah, it’s quite S&M.

Stef: It’s quite Dali.



Brian: Yeah, it’s surrealist. Howard manages to be extremely subversive and very sexual, but puts it in a context, a polished sheen, so he manages to get away with it somehow. That’s what’s really interesting about him. Yeah, it’s surrealist. Howard manages to be extremely subversive and very sexual, but puts it in a context, a polished sheen, so he manages to get away with it somehow. That’s what’s really interesting about him.

Stef: It’s filmed in an empty swimming pool and continues the theme of Placebo and water. It’s not the only video we filmed in a swimming pool. There’s another couple coming up.

Brian: This took about a day to film, if I can recollect correctly. Thanks to huge amounts of radio play and this video we managed to go to number four in the UK charts with our third single, which was nice.

Brian: Great ass.



Stef: Nice ass. Nice ass. Was the guy with the spikes in Hoggboy?



Brian: No, he was in ‘real tv’.



No, he was in ‘real tv’.

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Bruise Pristine

Brian: This is the second video we filmed with Howard Greenhalgh. I’m wearing a polyethylene suit. And Stefan’s wearing a shirt which Noel Gallagher also owned at the time.



Stef: I look better in it though.

They had air bubbles with people inside. I look better in it though.They had air bubbles with people inside.



Brian: Those big air bubbles are what they keep cars in, before they put them into showrooms. Lots of gratuitous panty shots. Those big air bubbles are what they keep cars in, before they put them into showrooms. Lots of gratuitous panty shots.



One thing I remember from this video is that Howard, being quite sick, decided to bring a cow to the video shoot. And this poor cow - there it is! One thing I remember from this video is that Howard, being quite sick, decided to bring a cow to the video shoot. And this poor cow - there it is!



It was sliding around on the floor and kept falling over. All the vegetarians on the video shoot were very upset, but we carnivores thought it was quite funny.

Stef: Someone from Animal Rights was ensuring we didn’t mistreat the cow. Which we didn’t. That’s a shot Howard’s used before, in a Pet Shop Boys video.

Brian: As you can see, there’s a continuous theme in Howard’s video of milk dropping off skin.



Which is meant to represent something, I can’t imagine what.

Howard always casts very beautiful people, which makes the whole boring process of making a video a bit more bearable.

Steve: It was the second video with Howard, and we were still finding out the way his head works. He puts it together as he goes along. You can get a bit confused. But since we got to know him more, we understand how his head works so it’s easier to understand on the day. But I remember thinking “Where’s this guy going with this?”.

Stef: A lot of ideas.

Brian: All the smeared lipstick was personally done by the band, on the models.



And it looks like somebody just farted. And it looks like somebody just farted.





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Pure Morning

Steve: This was probably the quickest video shoot.

Brian: It was really easy for you, guys.

Steve: For us, yeah. We were there for about an hour and a half, standing around.

Brian: This video was done over two days, directed by Nick Gordon. We wanted to work with him because he did a video for Roni Size for ‘Brown Paper Bag’, which we thought was really incredible. We were sifting through treatments and couldn’t find a video we liked. It just came to me one day, so I called up Steve and Stef and said ‘Hey guys, I want to throw myself off the top of a building, what do you think?’. And they said ‘Cool’. So the first day was the location shot, done with a stuntman. It was interesting to see somebody dressed like me with a Molko wig on, on the top of this building.



I didn’t have to do anything that day so I proceeded to get drunk. I remember it was the European Cup Championship, the last game, and France won on that day. The second day of the studio shoot, I had a huge hangover. I’m looking quite depressed and it’s not acting, it’s just a hangover. I didn’t have to do anything that day so I proceeded to get drunk. I remember it was the European Cup Championship, the last game, and France won on that day. The second day of the studio shoot, I had a huge hangover. I’m looking quite depressed and it’s not acting, it’s just a hangover.



Those are the cover stars from our singles campaign – Ben and Jo. Those are my parents. Those are the cover stars from our singles campaign – Ben and Jo. Those are my parents.



Steve: We did a good job of making it look like The States, considering it was next to Savoy Hotel in London. We did a good job of making it look like The States, considering it was next to Savoy Hotel in London.

Brian: Video was inspired by a Grace Kelly black-and-white film ‘Fourteen Hours’ about guy stands on the ledge of a building in New York for 14 hours. The police, his parents and his wife come and try to talk him down. You never really know why he’s there. It’s a very good film, check it out. We based the story on that.

I had to spend about 6 hours jumping off a small ledge onto a mat.

The casting was excellent, it’s good acting from everybody involved. I’m very proud of this video, I think it’s one of one of our best. It was nominated for a Brit Awards for Best Video, but we lost to Robbie Williams.

Steve: Hello, JC.



Brian: This is my Jesus moment.

The song was written by accident. We went into the studio not really having written it. And our producer heard our demo and this weird sound, and suggested we loop it up. We built a song from scratch in the studio. It was the first time we worked that way. So that was quite liberating as an experience. That began our relationship with the crazy but beautiful Phil Vinall. After this video came out there were many videos where people threw themselves off buildings. And people still do – there was a Lamb video we saw, where Andy throws himself off a building. Evanescence was falling off building. Even Embrace did it. That was a bit close to home, as they’re on the same label as us.



This is my Jesus moment.The song was written by accident. We went into the studio not really having written it. And our producer heard our demo and this weird sound, and suggested we loop it up. We built a song from scratch in the studio. It was the first time we worked that way. So that was quite liberating as an experience. That began our relationship with the crazy but beautiful Phil Vinall. After this video came out there were many videos where people threw themselves off buildings. And people still do – there was a Lamb video we saw, where Andy throws himself off a building. Evanescence was falling off building. Even Embrace did it. That was a bit close to home, as they’re on the same label as us.

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You Don’t Care About Us

Stef: Back in the water, again.

Steve: Filmed in London Aquarium.

Brian: The first video where we broke our promise never to work underwater again. It’s filmed at the London Aquarium in the tropical fish tanks…

Stef: …at night between midnight and opening hours the next day.

Steve: By John Hillcoat, who did Nick Cave and Bad Seeds.

Brian: And Therapy. We wanted to work with him because of his work with Einsturzende Nuebauten and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. The water was incredibly cold. It was 16 degrees. But what’s was nice, even though you see sharks swimming around. They were in the tank next door and put in during postproduction. We’re actually in there with manta rays, which are really friendly. So you’re swimming and the manta rays come and say ‘hello’. They rob themselves up against you. They’re really sweet creatures.



Steve: Kind of scary though… Kind of scary though…

Brian: There’s a ‘Delicatessen’ feel to this.

Steve: In their domain.



Stef: And the evil little kids.



And the evil little kids.

Brian: The story is, for some reason, the three of us have been drugged and imprisoned, and we’re going to be used as shark food, while a bunch of schoolchildren look on. Perhaps it’s a futuristic society where subversive rock’n’roll is outlawed and musicians are fed to sharks for the entertainment of children. It’s a form of social control.



Steve: Don’t start a rock band, kids.



Brian: Now this is when I get extremely cold.



You have no idea how expensive those clothes were. They were ruined.

Stef: Excellent face.



Steve: This is where I join in Brian’s and Stef’s the experience of being weighted down. Divers would give you air because you can’t get to the surface.

How long did we spend in the water?

Brian: A good seven hours.

Stef: A long night.

Brian: The only problem is we don’t get eaten by the sharks, which is a bit of a cop-out. But unfortunately, due to the video police regulations we couldn’t be eaten or it wouldn’t have got on TV. It’s never explained why the sharks don’t eat us. It would have been much more logical for it to end in a bloodbath. But unfortunately we just had jellyfish and piranhas eating other fish to represent the carnivorous activity that’s taken place.

Steve: We disappoint those school kids in the end.

Brian: I remember we had to watch our language with all those children around.

Steve: And their mothers.



Brian: And after that we swore we’d never work underwater again.





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Every You Every Me

Brian: This was filmed at Brixton Academy. It was first time we used live footage. This song was the theme tune to a film ‘Cruel Intentions’, which was ‘Les Liaisons Dangereuses’ transported to Upper West Side of New York. It’s a teen film. There’s another version where they intercut it with parts from the film. Even though I’m wearing a rather fetching John Richmond dress, which cost a lot of money, I still look silly. It’s one of my many fashion crimes I was guilty of early in our career.



This video’s also a bit of a cop-out, because we made a video, which didn’t involve performance. It was about twins and never got released. It was banned by management. So we had to pull this one together from footage that we’d filmed at Brixton Academy.



Stef: Good crowd.



Brian: Bad dress. No, good dress. I just shouldn’t have worn that dress. It’s quite representative of what a Placebo live show is like. It also gives you an idea of what our fans look like. One too many tiaras in the audience for my liking. I was quite shocked when I saw this. I didn’t realise we were so static on stage. And I think that pushed us to move around a lot more and be more energetic. We were just getting our confidence, then with the live medium. Also it’s not very easy to move around in a dress like that.



Steve: Brixton’s good. We filmed a show there, so the kids have even more incentive to go crazy for us.



Stef: It’s a great place to play.



Brian: Some girl-on-girl action there, which is always very good.



You can’t go wrong with that. I’m surprised it slipped through the censors.



Steve: It did well for us in the US because of the ‘Cruel Intentions’ connection. I remember being in America and seeing the film ‘Cruel Intentions’. And we decided that if she died at the end, they could have the song. If they copped out, we wouldn’t.



Brian: If there was a happy ending, they weren’t going to get it.



Stef: That version was remixed by Phil Vinall for the single. It’s a bit of a different sounding one.





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Without You I’m Nothing

Brian: This was filmed at Irving Plaza in New York City. And it’s a very special night. Because we were joined by the ‘thin white duke’ himself, Mr David Bowie, for this rendition of ‘Without You I’m Nothing’, released as a limited edition single.



Stef: They’ll never manage to make a proper video for it.



Steve: This is the only time it’s played live.



Brian: With David Bowie.



Steve: The day before we’d been into the studio as well. He’d laid down the vocals.



Brian: It was an interesting situation to be in really. It’s interesting to be asked quite a big honor. A phone call from David Bowie is kind of surreal enough. And then he goes ‘Brian, I really like your song ‘Without You I’m Nothing’. I’ve written a harmony. Do you mind if I sing it?’. And I said ‘No, David. Not at all’. You don’t turn that kind of opportunity down. In the studio I have this moment of panic just before David opens his mouth. You look to each other and go ‘What if it’s shit?’. Then David opens his mouth and, of course, it’s not shit. And the rest is history, really.

This was when we’d done a lot of touring with David, on the Outside tour and the Earthling tour. We’d gotten very close and I have extremely fond memories of those days.



Stef: This day or before or after we recorded it with Tony Visconti at Chung King Studios in New York. We were floating on clouds that weekend.



Steve: This footage with Bowie and us is the only one of its kind so it’s quite rare.



Brian: You can tell by the shaky camera work it was filmed by our manager. From the sound desk. Don’t give up the day job, love.





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Taste in Men

Brian: The reason I like this video is I think my hair looks extremely good in it. This was 22-hour video shoot, where I’m involved in a bizarre love triangle with a rowing couple.

Stef: It was filmed in a registry office in central London.



Brian: It’s the rock’n’roll registry office, where music industry people get married.



Stef: The room we were in was where John and Yoko got hitched. And where me and Steve spent 22 hours. 21 hours of the whole 22-hour shoot doing nothing. And spent half an hour filming.



Steve: Smoking far too many cigarettes, hanging about.



Brian: This was the first video where I had control over the casting.



Steve: We got the director, Barbara, who directed an MTV advert where she used ‘Nancy Boy’ as the music. We thought that she’d done it specially and decided to employ her to do ‘Taste in Men’.



Steve: She was American from…



Brian: From New York.

This was during my anorexic period. You can tell by my chiseled jaw.



Stef: It was during the mixing of ‘Black Market Music’. We mixed a set of tracks from the studio for approval, while we were at the shoot.

That always works, smashing the glass.



Brian: My relationship with these two actors never went any further than the professional.



And now we see what I look like when people wake me in the morning.



Stef: Give me five cups of coffee. Give me five cups of coffee.



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Slave to the Wage

Brian: This video was inspired by two things. The content was inspired by the only summer job I ever had, which was working in a bank, shredding documents. We try used that as a metaphor for the drudgery of having a nine-to-five in the modern world. And the second, aesthetically it was by a film ‘Gattaca’ starring Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman. It was the film where they met and first fell in love.

Another video with Howard Greenhalgh, who did ‘Nancy Boy’ and ‘Bruise Pristine’.



Stef: It’s filmed at the University of East London, on a sunny day.



Steve: Kind of a weird building. Modernist architecture and stuff like that.



Brian: I remember there was an airstrip at the halls of residence. Very weird. How do they expect the student to get any sleep whatsoever?



Steve: There was quite a lot of extras on this one.



Brian: There’s another Howard Greenhalgh gratuitous panty shot coming up, which managed to slip by censors.



There seems to be a gratuitous panty shot in every video.



Stef: A bit of postproduction on this one.



Brian: It’s amazing car, it’s from an eastern bloc country, before the Wall came down. A Czechoslovakian or Bulgarian car which they used to drive the politicians around it. It’s amazing car, it’s from an eastern bloc country, before the Wall came down. A Czechoslovakian or Bulgarian car which they used to drive the politicians around it.



Steve: There’s a cool shot where you have wings and you stand in front of the bus. There’s a cool shot where you have wings and you stand in front of the bus.



Brian: Closest I’ll ever been to an angel. Closest I’ll ever been to an angel.

Stef: You grew those after ‘Pure Morning’.



Brian: And naturally the clothes have to come off.



Steve: It’s probably Howard’s most postproduction-heavy video so far, apart from ‘Nancy Boy’. It’s probably Howard’s most postproduction-heavy video so far, apart from ‘Nancy Boy’.

Brian: It’s a good time to mention that Howard used to be an Olympic gymnast.



Stef: That’s true.





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Special K

Brian: That pod is the media centre in Lord’s Cricket Ground in St John’s Wood. This is one of my favorites videos. It’s based on a 60’s movie ‘Fantastic Voyage’. Raquel Welch and a few other people get shrunk and injected into the president’s body and try to save his life. In this video I play Raquel Welch. Unfortunately, the budget didn’t stretch to fake breasts.



Stef: Steve’s had one too many hard nights.



Steve: I was lying down the whole shoot being nursed.



Brian: I don’t remember you complaining for once.



Steve: I was fine, asleep with lovely ladies around me. It was one of the best locations. You get a lift up to this place. One little lift up to the top. It’s like getting into a spaceship itself.



Steve: Doctor Stef.



Stef: Going in



Brian: I had a great time pretending to be in a spaceship. It’s like being a kid again. I had a great time pretending to be in a spaceship. It’s like being a kid again.

Stef: I was looking out over the cricket field, trying imaging these images of…



Brian: What a shot!



Steve: Yeah, baby. Yeah, baby.

Stef: That’s Howard’s sense of humour. Kind of sticks out that scene. How funny.



Brian: I’m ejected from the spaceship. And I think the white blood cells are just starting to attack me here.



That’s Steve trying to get some attention.



Stef: I’ve been spiked. I’ve been spiked. It’s contagious.



Brian: Just in case you’re wondering, Stef is actually a robot.



Fantastic video, one of my favourites along with ‘Pure Morning’. Splendidly executed and really out there.

Mini-me.



Howard’s quite a sadistic bastard. For that shoot he had me in a tank of freezing water.





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Black-Eyed

Stef: This was filmed at the Hurricane Festival in Germany.



Brian: Yeah, you just saw Tim Wheeler from Ash there.



He does a very small cameo in this video. This song was the theme song to a film called ‘Engel & Joe’. It’s a german film about young punks living on the street. The video was directed by German film-maker Vanessa Joop, who also directed ‘Engel & Joe’. It was filmed at a festival in Germany with the two actors – Jana Pallaske and Robert Stadlober, who have become big stars in Germany.



It was fun. We got other bands involved in the background. It was fun. We got other bands involved in the background.

Steve: It was a great day. The actors were fantastic. It was done over two gigs. We put the same clothes on the next day so they could get more footage.



Brian: I thoroughly recommend you see this movie – ‘Engel & Joe’ by Vanessa Joop.



Steve: Stef looking like Tracy Pugh.



Brian: It’s pretty representative of what a Placebo festival show looks like on the continent.

It was around this time my love affair with white clothing began.



Ah, gratuitous penis shot there, which also slipped by the censors.



Stef: We had medical lights on stage to tie in with ‘Special K’. We had lots of medical lights in the ‘Special K’ video.



Brian: At this point I’m still doing my own hair, which you can probably tell.



Steve: A different situation to do a video in – trying to coordinate around a live festival of 50 000 people to get footage together was quite a feat in itself, but I think we did well for the first time we’d recorded at the festival. It was difficult.



Brian: It was cool, we got drunk with the actors afterwards. I remember we got into a fight with Ash that day.



Stef: A play fight.

We were talking about wisdom teeth.



Steve: Our friend Morgan’s dancing at the end.





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The Bitter End

Steve: Hello, space boy.



Brian: Back with Howard Greenhalgh again.



Steve: This was filmed on Jodrell Bank radar.



Brian: Cockney rhyming slang for?



Stef: Dish.



Steve: This is close to where I was brought up, round the corner. I used to hang out near this huge dish when I was a kid. And I never thought I’d be with the band, playing on top of it. It’s kind of a huge thing to achieve.



Brian: I hate to break the mystery, but the band isn’t playing on the satellite dish itself. Thanks to technology we did it in the studio. This video was filmed in January. So it would have been too cold for us to be comfortable up there.



Stef: Basically Howard came to us and said: ‘I’ve got an idea for a location’. And it was Jodrell Bank. We wanted to do a performance video again as well after doing quite a lot of filmic-style videos.



Brian: I think he wanted to keep it quite simple - one idea that is visually arresting and would show the band in the best light possible.



Steve: Howard tries to retain a modernist attitude towards most videos and tries to keep it futuristic, which I think you get from this.



Brian: There’s a very good ‘Because I worth it’ moment here.



Steve: Howard using heat-seeking cameras on night-time shots.



It was interesting, first time we’d seen that. It feels gorgeous. There is a great energy on ‘The Bitter End’. It just builds and builds. It does the song justice.



Brian: This video became a big favourite on MTV2 and across Europe. The great thing about Howard is that we just show up and go: ‘Do what you want’, because we trust him. It’s really easy.



Steve: It’s helps you relax and be yourself.



Brian: By this point we’d known each other five years and done four videos together. So it gets easier every time we work with Howard Greenhalgh.





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This Picture

Brian: Well, this video is quite self-explanatory, really. The song is about self-destruction and destructive relationships.



Another video by Howard Greenhalgh.



Steve: Again, another video set in…



Brian: A future place.



Steve: This is in South Africa, I think. Some huge exhibition hall. It’s not that modern, it’s sort of 70’s. But Howard sort of doctored the pictures to make it look more modern and placed us in between after we did all the blue screen stuff.



Brian: The idea was that somebody has lost their identity, through either being in a self-destructive relationship or being outside of it, because their identity is so involved in the relationship itself.



Stef: There was a lot of fashion going on. We were in designer gear for this one.



Brian: Christian Dior.



Stef: And then you’ve got Mancuso.



Brian: Which is a label which Howard invented.

It’s kind of a video about model trying to find her face again. It could also be your worst ex-girlfriend nightmare at a gig. Just imagine, you’re playing a show and the audience is full of people you shagged. It could be quite difficult.



Stef: It’s filmed during the first British tour of ‘Sleeping with Ghosts’ between two shows.



Brian: And my little machine which reveals the faces. It’s a beautiful… Asia Argento.





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Special Needs

Brian: This video was filmed in a disused swimming pool in Hackney, in a place called ‘Bushy Campus’, which amuses us no end.



We try to use colour scheme on the cover of album ‘Sleeping with Ghosts’. There’s a religious quality, a church-like quality to this video. It took about 6 hours to film, which was good. We did it on a Sunday, due to time constraints.



Stef: That light made us look a lot less hung over than we were. I felt pretty bad that day. The lights were floating above us. They were in a sort of helium balloon. I’d never seen anything like it before, this quite soft sheen.



Brian: This video is directed by Paul Gore, who looks like Dave Grohl’s younger brother.



Steve: Probably our most relaxed video shoot.



Brian: The idea behind it is kind of the idea of people making love to a memory. Two people making love whilst not being in the same room. Making love to a memory is something you do quite a bit by yourself after you break up with someone. So we wanted to illustrate that. It involved getting people in there dressed completely in blue and taking them out afterwards at the editing suite.



Brian: We actually used compressed air on the skin to give the impression of finger marks.



Stef: We tried to get similar colours to the album cover, turquoise blue, which Paul managed to get very well.



Brian: It’s a very Placebo colour.

This is my favourite bit.



We cast that girl on the quality of her writhing.



Stef: I’m going to thank Donald for this video, because I think he made us look very good in this one. He’s our hair and make-up artiste.





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English Summer Rain

Brian: This was the first time we ever used animation. In fact this video was sent to us by a fan from South Africa, so it proves that initiative and persistence pays off. We find it amusing to look at ourselves as puppets. He was at college when he did this and he’d spend all his time not doing homework and doing this animation instead. Doing something useful. It’s kind of funny. It features Jesus on drums.



Stef: He’s a sticker for detail.



Brian: I’m not sure, but it looks like it’s Sunday afternoon, after a very hard night out.



Stef: The singer from ‘Korn’.



Steve: ‘Jesus Korn’



Brian: There’s a bit of a Rastafarian thing going on as well.



Steve: Fantastic job. The movements of the puppets and everything.



Brian: I don’t know if it’s Johannesburg, it’s the South African sky.



Stef: This version’s the remix from the album by Dimitri Tikovoi. It features extra vocals on the end.



Steve: He’s got it all down, the right drums, the right cymbals. He’s even left-handed, amazing!



Stef: It must have taken him ages.



Brian: Gregoire Pinard his name is. I’m playing guitar in this one, but there’s no guitar in this song. But he wasn’t to know that, was he?



Stef: It’s a Fender 6.



Brian: It makes us giggle. It’s interesting to see ourselves in puppet form.

So if any fans want to make films based on our songs, feel free to send them to us, you never know.



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Protège Moi

Brian: This is Placebo live in Paris playing at the Bercy theatre in front of 17 000 to 18 000 people. This is an excerpt from the DVD ‘Soulmates Never Die’. The reason this is on there is that we can’t actually show you the official video for ‘Protège Moi’ by film-maker Gaspard Noé. We can’t show it to you because it’s X-rated. Not in the way that ‘This Picture’ was X-rated, it’s basically a porn film. And we love it. But unfortunately if we were to put it on this DVD compilation the only place you could buy it would be a sex shop. So for now you’ll have to make do with this and find ‘Protège Moi’ on the internet. There’s a few sites where you can find it, but we sure you’re over 18. We wouldn’t want to encourage any underage pornography viewing.



Stef: There are subliminal naked shots.



Brian: That also got past the censors. I’m quite surprised.



Steve: I think much to the joy of the director.



Brian: He managed to get the naked flesh in there. They got a couple from Paris, boyfriend and girlfriend, and filmed them simulating coitus in a room in the building. The security guards kept looking, quite surprised at what happens during a Placebo sound check. Of course, we weren’t there, we were busy working. Quel dommage!



Stef: I don’t actually remember playing this. I wished the whole show was over since I walked on stage. It was a really intense day.



Brian: That happens when you put a camera in front of a band. You start concentrating on not making mistakes, so the more mistakes you make. Your best gigs are always when nobody records them for posterity, when you are most relaxed.



Stef: You break strings when you are playing singles, which happened on ‘The Bitter End’. On ‘Special K’ I broke strings.



Brian: I don’t think anybody’s interested.



Stef: Why are you saying this?



Steve: The blues harp.



Brian: The blues harp is from my misspent youth in Luxemburg playing harmonica in a blues bar.

Gratuitous full-frontal nudity shot there. It’s a bit ‘Fight Club’.

This was only a single in France.



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