She Mob - Mrs. Idey, the video

Say, Captive Wild Woman, what's your process when making a no-budget music video?

I'm so glad you asked! (Yes, I'm talking to myself in my head; that's what blogging for ten years does to a mind.)

Here's my process:

• Pick a song, any song, from one of She Mob's four albums (or sometimes from another album—that's for another post)
• Look for a film on the Prelinger Archives to re-edit and repurpose
• Place them together on Windows Movie Maker—the free and very basic editing software that works like making a collage from old magazines with digital paste
• Repurpose the film to the song
• Sit back and enjoy the accolades! (I'm waiting for this part to kick in—any day now.)
• Really appreciate that MFA in Cinema degree and all it's wrought

Admittedly it's not entirely free when factoring in the costs of making an album, paying the bills for Internet access and a roomy-enough hard drive for all these downloadable public-domain film clips, but once that's squared away—you're ready for music-video magic-making.

Yesterday I was looking for clips to use for one song, but ended up using another song entirely, because I didn't feel like getting up from my desk to make an MP3 of the originally intended song. You might call that laziness. Generally, I would agree. But in a happy accident, the MP3 I already had on the computer worked better with the footage I settled upon.

And now, too much analysis: happenstance, serendipity, coincidence—be on the lookout for these things when working on a creative project. It's fine to be tightly controlled too. Sometimes that's in keeping with the project. But in this case, a loosey-goosey approach seems to work best for me. Because I have to tap into the unconscious with these little films. They don't take long to make and are set to music; that's a dream-like realm of our brain. I hope I haven't made myself perfectly clear. I would never try to do that.

And now, from She Mob's 1999 album, "Cancel the Wedding" (a favorite of old rock critics and little kids), Mrs. Idey.