b'Director Interviews UKmind you, into that heavy metal comicThen you started working with Billy left: the tracking shot for "China Girl" book world, going back to the knights ofIdol. Youve said that during that shoot, below, left to right: Angus Young, David Malletthe round table and all that sort of crap.no one could seem to hit those nails and Malcolm Young during the video shoot for Id lifted off either blood and sand like theinto the coffin to the beat, so you had to AC/DC \'s "You Shook Me All Night Long"Romans, or its the knights of the rounddo it, right? (photo courtesy of David Mallet) table, isnt it? Comic book history as itI have to say, I was the only one who were. The more obvious references havecould do it, after three other people tried Joe Elliott pulling his sword out of theit. It was one of the great drum fills in rock, stone. Who came up with that? I thinkand that song was just so well-recorded. Price Wormsley came up with that one. IAll his stuff was that way. The songs think the movie Excalibur had just comeabout his sister getting married and they out at the time. Maybe it was me, I dontdidnt get along and all. You do pull in a If people areknow. A lot of fire. That was the way I sawlot of different references in that one. I the original metal bands, though. Gold andpulled in a little bit of everything on that enjoyingsilver and fire and black, thats just how itone, because the song has a little bit of struck me. Fantastic, and those videos puteverything. You could say the record was themselves, ifthem in the stratosphere. Id have to sayrock and roll, you could say it was metal, its a result of Mutt Langes production asyou could say it was R&B, you could they are havingwell.Right, he really put them through thesay it was glam rock, you could say it ringer for that.was anything. If you listen to that record a good time,You also worked with Iron Maidenscold and youd never heard it before, I the Number of the Beast. Did you finddont know how you would categorize it. above: Scorpions shooting "Rock You you\'re going toLike a Hurricane" videothat working with certain bands led toAnd Billy came up with the idea of the working with other bands in that genre?gauze coming off his head, and I came have a goodHow was the band to work with onCertainly. I had done one for Ironup with the camera moving while hes these videos?Maiden before that called Run to thedoing it. I think I came up with the crash music video. Heres the example I always give.Hills, maybe. That put me as a crediblehelmet coming off and revealing him, Still makes me smile. In a later video, Imetal act director. But certainly Maidenwhich became a rather iconic music video preceded Def Leppard. moment. And theres the old church, and I . Did you work with video conceptualistleft: Brian Johnson getsstrapped Joe Elliott to the mast of a boatYou also started working with Joanbelieve Im the one who came up with the when I did Jethro Tull and Blondie. Thenand pushed him out into the water offJett, where you worked in film andgirls slapping their own backsides, and Bruce went to America to start doingKeith Williams much?clean duringDublin docks. The temperature was minusother times in video. Why the change inBilly came up with the rest. broadcast TV, so that one went out theYes, absolutely! Not a lot, but a bit. HesAC/DC\'sfour. He was wearing a torn vest and notmedium? How was he to work with? He comes window, in terms of that collaboration. Verya good man. He and Marcelo Anciano were"You Shook Memuch else. We failed to get him back quickFilm was much slower. A video shootacross as someone who is very aware soon after that, Lexi Godfrey the producerthe ones wed go to for ideas when wedAll Night Long" enough, and when we did get him back,could end at 6 in the evening, while aof his visual presence. carried on together, and then Russellget stuck. I recall working with him on lotshe was genuinely hypothermic. I wentfilm shoot would probably end at 2 in theHe was the ultimate collaborator.Mulcahy and I carried on.of things.running up and said, Joe, Im terribly sorry,morning. Film was much more expensive.Where did you shoot that?What were those days like?Were there any directors you wereI had no intention of doing that to you,The early film in the early days was reallySome studio somewhere in the back of MGM was Mallet, Godfrey andwatching at that time in your genre?and Joe said, David, a year ago I was anot very clear at all, it was really prettyLondon. It wasnt nearly big enough. The Mulcahy. That was first, and that went onThis may sound arrogant, but I nevervan driver. Am I going to complain? Andcrappy, the quality of a film that went to amotorcycle crashing through the stained for a year or two. It seemed like a greatwatched what other people were doingthat was after he was already a rock god.print. I think it was Russell [Mulcahy] whoglass was literally in a corridor. If the guy time to be working on this, and everyonebecause there was no time to watch whatYou try putting a rock god on a boat andstarted taking the negative and putting thaton the bike had gone a foot to the right seemed to be genuinely interested in whatother people were doing. My curse wassetting fire to it and pushing it out in thestraight onto Telecine, and then editing itor a foot to the left, hed be dead. It was everyone else was doing. It was a goldenthat I was filming but I was also the editor.middle of the docks now and see how theyon video. Then film became much moreliterally a corridor.era for a few reasons. One was that thereWhereas some people would shoot andI did Photograph and Rock of Agesreact. That sums up the attitude of Defviable, and more flexible. Film was alwaysTo speak to that, did you find in was no bureaucracy in making a musicthen go home and get some sleep, thenover two days. It exploded their image,Leppard, all of them. They were the mostgoing to look better in the end. those early days, you were shooting video at all. Someone would ring up, eithercome back and see what the editor hadand the wardrobe budget was nearlyprofessional and gracious people.How was Joan Jett to work with?any idea you came up with, that there a record company or an artist, youd sitdone, I was the editor. nonexistent. Nothing was anything inOn Rock of Ages{ and Foolin,She was too nice to be sex on legs,was never anyone telling you not to do down, youd work out what you wanted toYou did a couple of clips forthose days.you have a lot of imagery in there thatwhich is what she was. Someone as sexysomething like that? do, and that was that. You didnt evenHaircut One Hundred. Were those justThe set looks elaborate though.became standard metal visuals likeas her shouldnt be that nice. (laugh) ShesOnly the artist. There was no such really send a budget in, you just told themanother job or anything in that that wasWell, it didnt cost much, it was just donesmoke, swords, smashing goblets - .small, but onscreen she comes off as sixthing as a commissioning editor. In those how much it would cost. There was nointeresting? by a very clever guy named PriceThat was the first foray of all of us,foot two. She was great, theyd all turn updays, they didnt exist. But also, there was commissioning editor, no oneThe lead singer was an interesting guy,Wormsley who designed almost all thosefrom New York, the band and the managera totally different sort of attitude toward like that trying to get involved in that sortas a person. For Fantastic Voyage, it wassets for me. It wasnt an expensive video,Kenny Laguna and his wife. What Isafety and that sort of thing in those days. of thing. Music videos just happened. Itparty time. They were a very commercialbut hopefully it looked expensive. Withremember about Kenny was him beingNo one had ever heard of the words was completely normal to be rung up onband, and very much frowned upon byPhotograph, theres a slight story to it,passionate about his artists.The first onehealth or safety in those days. I only a Monday morning and have it finishedpeople who thought they were serious andbut its just them with lots of lights andwe did was Crimson and Clover, which Iheard those words in the 1990s. and edited by Wednesday night. Quickestclever and intellectual. Actually, they hadsmoke and showing their personality. Ithink shes sexy as hell in. It wasnt a bigIs there a moment that comes to we ever did was Bowie and Jaggerstwo big hits, and it was fun. I mean, whatthink everyone lucked out. I think the bandhit in England. I did The French Song onmind when you were shooting that recording Dancing in the Street betweenmore do you want?lucked out, Mutt Lange is a wonderfulfilm, and the others I did on video. Whenhealth and safety were not a priority? 2 in the afternoon and 6 in the evening,You directed videos for Defproducer, and I lucked out to work withit was video, a lot of the time the reasonVirtually every video we ever made. It driving to the docks to shoot the video allLeppard\'s big hits Rock of Ages,them then. I think everybody was on topwas budget and speed. No specific reasonwas not a priority. Pushing Joe Elliott out night, finishing at 7 in the morning andPhotograph & Foolin\',"and thenform in that period. We had some goodcomes to mind, but I remember when weon the boat was mild compared to some of then editing it all day, and having it on thereturned to shoot their re-release ofideas. For Photograph, it was Marcelogot to The French Song I told them that itthe things we did. Like I said, it just didnt air by 5 oclock that next night. That was"Bringing on the Heartbreak," all ofwho came up with the concept. I came uphad to be on film because we wanted to dooccur to you. Riding a motorbike down a the record. which had big set pieces. with the fact that it was Marilyn all along.something a bit weird.corridor at about two in the morning, and 46MVTMISSUE #1 ISSUE #1MVTM47'