For the first of a new series of interviews with the directors behind the short films accompanying each song on Dido's new album, we called up Cristiana Miranda to find out more about her film for The Day Before The DayHello Cristiana. How did you get involved with the SafeTripHome.com films project?I'm a director at a company in London called Knucklehead. I'm 25 and only started directing when I was 23. I worked as a receptionist at Knucklehead before this, but then I did a little film for the Discovery Channel about Dita von Teese, the Burlesque artist. Anyway, we have a representative for music videos and when he got the proposal from Sony he thought it was completely up my street, so he sent it over to me. But he actually sent me the English pitch, not the Mediterranean one. I thought, given that I'm Portugese, it would be great to do the Mediterranean one. And that's what eventually happened. The second I heard the track it clicked instantly, because it really feels a lot like this tradition of Portuguese songs that we have called fado. They're very melancholic, deep, emotional songs that mostly talk about you surviving pain or having to deal with pain but carrying on. It's such a powerful track with such a powerful subject that I just thought, "Wow this is a great opportunity to do something quite emotional".Obviously death is very much at the centre of the track. Would you say that death is at the centre of your film?I wouldn't say specifically death, it's more the feeling of loss. That's why I didn't choose to shoot anything directly related to death. I think the track reflects very much this feeling that you get from the fado. Death's there, it's almost like a ghost, but you overcome it. That's why in the track she says, "Clocks will carry on". I felt that was the most important thing of the track. It's very dark and it's obviously about death, but there's an undertone of survival that appealed to me and that was what I wanted to get in the film. It was this sense of we deal with pain, we live in pain, but we survive and we're proud of it.Were you given free reign to hear the song and do what you want with it?Absolutely. I keep saying to people, projects like this don't come very often. It was purely down to your instinct of what the song makes you feel and how you'd like to tell a story about this. In my mind I automatically wanted to talk about fishermen. Growing up close to the sea I always watched fishermen, and admired them. They have such an authentic expression of having a hard life. It's in their faces and the way they're burnt by the sun and the way they look at the sea. So I thought that just linked perfectly. The only brief was the theme of home: what is home to you and what is home to someone who you'd do this film about? And I thought it was perfect because fishermen have two homes: they have the home that they live in with their family and then they have their other home, the sea, which they respect and admire. So I tried to show both, and how different they are in their lives, but how similar at the same time.Your film does seem to tie into the lyrics, even though it's about something different.I chose this theme - the fishermen - because I knew it would link. I knew that I would get the images to reflect the feelings I think Dido's trying to portray in the song. Obviously I'm slightly manipulating the song to fit to my subjects as well. But once you see them together - the song and the film - they can tell a story. It's not a specific story, it's quite vague. I wanted to keep it that way because I think the hero in the song and the hero in the film is the feeling, is that feeling. It's not the fisherman, it's not the boy and in the song it's not the person that dies that she's talking about, it's the feeling that she's communicating. So that's why I kept it slightly distant. Even in the way I shot it, I never went very tight or very close.When you watch it, you're aware it's very beautiful and very nicely shot, then you start to realise that something bad appears to have happened, that people are in mourning.I hope people will want to go back and watch it again. You kind of want to understand the emotion you felt when you saw it. Did I connect with the people? Did I connect with the place? Or was it something that kind of disturbed me because it is obviously sad? And that is my point. I don't want to give you answers, I want to give you a challenge. I based it on a Portuguese word that's saudade. It's a very specific word that only exists in Portuguese. It kind of means "longing for". It's sort of a nostalgic feeling, but you can't really explain it. It's something that you mourn about and then you long for, but at the same time it's something that you've loved and that you look back and you still take some pleasure from. So when I thought of this film I thought that's the feeling I want to capture, even though it's quite a difficult thing to explain.There is a sort of beautiful sadness about your film. It's emotional without forcing it down your throat.Exactly. That was always my objective. And I like to keep questions open. I'm a big admirer of David Lynch and directors like that - they give you a lead or a dream and then you can walk away from it and make your own narrative.You call the film Fisherman - as opposed to Fishermen.Well, obviously there is a tale there of this young man. My reason to put him there was because there's something slightly whimsical about the film and when you're trying to shoot things from a perspective of a younger person I think it's easier to make it more dreamy. And I also really wanted to show that there's a gap in the generations. You obviously see he's much younger than everyone else. He's a real-life fisherman - people keep asking me if he's a model or an actor. He is the last of the young fishermen. Once he's gone there'll be no one left to replace him. His kids are not going to be fishermen any more. And again, it's that sense of nostalgia that I wanted to transmit. It is also a dying tradition that I was trying to portray. Also it was very important for me from a cultural point of view to try to be as faithful to what the fishermen do and to who they are as people and to try to film them in the most honest way. Because I didn't want to dramatise, I just wanted to report, but to give it that emotional setting.He does look like a Hollywood leading man.I know. When I met the young fisherman, I thought, "This is going to be quite difficult because you look like a Calvin Klein model! People won't believe in me". But when he dressed as a fisherman you could tell he was a fisherman, because he knows what he's doing - it's his life. His father was amazing too. We called him the Clint Eastwood of the fishermen because he's just got this wonderful look and his eyes are so strong.Did you have to spend a lot of time on a boat?Yes. We followed them on their typical days because they obviously couldn't stop working for us. We went out fishing and spent five or six hours with them. They go out and don't come back until they find fish. So once you get on the boat there's no coming back. It was an amazing experience because the sea was incredibly rough. We couldn't shoot anything on a long lens because my DP [Director of Photography] was getting very, very sick. It was the most phenomenal experience because it was very rough. You begin to understand how dangerous it is and how much effort they put into it. And that anxiety - they go out to the sea and they need to bring fish back, it's their meal ticket. When they come back they shut down the lights in the boat and you're just travelling back for hours. There's the sky above and there's nothing else but the ocean. And all the fish look like this beautiful silver sea in the boat. It really was an amazing experience. I'm very grateful to the fishermen for allowing us to be part of that.How did you find the women who are in the film?We kind of kidnapped people in the streets! I would see someone and say, "I'm so sorry would you mind coming in and I'll film you for two seconds". It was hard work, because they're actually very nice, happy, friendly people. So I would have to tell my DP, "I don't want to be unprofessional, but I'm just going to turn my back and shut up and you just film them quietly, because if I keep looking at them they're just going to keep talking and we can't have that". But the second they stop they have a natural sad expression. And that comes from generations, because these people did grow up seeing their families going to the sea. It used to be quite heavy for them, because the sea there is very rocky and dangerous. Once the boats were out at sea they would sometimes be at the beach looking far away and they would see the boats getting completely smashed by the waves, without them being able to do anything. So I think there is a cultural grief that's been passed down. It's not very present but once you look at their faces, it's there and no one can take it away.So are you pleased with how your film turned out?Absolutely. It was a stunning experience. I'm very grateful that Dido came up with this concept because I think the way music videos are going nowadays, it's often not very interesting. But she really picked up on the fact that people get emotionally connected to her music and these films are a brilliant idea to extend that emotion and that trade of feelings.Have the fishermen seen it?They have! I went to Portugal recently and sat down with them and watched it. It was the scariest experience I've ever had because I know they're so honest. If there was something bad about it they would definitely tell me. But it was so gratifying because they were very pleased with it. They felt that I didn't lie. They said, "You didn't try to make us look happy when we weren't not happy and you didn't try to make us look sad or more sad than we are. You just portrayed the truth of our lives." They're very humble, but they were incredibly giving and it just comes across. It was a very emotional, human experience to watch it with them. They don't understand English, so they don't understand the lyrics, but they all said the music was so beautiful and really matched the film. For them to say that there's clearly a connection, an emotional connection. There's no better response than that.Now we just need the Calvin Klein scouting people to come and find your fisherman.Ha! Actually, his father said to me at the end, "Can you take him to England?" I said, "I think that's kidnapping!" But if there's any chance of him being scouted I'd be incredibly happy. He was such a nice person and such a beautiful human being that it would be a beautiful twist of fate if someone should pick him up.
Italian TV appearance on Sunday10/12/08On Sunday afternoon Dido will appear on Quelli che il calcio on Italy's Rai 2 channel. Dido's performance is due to air between 2.30 and 3.30pm. (Calcio, as many of you will know, is the Italian word for football/soccer.)
Your choice for the next single?11/12/08Safe Trip Home has been out for a little while now, giving you plenty of time to dissect and digest it. So, we were wondering, which song would you choose as the next single if it was up to you?Let us know in the messages of the web x
As we told you last week, Dido was a guest on Italian sports show Quelli Che Il Calcio yesterday afternoon. Here's a video of her performance...
Win a signed Dido lithograph20/12/08Over on travel site tripwolf.com they're currently running a contest to win a Safe Trip Home lithograph signed by Dido. To win it, you'll need to upload your best photograph in one of the following three categories:- Your last travel photo before heading home- Best travel photo- Best adventure photohttp://www.tripwolf.com/en/page/competition/dido
Hey folks. Christmas may almost be upon us, but Dido just took a break from last-minute shopping to email us some more answers to the questions you've been sending to askdido@didomusic.com.What was the first instrument you learnt to play?Tornike from GeorgiaDido replies: The first one was the recorder. That was when I was about 4. Then I started playing the violin and piano when I was about 9. I absolutely loved the recorder as a kid, though. I would carry it around everywhere, playing all the time. The recorder I play on Grafton Street is the same one I had when I was a child.The songs that you write have to do with your real life. But do you really not believe in love?Felipe Alcaíno SaldíasDido replies: I absolutely believe in love! That's what the song is about. How life isbetter with love.What's your favourite time of the day? :-) I'm a big fan of, um, 9.27pm.Kit, LisbonDido replies: That's the sort of question I love and the sort I ask people. :-) Basically it's different in different cities. About 6am in Los Angeles when the air is clear and the sky is totally beautiful, and in London I wake up every day (without fail) at 7.20am. Even if I go to bed at 5am! It turns out that was the time of day I was born. I wonder whether that has anything to do with it? I just love watching the sun rise.
A Christmas message from Dido24/12/08Hey folks. We've just received this message from Dido for you:Happy Christmas and a great new year to everyone. Sending lots of love and thanks to all of you for all your support. I hope the holidays are full of love and happiness for you.See you in 2009!LoveDxxxAnd a very merry Christmas from didomusic.com too - have fun folks.
This just in from Dido:Happy new year everyone. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday whatever you were doing. I'm so so happy to be home and with my family in beautiful freezing england and here's a little clip to celebrate that! It's a performance of 'northern skies' from the acoustic fan gig joel and I did in october in notley abbey (in the english countryside). See you all soon. Love, Dx
Hello folks - happy new year to you all.We thought those of you in the US would like to know that The Day Before The Day will feature on tomorrow night's episode of Grey's Anatomy. It's on ABC at 9/8 Central (check your local listings for full details).In other news, keep an eye here on the site in the next few days for more Ask Dido answers and our latest interview with one of the directors of the safetriphome.com films.
Here are some more answers from Dido to the questions you've been sending to askdido@didomusic.com.What made you work with Jon Brion? What record(s) made you aware of just how great the man is?Tom of UpandRunningRecordingDido replies: I met Jon at Abbey Road one day and the thing that struck me the most was meeting someone who shared my obsession and joy with music and details and stories and sounds and just approaches it with total love and excitement and newness every day. He really is the most wonderful person to work with. He brings out the best in everyone and I definitely feel like he did with me. Truly inspiring and a great great experience.Probably one of my favourite Jon records is the Eternal Sunshine soundtrack. But there's so much of what he does that I absolutely love. The Fiona Apple records too. What about you?I love the black nails and the high-heeled ankle boots in your new video. Are they Louboutins?George (21), Vienna, AustriaDido replies: Yes they are! Well spotted. :-)What are your favorite shows on the TV? Igor Ramos, from PortugalDido replies: The Shield, The Sopranos, The Wire, Six Feet Under. All brilliant!I would like know, what do you feel when you are onstage?Florencia, UruguayDido replies: There's so many things I can feel on stage. Before I go on stage I am always nervous. I can't help it. Then once I open my mouth and start singing/playing I feel calm. And when I see how lucky I am with how great the audience always is, I just get a huge rush of warmth and peace and excitement. I'm doing what I love and just love every minute. I love playing live for the accidents that happen, the sounds and dynamics that are created between the players that will never happen again, just because of the circumstance, the room, the audience, everything. Every night feels different and every night is different!
Hi Tinge. How did you get involved with the Safe Trip Home project?When I heard about it, I jumped at the chance to pitch for something in Thailand. Because although I'm from London, I'm half-Thai, half-Malaysian, so I thought that could work quite nicely. They sent me the track and as soon as I heard it, I thought of Nong Toom, the lady-boy Thai boxer. The lyrics are so her, that movement is ying and yang - vulnerability and strength, inward movement and outward movement.So that's Nong Toom in the film?It is, yeah.How did you get her to be involved?My mum called her up and asked her.For those who haven't heard of Nong Toom, can you give us a bit of background?Well, she was originally a man. And basically she was spotted in her village by a prominent Thai boxing coach, even though she was very shy and quite soft, even as a boy. She already had a kind of sensitive side to her and she said she always felt she was a girl in a boy's body, but she was just phenomenal at boxing and she loved it. They took a bunch of kids from that village and they had rounds of selection and she was left as the kind of chosen one to be trained. And over the years she discovered that really she was more of a woman than a man and bit by bit she started to come out. She started in the changing rooms putting moisturiser on, putting nail varnish on and starting to wear make up. And she was really famous for her boxing style. Like when all the other guys would all be psyching each other out, she'd be really smiley and cute and then just whack the shit out of the other person.Is she someone you'd been aware of for a long time.Yeah, she's been on my periphery. She's part of Thai folklore in a way. Everyone's aware of the lady-boy boxer. She's a household name over there. And she was the subject of a film, Beautiful Boxer, too.Did you have a plan B for the film if she said no?To be honest I didn't really spend much time thinking what would happen if she said no because that way lies madness! And, luckily, she said yes immediately. She was very excited about it. When I played her the song her eyes went really teary and she said, "That's me, that's me." It was really sweet. She really connected to it. It's a really emotional song and there's an intimacy to it. It's very feminine, with a sense of struggle in it and a sense of liberation that connected to her life. Coming out in a really macho environment is not an easy thing to do. Femininity is quite a soft thing to try to assert - particularly in such a macho environment. So to carve out room for herself she had to have a certain toughness. Her martial arts training is what gave her the strength to withstand all the emotional knocks when making that transition.Once you had her on board, did you have an idea of your film's plot?Yeah, I had a rough idea. The brief we were given was to make a kind of documentary-style film. So I thought the most authentic documentary route would be to go in and spend time with the subject; see what her life is, see what floats her boat.So you just filmed her to see what you got?Well, we had a meeting with her first and asked what her daily life consisted of, because we needed to have some kind of plan and schedule. So, for example, we knew she likes to go out in the morning, train on the beach, do some jogging, buy crabs with her friends, frolic around playing volleyball and then go and eat crabs at her parents' house and play with the kids.Is that her real parents in the film?It is, yeah. It's all her real friends. Her brother's in it and so is her adopted daughter. It really surprised me when she said that she was a mum and that she had a daughter which she'd adopted as a tiny little newborn. I thought that mothering aspect was a very important thing to present.The film doesn't make it explicitly clear that its subject used to be a man. Was that deliberate?Well, I knew it was going to be on the internet and the internet is a place where people chat and comment so I thought it would be more fun if half the people who watched it would actually think that she was a woman first. In the end we put in a few clues at the start of the film, like when we're panning across the trophies at the start, there are a few hints to a more masculine identity there. But, ultimately, I thought it would be more fun to tailor it to the kind of interesting creature that the internet is - I hoped the film would be a bit ambiguous so that Nong Toom's identity would emerge organically, through people's comments. I could just imagine people saying things like, "Wow, that's an amazing woman," "That's not a woman, it's a lady boy!', 'Oh really?'.Someone commenting on the Safe Trip Home site said the the film made him feel, "Sexy, because let's face it the girl is gorgeous."Yeah, and I think that's great. That's the power of if. It can turn things upside down. As a piece it's doing more than just being a piece of work. It's challenging but in a really subtle way, by just showing her and people responding to her as she is.And, of course, she is beautiful.She's amazing. I learned a lot from her about eyebrows and hair! All us girls felt really masculine around her. She is very beautiful. I think over time she's just got more and more feminine as she settles into her new body. It's become the body of a woman.But she's still involved in boxing?She's not a professional boxer any more, but she's still involved in training. She wants to set up a training camp to train kids who have been on drugs or are from really poor backgrounds. But she did continue to box immediately after her operation. Some places would say you must box women, whilst others said it was alright to still box men. She said it was really interesting because she found it easier to box men than women. She said she thought women had a kind of strength that comes from a place that wasn't physical. Even when she had the body of a woman, she was still beating men. Because she had experience of being a man she believed she could beat men, but she wasn't using her physical strength to beat them. There was something else. I studied Thai Chi and there's a kind of Chi-like element that resonated with her and we tried to present that in the film; that very feminine energy.It sounds like it was a fascinating project to work on.It was brilliant, I loved it so much. It was a really hard shoot physically but we could see in the monitors that we were getting some really great stuff.Was this quite an unusual project for you?Yeah, it was. It was interesting trying to find the biting point in the edit between editing for the music and editing in a more straight documentary way. It was a very interesting process. It was fun to marry slo-mo and beauty with gritty documentary. A kind of poetry and documentary.And you're pleased with the result?Yeah, I am. I love it. I think the track and the images work really well together.Has Nong Toom seen it?Yeah, we had a screening in Thailand and she loves it. She's really happy with it. But then she was already a big Dido fan!-
Hey folks. Dido's just emailed through her latest batch of answers to the questions you've been emailing to askdido@didomusic.com. Look out for some more soon.Q. Hello Dido. You're a big football fan, right? I wonder if you also like to play football yourself, and if you do are you any good?Greets Karin (Holland)Dido replies: I used to play all the time and had a girls' football team at school, but I hardly ever play now unless it's with my nephews or my brother. When I was young I played football every day in the park with whoever was around. My brother used to let me play with his friends but then would tell me that I had to stand next to the goal and be a goal post (it's an older brother thing) which was sort of boring and a bit painful sometimes... I definitely had dreams of playing for Arsenal when I was young, though.Q. Hi, Dido. Upon listening to your new album I've noticed that almost every song is recorded in a minor key and the overall mood of the album is rather melancholic. The cover photos do not have a smile. Since those songs are more personal to you than ever, it is safe to assume that the reason for this mood is your life experience. So the question is: are you happy?Regards,AndrewDido replies: I suppose you're right! I didn't intend it to be that way but a lot of songs were definitely written at a more troubled time in my life. Losing dad and how that felt was also a huge influence and I can see that now I can take a step back from it. At the time I'm writing it is not a clearly thought out thing and I just write with no regard for how it will sound to the outside world. I really love and value life and am so happy and excited by every new day, but definitely a darker side can sometimes come out when I'm writing songs. That's the beauty of writing songs and of playing music for me - it's not a rational thought-out thing and you can surprise yourself with what comes out when your whole conscious and unconscious mind gets involved. Anyway I'm rambling as It's an interesting question (thank you). But yes, I'm very happy and spend my days laughing and smiling and enjoying so much. And then write dark songs... :-) oh well!Q. What did you have for breakfast today?Holly, NYCDido replies: This morning I had some berries and yoghurt. But that was because I was feeling healthy. Usually I have a big bowl of cereal and fruit. I could actually eat breakfast for every meal. Definitely the best meal of the day.
Here's some more of Dido's answers to the questions you've been emailing to askdido@didomusic.com. What was your inspiration behind Burnin' Love? As soon as I heard it I could just see it on a show like Grey's Anatomy. It's just a beautiful song.Ben, London.Dido replies: I'm so glad you like it. It's definitely one of my favourites. I wrote it with Citizen Cope and the chorus lyric is his lyric. It was the first song we wrote together. We just sat down and it came out in the most natural way possible. I loved working with him. I love his voice and I love that it's not something I would have written on my own. We wrote it in New York but actually it's my favourite song to listen to on the album as I drive around Hollywood in the late afternoon/early evening. It just feels right.When you write a song, which room of the house do you write in? Or do ideas come to you spontaneously and you write there and then?WillDido replies: Good question. It made me think if there is a room I write more in. I have a room with a piano with skylights so I can see the sky and do a lot of recording and writing in there but I also seem to have written a huge amount of songs at the kitchen counter. Quiet Times was written at the kitchen table, Summer was recorded in the kitchen, Grafton Street at the kitchen counter. You know what, the more I think about it, they're mostly written in the kitchen. :-) I also write a lot while I'm walking around London and then just either try and remember my ideas or put them into a Dictaphone or my mobile phone. I walk to most places in London and listen to my ipod and it gives me so many ideas and makes me love the way that music makes me feel, more every day.I was wondering if and when you intended to go on tour next? Thanks in advance.James from TelfordDido replies: I think I'm going to do a proper tour after the next record. I've written and recorded so much recently and am just loving being in the studio and doing that at the moment. So I imagine another record will be released before the next tour. I'm really looking forward to touring when we do though. We had such an amazing time last time. Meeting so many people, playing in incredible outdoor venues in the summer. I felt so lucky every day. By the time I've finished all this recording I'll be very excited to be out!
