//// CLOUDBUSTING ANNOTATED LYRICS PART II (THE VIDEO) ////

[rhill@netrun.cts.com (ronald hill)]

BOOK

      _A_Book_of_Dreams_ was _re-issued_ as a Dutton-Obelisk oversize 
paperback book in the United States in 1989. The domestic retail price 
is $7.95.  And get this: _Kate_is_on_the_cover!_  Unfortunately, as of 
1992, this book appears to again be out of print in the USA.
     It's highly cool! The cover design features a photo by John Carder 
Bush (one of the shots he took at the end of one of the shooting-days, 
with Kate's figure at the cloudbuster, in silhouette against an orange 
sky). The design is credited to some other woman, and there is no I.D. 
of the photo itself, nor of its photographer. 
      Also, there is a mention of Kate on the back-cover blurb:
she is listed among several pop-culture figures who have acknowledged 
the book's inspiring influence upon them. She is _not_ identified in 
the photo, nor is John Carder Bush credited for his photograph. The 
brief new preface by Peter Reich is a wonderfully concise explanation 
of his reasons for remaining vague about his "stand" on WR's theories-- 
words which also serve as justification for Kate's own evasiveness.



CLOUDBUSTING VIDEO QUOTES


        KATE: "Cloudbusting" was really exciting to make.  I really 
wanted it to be like a short film.  The song was inspired by the book A 
Book of Dreams by Peter Reich, which was such a strong, magical story 
that the plot was there and the most difficult areas were trying to do 
the story and the characters justice, and deciding how to "distill" all 
the information.
        I worked with Julian Doyle as director.  He was suggested to me 
by Terry Gilliam.  Terry is one of my favourite film-makers, and I was 
so honoured that he got involved; and we worked very hard for about 
five-six weeks.  It seemed to make sense to treat it like a film and 
cast actors, and I had this initial crazy idea of using a very tall 
actor who would play the father, and myself to appear as the small boy. 
 It continually astounds me that I have the nerve to publicly announce 
these crazes, and I'm even more surprised when they work.  It seems to 
be connected to a kind of faith?
        The first move was to check that I'd be able to look boy-like 
or tom-boyish, so we pulled "The Team" together.  This consists of Tina 
Earnshaw on make-up - she set about with foundation and stick-on 
freckles; Anthony Yacomine, who designed and cut a short wig which my 
hair was bundled up inside of; and Pamela Keats, who had brought a 
variety of dungarees, cardigans and wellies [rubber rainboots] that 
completed the character; and Del gave options.  I looked a bit like 
Coco the clown, and someone mentioned Harpo, but we all felt with fine 
adjustments we could get away with it, especially when we took a 
polaroid with Anthony standing on the chair to look tall next to me.
        We were all trying to think of a tall actor who would be 
perfect for the part, and who else, really?  We thought Donald 
Sutherland would be superb, and it's still hard to believe that he 
actually said "Yes."
        "Cloudbusting" is one of the few videos we've made that has the 
right visual content within the subject matter.  It is a story, and 
could easily be treated as such.
        One of the things that needed a lot of work was the Cloudbuster 
machine.  It came out of our heads, based on vague information from the 
book.  It had to look larger than life - elegant, strange, aimed at the 
sky.  And when I went to see it in its early stages I really wondered: 
four cardboard tubes on wheels - eek!! But by the last stages it looked 
great, and on screen it looked superb.
        Another thing that needed a lot of work was the weather.  We 
needed so much luck to complete the shoot.  We had only three days, and 
we demanded the weather to change for different scenes; and somehow - 
we still don't know how - it did; even to the moment when it began to 
rain just as the light and the film in the camera was running out.   
(1986, KBC 19)

        You mentioned earlier that one of your favorite movies was 
Don't Look Now, which stars Donald Sutherland.  Is that the reason you 
picked him for your new video?
        KATE: I don't know if it's the reason.  I mean Don't Look Now 
is a totally brilliant film and everyone in it was wonderful.  but, 
this was a very different piece.  And it was quite coincidental, I 
suppose, that we thought of Donald.  And I think at that time the only 
references to Don't Look Now that there couldn't have been anyone 
better and we were so lucky because he was our first choice.  And 
through a friend we managed to find a way of contacting him.  And um, 
it was quite incredible really to think that he did it.  I still find 
it hard to believe.
        He's been quite a fan of your for years, hasn't he?
        Um.  well, if he was, I certainly didn't know that.  I don't, I 
don't think so.   (1985, Profile 6)
        
        And in the video, was it easy for you to portray a child?
        KATE: I think it's something I'd obviously worried about.  When 
you're not a child there are lots of things that could be a problem.  
Like I could look old and not young.  And we were also [coughs] - 
excuse me - trying to take away the feminine edge so that in a way I 
could be a tomboy rather than a little girl.  Trying to keep the thing 
as innocent as possible.  And I think rather than being that worried 
about playing a child, I was just worried about the whole process of 
acting, because it's something I've not really done, in a true sense.  
I've preformed in lots of ways, but not really acted.  And it was 
something that I was wary of and I was actually surprised at how much I 
enjoyed it.   (1985, MTV)
        
        Who directed the video and where was it shot?  I think the 
setting of its really beautiful.
        It is a beautiful place.  It's the Veil of The White Horse, in 
England.  And the director was Julien Doyle.
        And tell us more about Julien Doyle.  
        I'm a big fan of Terry Gilliam, I don't know if you know him, 
suburb director.  And I was interested in working with him and he put 
me in touch will Julien, who works with Terry on his movies.  He's a 
cameraman and this was really his first role as director.  Terry was 
involved with the storyboard as well, and this is how I met Julien.  
        We spent a lot of time on this video and what was nice was the 
way that everyone became so concerned with the story and also concerned 
with giving justice to it.  You know everyone wanted it to be something 
special.  
        Why is it set in the fifties?
        It's because A Book Of Dreams, that it's based on, was actually 
at that time, in the fifties, that his father was taken from him.  He 
was about twelve.
        And that's really it, you just took the exact time from the 
book?
        Yes, I think also it made it more interesting.  It's not 
totally accurate to the fifties and I think that in itself is 
important.  We wanted to create a sense of - no certain time.  I think 
it's more interesting in way when it could be any time.  But also by 
not making it contemporary time you get a big sense of nostalgia, of 
something that has happened in the past.  So I think visually it was a 
very good combination.
        How did you make that machine?
        Well the book very little details of what the actual machine 
looked like.  But from what I could gather the reality of the machine 
wouldn't look right.  On screen it's got to be exaggerated.  So it was 
trying to design something that would look powerful and possible of 
doing it but that wouldn't be comical, because we didn't people to 
laugh at it, we wanted people to be astounded by the machine.  So it 
was really designing something that was a cross between an Ack-Ack gun 
and a pipe organ.  I just felt that it had to have these huge funnels 
that would reach to the sky and could be moved around.  And the whole 
thing should be rotatable.  And so we worked with some designers that 
worked on the Alien and I think it looked pretty good.
        It looks great.  Is this the first video where you're not 
dancing?
        No, but it's quite a departure.  I have done a couple of others 
that again we were trying to treat like piece of film, but we were 
using lip sync or something like that.  And we were working on video as 
well, which makes it quite different.   (1985, MTV)

*       You see the book in the video if you're clever. 
        KATE: Yes!  Don't blink or you'll miss it.  [Both laugh]   
(1985, The Old Grey Whistle Test)

        The machine that features in the video - what's become of that 
now?
        KATE: Well, it's at the moment resting in a garage not far from 
here.  [LAUGHS]   (1985, Picture Disk)



NOTES ON CLOUDBUSTING VIDEO

        So people question whether or not Peter does sees Wilhelm 
pointing at the hill from within the car.  I think so, as he begins 
gesturing even as Peter runs into the road not 5 feet after the car 
passes, and continues as it disappears around the bend.
        In one time-lapse scene you can see a rapid jet contrail.  A 
partial excuse for this can be found on page 20 of the Obelisk edition 
"Book of Dreams".  Peter describes how the Air Force would fly overhead 
to indicate where there were high concentrations of DOR to be found, 
and that DOR caused their exhaust streams to dissipate rapidly.  
However, the long, wide, straight cloud farther to the right looks like 
a second, older contrail and it dissipates only slightly.  Perhaps the 
cloudbuster has already been applied there.
        In a rare lapse of continuity, we see the sun overhead in the 
path of the cloudbuster.  Both before and after, we see the sun near 
the horizon.
        Note that Kate is actually wearing women's clothing throughout 
the video; the shirts and sweaters all button on the left side.
        Reich's office contains an unusual assortment of paraphenalia 
for a psychoanalyst, but consistent with his interest in 
pseudo-biochemistry.  The glassware is typical for a chemist, but he 
also has two microscopes and a small centrifuge on the bench.  The 
walls sport anatomical diagrams, and he is growing at least one 
vine-like plant in a long glass column (but not hydroponically...it 
grows in dirt).
        There are two old (non-glowing) yo-yo's in the in tray on his 
desk.
        Reich picks up a paper from the lower right of his desk, 
studies it, then crumples and discards it.  There are only three words 
on it, barely visible; viewed with a mirror I think they say "My Final 
Paper". 
        Although the car leaving the farmhouse is clearly 
right-hand-drive, later we see that it sports a license plate the 
correct size and shape for an American one.
        IED would only add that although Sutherland looks absolutely 
nothing like the real Wilhelm Reich, he _does_ (perhaps 
co-incidentally, it's true) rather resemble Kate's own father--at any 
rate, when IED made Dr. Bush's acquaintance, his hair and mustache 
(though certainly not his height or body type) seemed quite like 
Sutherland's in the video. 
        Apparently also there was a problem with obtaining a work visa 
on such short notice, so Sutherland agreed to do the work on 
_Cloudbusting_ for free. 

        The newspaper is "Oregon Times", which is apparently a blooper 
as the events in the book take place in Portland, Maine NOT Portland, 
Oregon.   Aparently they either confused the states or perhaps used 
"Oregon" since it is simular to "Orgonon".
        The first paragraph of the paper actually contains words that 
relate to the story, the rest of the words do not.  The words can 
barely be made out if you have the lazer-disk version.



s

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rhill@netrun.cts.com (ronald hill)
NetRunner's Paradise BBS, San Diego CA