NASHVILLE |FROM: MITCH SCHNEIDER/MARCEE RONDAN/LATHUM NELSON
ALTERNATE VIDEO FOR ALANIS MORISSETTE’S “PRECIOUS ILLUSIONS” IS CREATED, THE OUTGROWTH OF A NEW YORK TIMES PHOTO LAYOUT AND ONLINE MORPHING VIDEO
It started out as a five-page layout in the New York Times Sunday Magazine and was immediately seen as an online morphing video on the paper’s website. Taking it one step further, Los Angeles photographer/illustrator Michael Elins teamed with the creative minds at Maverick to utilize photos of ALANIS MORISSETTE–as well as symbolic digital enhancements–to create a startling alternate video for her current single “Precious Illusions,” from her critically acclaimed three-million worldwide seller UNDER RUG SWEPT.
This pioneering and synergistic print, Internet and video project–which underlines the song’s themes of innocence lost and self-discovery–features photo illustrations of ALANIS rendered in Michael Elins’ signature style, a blend of photography and classical painting. Initially seen in the May 12 issue of the New York Times Sunday Magazine, Elins’ five photos portray ALANIS as Duchamp’s Mona Lisa, a surrealistic Frida Kahlo and a futuristic angel. Two more images show ALANISas a motorcycle-riding damsel and a winking prankster.
Elins–whose pictures have appeared in Newsweek, People, US, Vanity Fair and a host of other publications–discovered a way of animating his photos on the Internet using Adobe Photoshop (for photo illustrations), Adobe LiveMotion (for web animation) and Adobe After Effects (for motion graphics and special effects). He then approached the New York Times Magazine with the idea of creating a short photo narrative based on ALANIS‘ song. As it turns out, Elins’ ideas for the photos–the usage of such visuals as motorcycles, butterflies, knights, angels–were in synch with ALANIS‘ own visions. “We both came up with many of these same ideas independently,” Elins explained. “It was complete coincidence.”
“This may be a groundbreaking project,” Elins said. “From the beginning, ALANIS saw that this could be deep enough to grow from print images to the web, to something completely new. If it wasn’t for ALANIS‘ generosity in allowing me to interpret her material, this project would never have happened.”
The alternate “Precious Illusions” video will soon be seen via an online exclusive promotion (details forthcoming) and ultimately via various forms of media. Meanwhile, the original Francis Lawrence-directed clip for “Precious Illusions” is garnering acclaim: it uses dual images on screen at the same time, paralleling each other exactly, but each with a different point of view of a romantic relationship (the fantasy versus the reality).
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