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TheRealMadMaxJacks favorited a video
(2 months ago)
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Avril Lavigne seems to have left her punk-rock roots...
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Avril Lavigne seems to have left her punk-rock roots behind for her "Alice" video, instead exploring a more haunting and gothic world through the rabbit hole. And the video's director, Dave Meyers, said that video beautifully complements Lavigne's contribution to the "Alice in Wonderland" soundtrack.
The video shot for two days at the end of January in Los Angeles' Arboretum. And the singer and director didn't allow local rainstorms to stop them from weaving together the dreamy concept. "[Avril and I] kind of discussed a version of what we ended up shooting," he said about the video's concept. "She saw herself running during the choruses. She saw herself at a piano. She was proud of her musical contribution to the song. And I sort of played with the texture. I built the hole and told her it would be cool to have her at the bottom of the hole. It was two artists vibing."
And while "Alice in Wonderland" director Tim Burton wasn't involved with the video concept-wise, Meyers took the song's ethereal feel and embraced it for the video's vibe. "I thought it was like, honestly, Tim Burton in music form. I didn't expect it from Avril. I just really enjoyed the haunting quality of the song and just wanted to capture that in video form. In a lot of ways, what I wanted to do was a perfume ad in a goth way with enough of a story so that it's not a bunch of randomness. And it made this surreal look that was fashiony but goth."
The duo weren't able to see the movie prior to shooting, so they had to use their imaginations for the video's concept. They decided to create an "Avril" in Wonderland that included "a couple nods to the film." Meyers added, "So there were certain touch points in general. We kind of wanted to make a haunting piece that represented goth and Alice. ... It's a fun world.
"Tim Burton keeps it pretty secretive. I just saw the film yesterday though. I got to see it after the [video was made]. That was my reward for a job well done. ... Everybody was just excited [about the project], starting with Tim Burton. He loved the song and ended up loving the video. [And] I did enjoy [the film]. I thought it was wonderfully visual. It was very fashionable. It was funny. I'm a huge Tim Burton fan, so I was satisfied. It's a more interesting take than the actual book. I think it's a little more fun and has a little more edginess to it, and Alice is a little bit more of a heroine."
Avril Lavigne first appeared in summer 2002, touting an addictive debut single (the spunky pop/rock gem "Complicated") and a skatepunk image that purposely clashed with the polished glamour of mainstream pop. Lavigne, who was 17 at the time, quickly rose to teen idol status, selling several million copies of her debut album, Let Go (the best-selling album by a female artist in 2002), while inspiring a genuine fashion craze with her penchant for tank tops and neckties. As the decade progressed, so did Lavigne's marketable sound, which took a contemplative turn on the sophomore effort Under My Skin before reaching an aggressively upbeat tone for 2007's The Best Damn Thing.
Born into a devout Christian household in the small town of Napanee, Ontario, Lavigne sharpened her vocal talents in church choirs, local festivals, and county fairs. She began playing guitar and writing songs in her early teens, focusing her early efforts on country music and contributing vocals to several albums by local folk musician Steve Medd. Arista Records caught wind of the singer and brought her aboard at the age of 16, with CEO Antonio "L.A." Reid personally taking Lavigne under his wing. She quit high school, relocated to Manhattan, and set to work with a handful of prime songwriters and producers, but the partnerships only produced country songs -- not the rock music in which Lavigne had become increasingly interested. Arista relented and instead sent Lavigne to Los Angeles, where she fashioned her melodic, edgy debut alongside such writing teams as the Matrix. Released in 2002, Let Go was the polished product, and its four high-charting singles -- "Complicated," "Sk8er Boi," "I'm with You," and "Losing Grip" -- led the album to multi-platinum status within its second month of release. Lavigne became the youngest female musician ever to have a number one album in the U.K., and she supported the wildly popular disc (which eventually gained eight Grammy nominations) with a tour of Europe, Asia, North America, and Australia.
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