Making the Video - Godsmack's "Voodoo"

As many people know by now, the lead singer of the Boston based band "Godsmack", Sully Erna, is an outspoken practicing Witch who has studied the Craft under Laurie Cabot.  Well, Godsmack invited Laurie Cabot, along with a group of other Witches, to participate in the making of the video for their upcoming single "Voodoo", and several members of the Witches' League were invited to attend!  I talked to Sully about the video, and also participated in the filming of the video at Hammond Castle in Massachusetts on September 18th and 19th, and all I can say that it was great!
    We arrived at the shoot at about 8:30 at night, and there were about 35 Witches total.  The castle was beautiful, perched right on the water, and between the bright glow of the moon and the crashing of waves on the rocks below, one could almost overlook the tractor-trailer trucks full of equipment, lights, sound equipment, and other Hollywood gear that littered the area.  The film crew must have loved us, because we brought our own costumes, our own props, and we literally worked for food, but you could tell at times they weren't used to working with non-actors, and we certainly weren't used to making videos!  We got ready and took care of the mandatory filling out of waivers and release forms, then were allowed to wander about the premises taking in both the night time majesty of the castle and grounds, and also meet some of the people associated with making the video.  Sully, the bands' lead singer, came out to talk to us all and basically just hang out- he is really great, but I think the high point for me personally was meeting the effects director for the video in his makeshift workshop in the castles' lower level.   
     I have been interested, some say obsessed, with movie special effects since I was a teen, so it was an amazing honor for me when I realized the effects director was none other than "Screaming Mad George", one of Hollywoods' master effects craftsman.  For those of you unfamiliar with the name, Georges' work can be seen in films such as some of the "Nightmare on Elm Street"  series, the Japanese film "The Guyver", and "Poltergeist 2", among many others.  I was able to watch him as he and his team worked on props and effects for the video, and he talked about some of the other videos he's done for bands like "Alice in Chains".  He was actually pretty quiet, but really nice, and his work is truly amazing.
    Well, we waited around for the crew to set up and get ready for us, and we were finally called into the Great Hall, where the filming would occur.  This room was awesome, with massive vaulted ceilings and a huge fireplace, great gothic doors and candles everywhere- a really great atmosphere for a late night ritual (Again, if you overlooked the several tons of filming equipment everywhere).  The director, Dean Karr (Marilyn Manson, The Dave Matthews Band) was truly cool.  During the shoot he was wearing a pentacle, and when I talked a little bit with him he said that before planning the video he read up on Wicca and modern Witchcraft, and he was wearing the pentacle both out of respect for us (the Witches) and to make us feel more comfortable.  He did show us all the utmost respect, too.  By the time we were ready to start shooting it was almost midnight, and for the video we did an actual ritual with Laurie Cabot as High Priestess for the group.  During the entire ritual, except for some shouted commands and the whir of the cameras, we were not disturbed at all from beginning to end.  We entered the room in procession, then closed the circle, did the ritual, charged a spell, opened the circle, then proceeded back out of the room without an interruption or anyone shouting "Cut!", and that was great.  We did a typical ritual and spell, and we weren't asked to add anything silly or "Hollywood" in, they just let us do our thing.  The only change we really had to make was the candles on the altar- they wanted black and white candles only, so our traditional candles had to go, but that wasn't really any big deal for anyone.  The subject matter was definitely treated with respect from all the crew involved, and I'm certainly thankful to them, especially the Director Dean and Joe, his Production Manager(?) who ran most of the show, they were great.  Let me just say that doing a Ritual with Laurie Cabot, in a Midieval style castle at midnight, is an experience that this Witch will never forget.
    After the ritual we had to come back in to shoot other scenes, re-shoot some of the things in the ritual that they didn't catch, and do some shots to add the effects into.  In all it took a few hours, and they served us a great catered dinner at 2am!  Now, I am by no means a bumpkin, but there was just something very "Hollywood" about eating prime rib and little baby carrots at 2am on a video shoot.  At dinner Sully hung out with everyone, signing autographs and talking about the video and what they were trying to do.  Of course one of his goals is to make Wicca more mainstream, to help us gain more acceptance and to get the truth about Witchcraft out, but the video itself, for the song "Voodoo" off their self-titled album, is an exploration of several different spiritualities.  In the video a wolf spirit will run through the woods, coming upon various sacred rituals and things, and basically become a part of each one.  There is the Wiccan ritual that we were in, of course, but there will also be some traditional VooDoo, as well as some other scenes I didn't get to see.  Sully said the goal was to take some of these misunderstood traditions and put them in the proper context, to show that they aren't scary or unusual, just different ways of worshipping.  
     Sully sat and talked to people and signed autographs throughout dinner and dessert (Hot fudge sundaes on chocolate walnut brownies- now these people know how to live!) and then we went back to shoot the final scene.  That one was easy for us, we just stood there, but I felt bad for the cameraman- he was running up and down stairs for about 20 minutes!  It was finally all over for us at about 3:30am, and we were asked if we wanted to stay around to watch the other segments filmed, but most of use were, understandably, really tired and decided to head home- I'm not sure if anyone actually stayed to see the other segments filmed.  
     Overall this was a great time for just about everyone there.  A few people weren't expecting such a late night, but the vast majority of us really got into it and had a lot of fun.  We were all treated respectfully throughout the whole night, as was our ritual and Witchcraft in general.  I have a very positive feeling about the finished video, and the people I was there with had the same feelings.  Between Sully and the director Dean, we're sure this video will portray Witches in a very positive and factual light.  The release date for the video hasn't been announced yet, but keep checking back on CelticCrow.com and I'll be sure to keep you posted!