HUSH SWEET LOVER .. A GLIMPSE AT THE MAKING OF THE VIDEO

Monday, January 3, 1994 .. it was the day many of us went back to work after the holiday season and kd was no exception. I had some things to drop off at her house and when I got there that morning she was busy choosing her outfits for the next day's video shoot with her wardrobe stylist, Beth Goodman. I didn't hang around for too long, as the number of outfits I saw spread throughout the house showed they had a lot of decisions to make. It was, however, quite obvious that they had worked together before - they both seemed to know exactly what they were looking for and listened to each other's advice to achieve that look.

When I arrived at the studio in Long Beach, they had started the shoot. Every one at the studio was friendly, but I had to go through a number of security procedures before I was allowed onto the set. My first thought when I entered the "closed set" was how tiny it was. The backdrop was a large piece of canvas that had been meticulously sculptured. Great care was taken that nobody touched it, as the pattern achieved would be lost…not good for continuity. Four screens blocked off the small area kd was confined to, but through the cracks you could see her seduce the camera, lost in her own world. Three complete run throughs of "Hush" with the camera rolling takes a long time, but I was pleasantly surprised to hear kd actually sing along with the tape rather than just lip-synch. There were about fourteen people in the studio and as kd sang everyone listened attentively and whispered praise as soon as she finished.

A break was announced, so now was the time to corner kd in her dressing room to interview her for the Hotlines. We had discussed it the night before so I didn't feel like much of a pest and she was very accommodating…as usual. I asked her if she would like to see the questions that the fans had left on the Hotlines before we started, but she said, "No, just start." Fifteen minutes later we were finished with time for a few jokes and something to eat. Then she had to get back to the set.

This time a chair had been placed in front of the camera, it didn't look very comfortable to me, but kd settled in to it immediately. On the monitor, Beth and Chrisann Davis, the make-up artist, carefully studied every detail of her appearance..off came the jacket..on went a vest…off came the vest…on went the vest without the shirt…and so on until they all decided on the most appropriate wear for the shot. Four more run throughs of "Hush" and it was time for another break to set up again.

Back at the dressing room, Mary Forsberg, the model in the video had arrived and was having her make-up applied by Chrisann. "What's she going to be wearing?" asks hairdresser Jonathan Antin, the man who takes care of kd's locks. "Not much", laughs Beth.

Unfortunately, I had a late afternoon flight back to Vancouver so I was unable to watch the rest of that day's or the next day's shoot. It gave me a sense of all of the standing around that was involved and the very long hours that kd and the crew have to put in.