Personally, I love this sexier, haunting version of Britney Spears' dance track so much more when I first heard Christopher Dallman's rendition.
Chris had made a video with film-maker friend Christie Strong some time back. And a very innovative and interactive version of the video was put up on line at the "This Is Toxic" website.
It consisted of three options -- Me (Which has footage of all Chris), Him (Chris' video lover) and the fan-submitted montage of what they thought wee toxic stuff. It was a pretty unique way of presenting a song that now had a twist of something a little darker in Chris' musical interpretation. And having it set in Sin City - glitzy Las Vegas - gave it right sense of seedy feeling of false hopes and despair.
But the video - being made of three separate and distinct parts - was not as easy to share and spread the word around.
Finally, a few weeks ago, a more concise and edited version of "Toxic" has made it online! YAYY!
It was much easier to share on various websites and social networks because it could be uploaded onto YouTube, for one thing.
Here it is:
I thought it is quite a little addictive gem (nice work Christie!). And the jarring images of the "toxic" pics toward the end of the song made the point more succinctly.
Quite awhile ago, there was a song called "Toxic" by pop icon Britney Spears. That was before she got deep into toxic things herself and had a semi-emotional, over-publicized head-shaving episode.
Then, some years later, indie musician Christopher Dallman decided to take his own sadder take on the originally electro-dance tune in his EP "Sad Britney". I love love love that EP. Chris' soulful acoustic interpretations really made those sometimes flat overly-banal songs hold weight and meaning.
A celebration on music videos and its surprising longevity will be held on Saturday, June 18th at Cinema Speakeasy'sMusic Video Mega-Mix event!
Cinema Speakeasy is a not-for-profit organization that promotes indie films and works.
The special event also aims to show how cinematic directors and musicians come together effectively to produce the most interesting music videos and our favourite indie bb, Christopher Dallman's "Gimme More" video will be one of those chosen to be screened!
Christopher's "Ghosts" music video directed Kevin J Thompson made it to #2 on Logos TV's "The Click List" for the 10th March 2011!
So if you are watching the channel, try to catch the "Ghosts" music video on TV!
Also, for his very first live show in 2011, Christopher Dallman will be at Room 5 Lounge on Wednesday, 23rd March at 9:00pm!!
The Room 5 Lounge is at 143 LaBrea, Los Angeles, CA.
Maybe Christopher will give some sneaks of his tunes for his upcoming new album?!?
Don't miss listening to Christopher live if you are around LA around this time!
And if you are going for the concert, do feel free to send the CDC blog your fan reports! You can also tweet me at @syzzlyn for more information on how you can submit one.
Christopher Dallman is working on two more music videos!! Both with friend Christie Strong (aka @strongfeatures) behind the camera.
Just yesterday, Christopher, Joshua and Christie drove into the desert to take some shots for the "Subterranean" video. The shoot seemed to have gone really well.
Not only did CDC manage to get hold of Derek Woods - the director of the new "Gimme More" video - we also managed to steal some time from Christopher Dallman himself!
Christopher shares about how he met director Derek Woods and tells us some tidbits about the "Gimme More" video shoot.
CDC: What made you decide on working with Derek Woods for the the "Gimme More" video ?
Christopher: My good friend Elizabeth Uhl used to work with Derek's manager. When I released "Sad Britney" over a year ago, she sent him the record and he told her he had a client who might be a good fit to direct a video for one of the songs. So, she sent me to Derek's website and I watched his directors reel. I dug his visual style right away.
Liz set up a meeting and we had coffee one afternoon. We got along really well right off the bat. He explained his vision for the video and it sounded really good to me. He didn't sell me on a story so much as a visual scheme, and it felt like a really good 'next thing' for me.
The video, directed by Derek Woods, features Christopher in a tuxedo (oooh!) and lots of yummy closeups.
Which then segues into various split screens of Christopher singing plus guitar, piano and drum scenes. There's even an adorable triangle scene for that short musical interlude in the song.
A classy-smooth-cool vid.
The CDC blog is aiming for some background scoop about this "Gimme More" video.. so hold on tight to your seats for the upcoming blog post!
Cheryl Lowder (@calowder) and her hubby Doug, celebrated their wedding anniversary with Christopher last December!!
Now.. Cheryl has admitted being really late with this blog contribution. Because she still has her fangirl-perv/squee training wheels on, do feel free to tweet her a spank. Or throw her tons of sticky glitter. ;)
Here's her write-up of that night's events!
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Just before Christmas, on December 19, 2010, Christopher Dallman came back to San Francisco to give a wonderful performance at the the Hotel Utah. The weather had been very wet but it stopped raining just in time for us to drive over the bridge for the chance to enjoy Christopher and his music live once again.
On behalf of the CDC,
A Happy Merry Holidays greetings to our bb, Christopher Dallman, Josh Pohja and family.
And the same goes out to all the CDC members, and many many other CJD fans out there who love + support him and his music.
Also, check out Howard Stump's marvellous Soundtrack of the Day music blog, and his most latest, sweet post on Christopher - "Visit Christopher Dallman for the Holidays".
A new CJD album, produced by George Stanford, is targeted for release in 2011. And I know we are all eager to celebrate the premiere of an official version of "Gimme Me More" music video from the "Sad Britney" EP. (To the newbies, yes - it's a cover of *that* Britney Spears song. Go to Christopher's website and buy/ download it!)
Today, Christopher Dallman's "Ghosts" music video is still snuggly at the top-range. The video is currently at #2 for MTVMusic.com Top 100! And he's had over 15,000 views so far!
Let's keep werking it, folks! Make it to #1!!! :D
There's also a gig coming up on 18th December at Hotel Utah, San Francisco. Christopher will be playing live with Keeley Valentino and Utah Girl!
Last Week, Christopher Dallman's music video "Ghosts" debuted at MTVMusic.com Top 100!
From a humble #47 spot, it quickly rose to #25 within a day! CJD's fans got win of this awesome news and chipped in to spread the news in any way they could.
The "Ghosts" video rose quickly within a few hours. More folks who frequent MTVMusic.com also got wind of this wonderful and beautifully directed video by Kevin R Thompson. And so, it didn't stop just there, the video passed the Top 20, surpassing even Pink, Willow and Bruno Mars, and finally, reached it's peak at #2 the same day!! It even whizzed past Katy Perry!!!
A surreal achievement for an ethereal song!
For the week, the video stayed at the #4 spot. The CDC is sure that you can keep spreading the word to your friends to watch the lovely "Ghosts" video.
And as a special freebie to fans, email Christopher at christopherdallman@hotmail.com and he will send you two music tracks - a demo of "A Little Bit of Blue" and a live audio of "Ghosts"! Available for a limited time only, so hurry!
First awesome news that came in yesterday - Christopher Dallman's "Ghosts" music video, which was directed by Kevin R Thompson, is now featured on MTVMusic.com!
If you haven't watched it before, I highly recommend that you click on the link above and enjoy the beautiful mix of music and imagery.
Recently, Christopher also gave us a teaser pic (see above) of the latest music video he had been working on. This was going to be the more fancy production for the Britney cover song "Gimme Me More" from his "Sad Britney" EP. I can't wait for this music video to be officially released!!
Another interesting thing is that, starting November, Christopher decided to embark on a kind of personal experiment and challenge called "30 songs in 30 days". He hopes to expand his creativity and potential by doing this and maybe he'll share with us a a few bars of a new tune or two? :)
If you are already on Tumblr, check out Christopher's Tumblr page and FOLLOW! Some really fascinating pics and tidbits are posted in there, including quite a few of their furry babies!
And last but not least, today's Christopher's and Joshua's wedding anniversary!
We wish the both of you many more love and happy years to come!
Earlier this year, Christopher had mentioned about plans to film a more professional "Gimme More" music video. However, the filming had somehow been delayed.
The video was finally recorded yesterday on 1 August at a nightclub in Newport Beach.
And get this ... Christopher was wearing a tuxedo during the shoot! WOOHOO!
Based on pics tweeted by Christopher, there also appears to be a piano involved.
The video is directed by Derek Woods. You can take a peek of Derek's style from his director's reel on his website. From what I saw from the reel, the clip looks noir-ish, gritty and a tad frantic.
So, I am curious about how Derek's style will carry through to Christopher's version of "Gimme More". I think it would be a very interesting piece of work. Don't you think?
To add another promotional boost -- Christopher's first live EP "Live in LA" will be released on Bandcamp on Tuesday, 3rd August! Remember to get a digital copy!
Did you know? Christopher Dallman and Kevin R. Thompson also produced a video to Christopher`s song "This is Calm" from his album "Race the Light". Enjoy..
In connection to the exciting release of Chris Dallman's "Ghosts" video, we would like to introduce you to Kevin Remón Thompson - the music director of the video.
If you are not already aware, Kevin has previously directed two Chris' music videos - namely "Over My Head" and "This is Calm".
Like a curious child, we got to know Kevin a little more by asking him about his work and how he got to know Chris Dallman.
CDC: When did you first realize that you were meant to be a film-maker?
I've always enjoyed creative work, whether it was writing or music, but I never thought I could do something like that as a living. But when I lived in New York, circumstances conspired to introduce me to film-making in a very concrete way. A friend wrote a script and my roommate was a filmmaker, so we put this thing together. It was a pretty flawed piece of work, but I immediately felt so attracted to the combination of creativity, organization and spontaneity that goes into making a film. So I decided I had to do it.
A few years later I was in LA in the graduate production program at USC. I don't know if there was something specific that made me realize that I was meant to be a filmmaker, but I do know that whatever doubts I have about my career get erased when I make something. I love the process so much, even the tedious parts, that I know it's a really good fit for me.
CDC: How many different countries have you lived in? Have your experiences living abroad influenced your film-making in any way?
I've lived in 3 different countries (not including the U.S.) and visited a bunch of others. I lived in Rome for a year when I was 12, and I spent a year in Madrid before going to film school. I also spent an amazing 4 weeks in Amman, Jordan, in 2006 teaching at a Digital Film-making workshop. Obviously, this last journey was the most specifically related to film-making, because I was in a film school-type environment. More than anything, the time in Amman re-energized my love of film-making because I got to be with these kids who had minimal film knowledge, but tons of passion and good will. It was inspiring.
The year I spent in Rome when I was 12, though, is probably the most singularly influential event in my life. My parents thought it would be beneficial to toss me into an Italian public school instead of one of these Americans abroad foreign schools. The first day in that place was the scariest day of my life. But boy, did it teach me how to confront fears, take a deep breath and jump in.
To be honest, I don't remember much about the first month. My concrete memories start later, when I was already speaking Italian fluently and hanging out with my friends. I'm sure it was an amazing thing for my parents to watch. I think throwing myself into that uncertainty primed me for making more of those kinds of choices in life, including the decision to pursue film-making as a career.
CDC: What kind of stories are you particularly interesting in telling?
This is such a hard question because it forces you to step outside yourself for some analysis. It would be facetious of me to say I'm interested in telling the stories that come to me, except for that fact that that's the best way I know how to describe what moves me. A lot of my inspiration comes for little moments in life that just catch my attention for some reason. I think I'm given to melodrama and tragedy, which sometimes bothers me because I enjoy comedy so much. I've been trying to take stories less seriously these days. It's always so valuable to find the comedy in any moment, even when it's a serious or tragic one.
CDC: Is there someone who continually inspires you to push that notch a little higher with regards to your work?
I've been pushed by so many different people that it's hard to single one out. The question, though, makes me think of the moments during the film-making process when I feel like I might be satisfied, and then I decide that it's not enough and that I need to push myself further. That's usually the way it works, but I'd say if I had to pick someone it would be my wife, Alice. She has a way of motivating me without me realizing it. It's a very nice kind of motivation because it makes me feel like I was the one who pushed myself.
CDC: "The Orchard" looked like a very pretty movie. Where was it actually filmed, and were there any interesting on-set stories that arose from the filming?
We looked all over Southern California, searching for a place that would authentically portray rural Andalusia. Having spent considerable time in Spain, I knew what I was looking for, and it was hard. We drove all around and ended up finding this wonderful old Spanish mission in Lompoc, CA. It was amazingly well preserved and I knew that we have found our spot.
CDC: Was there a tricky or difficult scene to shoot for "The Orchard"?
Some of the scenes were difficult because they weren't working well on camera, and those ended up getting cut out of the film. But I'd say that the most difficult scene was the bedroom scene between Joshua Pohja and Joseph Lemieux. The scene was difficult in a good way, in that it was challenging both for me as well as the actors. I relied heavily on them and their faith in the project to really achieve the authenticity of that scene. We did a lot of takes, and I never felt like they were giving anything less than their all.
CDC: Pls share with us on how you got to know Chris Dallman?
I met Chris through one of his best friends, who happens to be my wife's cousin. I actually worked with Josh Pohja, Chris' husband, first on a film school project. But I knew Chris was a musician and the first time I heard him perform live I was blown away by the power of his presence. I knew he was someone I wanted to work with, and it was such a wonderful bonus that he's such a fun person to hang out with.
CDC: How did the concept of Chris Dallman's "Ghosts" music video come about?
Chris came to me with the idea of doing a video in black and white for "Ghosts". I instantly felt the connection with that particular song. Something about the abstract feel of black and white fit the music, especially since neither Chris nor I wanted to do anything literal. After that, we bounced ideas around and I went through my usual process of listening to the song over and over and jotting down images and ideas. The use of silhouettes and extras and even the 2.35:1 aspect ratio of the video all came so naturally from listening to the song, that I knew they would work really well.
CDC: Were there any special considerations that you had to take while filming this music video?
I knew I wanted to composite multiple shots together, so we had to make sure in the silhouette section, for example, that Chris didn't overlap his three different positions. That was challenging because I had to estimate where he would be in the other positions. Also, the shot with the extras working in fast motion while Chris was singing at normal speed had to be carefully set up so they didn't cross behind Chris. I had to put down a piece of tape so they would know where to stop. You can see it in the video, running across the floor.
CDC: Did the finished product for the "Ghosts" video differ from the original concept in any way?
So often my projects end up looking different than I originally imagined. Most of the time, though, the feel of them is consistent. The "Ghosts" video was the first project where the final product looked and felt almost exactly how I envisioned it. I knew it would be this way as soon as I started looking at the footage. The editing was quick and easy because the pieces just fit together so well.
CDC: Are there talks between you and Chris Dallman for another music video?
We haven't spoken specifically about any new projects, although we did toss some ideas around for a simple video for "Anthem". I think I'll always be ready to make a Chris Dallman video. I respond so strongly to his work, and so the ideas for videos come easily. I'm looking forward to our next project, whatever it may be.
CDC: What other projects are you working on currently? Tell us a little about them.
I just finished another music video for my good friend Sandeep Bhatt (http://www.soulwideworld.com/), where we built the interior of a spaceship inside my garage. Sandeep's music is this cool blend of funk/soul, electronica, and his own unique mix of influences. It's coming out soon and I'm very excited about it.
I was also one of the producers on this really nice short, "A Crossroad Called Manzanar", (http://www.manzanarfilm.com/) written by Alice Kim and Cindy Fang and directed by Cindy. It centers around the friendship between a Chinese-American girl and a Japanese-American girl during WWII, at the time of the Japanese internment. It's also coming out soon.
Thanks, Kevin -- for taking the time to answer our questions!
