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	[[Image:madeinheaventhefilms.jpg|250px|thumb|right|]]		[[Image:madeinheaventhefilms.jpg|250px|thumb|right|]]
		+
		+	In 1995, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon returned to Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland, to work on finishing the tracks they had begun with Freddie Mercury during the early part of 1991. The resulting album, '[[Made In Heaven]]', was the final chapter in the band's legacy with Freddie, and featured polished versions of songs they had never managed to finish before - some came from as far back as the '[[Hot Space]]' sessions in 1982, and two tracks were carefully reworked, almost unrecognisable versions of songs Freddie originally recorded for his '[[Mr Bad Guy]]' solo album. Another, '[[Heaven For Everyone]]', started life as a song by Roger's solo project The Cross, on which Freddie had sung a guest vocal - and Queen's reworked version became the first single from the '[[Made In Heaven]]' project.
		+
		+	Unfortunately, Freddie's absence meant that filming videos for any single release from the album was somewhat difficult, until someone within the Queen camp came up with a near perfect solution.
		+
		+	Brian: ''"I can't actually remember where the idea came from originally, but it emerged that the BFI were very short of funds to enable some of their young directors to get started. We thought this would solve many problems with one stroke. We'll give them some money, they can figure out the most deserving cause to give it to and they can make whatever videos they like for the music."''
		+
		+	This was an unusual situation for Queen to be in - for the first time they were completely hands off, allowing the young directors and the BFI to decide how to represent their music. The result was eight very different short films which used songs from the 'Made In Heaven' album as their starting point and soundtrack, and could be shown the world over to promote the album.
		+
		+	The results were critically acclaimed, even if Queen fans were somewhat unresponsive, and two of the films ended up becoming the official promotional videos for the single releases of the songs they represented.  Now available on vhs and dvd, it is best to leave evaluation to the willing individual, but the details below are a brief summary of each piece in turn.
		+
		+	==I Was Born To Love You==
	[[Image:iwasborntoloveyoufilm.jpg|250px|thumb|right|I Was Born To Love You (dir. Richard Heslop)]]		[[Image:iwasborntoloveyoufilm.jpg|250px|thumb|right|I Was Born To Love You (dir. Richard Heslop)]]
		+
		+	Directed by celebrated music video director Richard Heslop, ''I Was Born To Love You'' features the [[I Was Born To Love You | song of the same name]].  It is a celebration of life and love in all its forms.  Utilising an edited version of the song compared to the standard cd album cut, it features the inhabitants of a block of council flats of every sexual persuasion.  Couples kiss, kids play, and teenagers steal and destroy a car in this monochrome piece.
		+
		+	Heslop, who had previously worked on videos for The Smiths and New Order, continued to make music videos for the likes of The Cure, before directing the tv series ''Residents'' and ''State Of Party''.
		+
		+	==Evolution==
		+
	[[Image:evolutionfilm.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Evolution (dir. Simon Pummell)]]		[[Image:evolutionfilm.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Evolution (dir. Simon Pummell)]]
		+
		+	Directed by Simon Pummell, ''Evolution'' takes its inspiration from the song '[[Heaven For Everyone]]'.  ''Evolution'' intends to represent the hopes and fears of the world at large, and features performance artist Stelarc building and interacting with a robotic arm.
		+
		+	Pummell continues to make challenging short films and in 2003 made the award winning documentary ''Bodysong''.
		+
		+	==Heart-Ache==
		+
	[[Image:heartachefilm.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Heart-Ache (dir. Simon Pummell)]]		[[Image:heartachefilm.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Heart-Ache (dir. Simon Pummell)]]
		+
		+	Simon Pummell also directed ''Heart-Ache'', the short film which used '[[Too Much Love Will Kill You]]' as its inspiration.  The film portays a young couple who are on the verge of breaking up, watched intently by an old lady. The male leaves and decides to demonstrate his affection for his love by getting a 'True Love' tattoo on his arm.  He returns to her and she finally understands just how much she means to him. As they dance together they turn into the watchful old lady and her partner, who go to sit down... as they do so, the man fades away, and the mournful woman is left alone to remember her lost love.
		+
		+	This piece was apparently Brian May's favourite of all the films produced for the project.
		+
		+	==O==
		+
	[[Image:ofilm.jpg|250px|thumb|right|O (dir. Nicholas Bruce)]]		[[Image:ofilm.jpg|250px|thumb|right|O (dir. Nicholas Bruce)]]
		+
		+	'[[My Life Has Been Saved]]' was the inspiration for Nichola Bruce's ''O'', which celebrates the circular form. Using time as its principle theme, the piece is among the more unusual made for the project, combining rotating images of both the natural world and man made objects with footage of the human body and computer animation.
		+
		+	Nichola Bruce continues to make short films and documentaries, and also worked on the ''Blood Of Eden'' video for Peter Gabriel.
		+
		+	==You Don't Fool Me==
		+
	[[Image:youdontfoolmefilm.jpg|250px|thumb|right|You Don't Fool Me (dir. Mark Szaszy)]]		[[Image:youdontfoolmefilm.jpg|250px|thumb|right|You Don't Fool Me (dir. Mark Szaszy)]]
		+
		+	'[[You Don't Fool Me]]' was directed by Mark Szaszy, and took its inspiration from the [[You Don't Fool Me | song of the same name]].  The film is a contemporary tale of androgyny in Western society, and features a young couple making love in the woods, and flashbacks to the moment they met in a bustling nightclub.
		+
		+	This film was one of only two made for the project that was used to promote a single, and as such an alternate edit was included on the '[[Greatest Flix III]]' vhs in 1999, and another extended edit was made to accompany the Dancing Divaz Club Mix of the song when the single was released two years earlier.
		+
		+	Szaszy continues to make documentaries, and also directed several music videos for Oasis.
		+
		+	==Outside-In==
		+
	[[Image:outsideinfilm.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Outside-In (dir. Chris Rodley)]]		[[Image:outsideinfilm.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Outside-In (dir. Chris Rodley)]]
-	[[Image:returntripfilm.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Return Trip (dir. Bernard Rudden)]]
-	[[Image:motherlovefilm.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Mother Love (dir. Jim Gillespie)]]
-	In 1995, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon returned to Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland, to work on finishing the tracks they had begun with Freddie during the early part of 1991. The resulting album, 'Made In Heaven', was the final chapter in the band's legacy with Freddie, and featured polished versions of songs they had never managed to finish before - some came from as far back as the 'Hot Space' sessions in 1982, and two tracks were carefully reworked and almost unrecognisable versions of songs Freddie originally recorded for his 'Mr Bad Guy' solo album. Another, 'Heaven For Everyone', started life as a song by Roger's solo project The Cross, on which Freddie had sung a guest vocal - and Queen's reworked version became the first single from the 'Made In Heaven' project.	+	Directed by Chris Rodley, ''Outside-In'' took its inspiration from the final song Freddie Mercury ever wrote, '[[A Winter's Tale]]'. Interestingly, the film draws an eerie parallel with the last months of Freddie's life, as it portrays a dying man's last fevered dreams of the beautiful landscapes he has seen around the world.  These descend into a wash of colours and textures, bringing a sense of intoxication and delirium before he finally surrenders to his fate.
-	Unfortunately, Freddie's absence meant that filming videos for any single release from the album was somewhat difficult, until someone within the Queen camp came up with a near perfect solution.	+	Chris Rodley has since made several notable music documentaries for television, and worked on Alan Yentob's acclaimed series ''Imagine''.
-	Brian: "I can't actually remember where the idea came from originally, but it emerged that the BFI were very short of funds to enable some of their young directors to get started. We thought this would solve many problems with one stroke. We'll give them some money, they can figure out the most deserving cause to give it to and they can make whatever videos they like for the music."	+	==Return Trip==
-	This was an unusual situation for Queen to be in - for the first time they were completely hands off, allowing the young directors and the BFI to decide how to represent their music. The result was eight very different short films which used songs from the 'Made In Heaven' album as their starting point and soundtrack, and could be shown the world over to promote the album.	+	[[Image:returntripfilm.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Return Trip (dir. Bernard Rudden)]]
-	In order by their positioning on the 'Made In Heaven' album, the first of these accompanied the anthemic gospel-tinged 'Let Me Live'. Entitled 'Return Trip', the film depicted a young couple on the verge of breaking up, who have become unable to communicate with one another. Directed by Bernard Rudden, two versions have been released - one on the 'Made In Heaven: The Films' dvd and vhs, and another alternate edit on the 'Greatest Hits III' vhs, as it was also used to promote the 'Let Me Live' single, a top ten hit in 1996.	+	''Return Trip'', a film directed by Bernard Rudden, was made to accompany the anthemic gospel-tinged 'Let Me Live'. It depicts a married couple on the verge of breaking up, who have become completely unable to communicate with one another.
-	To accompany 'Mother Love', a moving ballad which was the last recording worked on by Freddie before his death, director Jim Gillespie made an intriguing science fiction piece which works surprisingly well with the Queen song it uses as its soundtrack, and with which it shares its name. In this piece, the soul survivor of space cruiser Gagarin engages in a deadly game of cat and mouse with an alien adversary in deepest space, whilst reminiscing about the life he left behind on earth. As with the other films made for this project, it is available on the 'Made In Heaven: The Films' dvd and vhs.	+	This film was one of only two from the project to be used to promote a single release from the album, and as such an alternate edit appears on the '[[Greatest Hits III]]' vhs, released in 1999.
-	'My Life Has Been Saved' was the inspiration for Nichola Bruce's 'O', which celebrates the circular form. Using time as its principle theme, the piece is among the more unusual made for the project, and is available on the 'Made In Heaven: The Films' dvd and vhs.	+	Bernard Rudden continues to make short films.
-	Richard Heslop directed 'I Was Born To Love You' - a celebration of love in all its forms. This too is available on the 'Made In Heaven: The Films' dvd and vhs, and uses an edited version of the song compared to the standard cd album cut.	+	==Mother Love==
-	'Heaven For Everyone' was represented by Simon Pummell's 'Evolution', which looks at the hopes and fears of the world at large, and features the performance artist Stelarc. Using the single edit of the song, it is, once again, available on the 'Made In Heaven' dvd and vhs. However, an alternative clip was used in most places to promote the 'Heaven For Everyone' single, which reached number three in the UK singles charts. Directed by David Mallet, this video mixed archive Queen footage with clips from what is arguably the world's first fantasy film, 'A Trip To The Moon', made in 1902. It is a slightly re-edited version of this promo which was chosen to appear on the 'Greatest Flix III' vhs in 1999.	+	[[Image:motherlovefilm.jpg|250px|thumb|right|Mother Love (dir. Jim Gillespie)]]
-	Simon Pummell also directed 'Heart-Ache', the short film which used 'Too Much Love Will Kill You' as its soundtrack, and is Brian May's favourite of all the films produced by this project. In this piece, a man choses to demonstrate his affection for his lover by getting a tattoo, but is fated to lose all. This piece was featured on the 'Made In Heaven: The Films' dvd and vhs, but for much of the tv promotion when the song was released as a single in early 1996, Rudi Dolezal and Hannes Rossacher were called upon to create a collage of Queen clips from the archives, and it is this promo which features on 'Greatest Flix III'.	+	Whilst many directors would take the last recording worked on by Freddie Mercury before his death, and make an intentionally melancholic piece that examines the meaning of grief, or perhaps summarises Freddie's life and work... director Jim Gillespie instead chose to make an intriguing piece of science fiction piece to accompany the song of the same name.
-	'You Don't Fool Me' was directed by Mark Szaszy, and as well as featuring on the 'Made In Heaven: The Films' dvd and vhs, was also included on 'Greatest Flix III' (with slightly different editing) and was employed to promote the song when it became the fifth and final single from the 'Made In Heaven' album in January of 1997. This piece takes the song's title and uses it as the basis for a contemporary tale of androgyny in Western society. To accompany the Dancing Divaz Club Mix of the song (a bit hit in clubs across Europe and one reason why the song became a single in the first place), an extended version of this film was released as a promo only, but so far remains unavailable on any official release.	+	Surprisingly, it works. The film depicts a crew member of the deep space cruiser Gagarin, as he engages in a deadly game of cat and mouse with an alien adversary in deepest space, as the rest of the crew remain in cryogenic freeze. Whilst he reminisces about the life he left behind on earth, the alien takes the form of his lost love, and forces the astronaut to make a painful sacrifice.
-	Lastly, the second single from the 'Made In Heaven' album, the breathtaking ballad 'A Winter's Tale', was entrusted to Chris Rodley. The result was 'Outside-In' - a short film which draws an eerie parrallell with the last months of Freddie Mercury - in which a man's last fevered dreams become a wash of colours and textures, bringing a sense of intoxication and delirium before he finally surrenders to his fate. This piece, a highlight of the project, is included on the 'Made In Heaven: The Films' dvd and vhs, but was not used to promote the single released to the lucrative Christmas market in December 1995. Instead, Rudi Dolezal and Hannes Rossacher created a collage of images of Montreux, Switzerland which was used instead in two forms - one with added CGI effects recreating Freddie's handwritten lyrics to the song onscreen, and one without. Oddly, the song was left off 'Greatest Hits III' in 1999 despite it's top five placing in the UK singles charts, so the Torpedo Twins video was not included on 'Greatest Flix III', and remains unavailable on any official release.	+	Jim Gillespie has had the most success of any of the directors given funding for the project, having gone on to direct the films ''I Know What You Did Last Summer'', ''D-Tox'' and ''Venom''.

---

Revision as of 19:30, 14 May 2007

In 1995, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon returned to Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland, to work on finishing the tracks they had begun with Freddie Mercury during the early part of 1991. The resulting album, 'Made In Heaven', was the final chapter in the band's legacy with Freddie, and featured polished versions of songs they had never managed to finish before - some came from as far back as the 'Hot Space' sessions in 1982, and two tracks were carefully reworked, almost unrecognisable versions of songs Freddie originally recorded for his 'Mr Bad Guy' solo album. Another, 'Heaven For Everyone', started life as a song by Roger's solo project The Cross, on which Freddie had sung a guest vocal - and Queen's reworked version became the first single from the 'Made In Heaven' project.

Unfortunately, Freddie's absence meant that filming videos for any single release from the album was somewhat difficult, until someone within the Queen camp came up with a near perfect solution.

Brian: "I can't actually remember where the idea came from originally, but it emerged that the BFI were very short of funds to enable some of their young directors to get started. We thought this would solve many problems with one stroke. We'll give them some money, they can figure out the most deserving cause to give it to and they can make whatever videos they like for the music."

This was an unusual situation for Queen to be in - for the first time they were completely hands off, allowing the young directors and the BFI to decide how to represent their music. The result was eight very different short films which used songs from the 'Made In Heaven' album as their starting point and soundtrack, and could be shown the world over to promote the album.

The results were critically acclaimed, even if Queen fans were somewhat unresponsive, and two of the films ended up becoming the official promotional videos for the single releases of the songs they represented. Now available on vhs and dvd, it is best to leave evaluation to the willing individual, but the details below are a brief summary of each piece in turn.

Contents 1 I Was Born To Love You 2 Evolution 3 Heart-Ache 4 O 5 You Don't Fool Me 6 Outside-In 7 Return Trip 8 Mother Love

I Was Born To Love You

Directed by celebrated music video director Richard Heslop, I Was Born To Love You features the song of the same name. It is a celebration of life and love in all its forms. Utilising an edited version of the song compared to the standard cd album cut, it features the inhabitants of a block of council flats of every sexual persuasion. Couples kiss, kids play, and teenagers steal and destroy a car in this monochrome piece.

Heslop, who had previously worked on videos for The Smiths and New Order, continued to make music videos for the likes of The Cure, before directing the tv series Residents and State Of Party.

Evolution

Directed by Simon Pummell, Evolution takes its inspiration from the song 'Heaven For Everyone'. Evolution intends to represent the hopes and fears of the world at large, and features performance artist Stelarc building and interacting with a robotic arm.

Pummell continues to make challenging short films and in 2003 made the award winning documentary Bodysong.

Heart-Ache

Simon Pummell also directed Heart-Ache, the short film which used 'Too Much Love Will Kill You' as its inspiration. The film portays a young couple who are on the verge of breaking up, watched intently by an old lady. The male leaves and decides to demonstrate his affection for his love by getting a 'True Love' tattoo on his arm. He returns to her and she finally understands just how much she means to him. As they dance together they turn into the watchful old lady and her partner, who go to sit down... as they do so, the man fades away, and the mournful woman is left alone to remember her lost love.

This piece was apparently Brian May's favourite of all the films produced for the project.

O

'My Life Has Been Saved' was the inspiration for Nichola Bruce's O, which celebrates the circular form. Using time as its principle theme, the piece is among the more unusual made for the project, combining rotating images of both the natural world and man made objects with footage of the human body and computer animation.

Nichola Bruce continues to make short films and documentaries, and also worked on the Blood Of Eden video for Peter Gabriel.

You Don't Fool Me

'You Don't Fool Me' was directed by Mark Szaszy, and took its inspiration from the song of the same name. The film is a contemporary tale of androgyny in Western society, and features a young couple making love in the woods, and flashbacks to the moment they met in a bustling nightclub.

This film was one of only two made for the project that was used to promote a single, and as such an alternate edit was included on the 'Greatest Flix III' vhs in 1999, and another extended edit was made to accompany the Dancing Divaz Club Mix of the song when the single was released two years earlier.

Szaszy continues to make documentaries, and also directed several music videos for Oasis.

Outside-In

Directed by Chris Rodley, Outside-In took its inspiration from the final song Freddie Mercury ever wrote, 'A Winter's Tale'. Interestingly, the film draws an eerie parallel with the last months of Freddie's life, as it portrays a dying man's last fevered dreams of the beautiful landscapes he has seen around the world. These descend into a wash of colours and textures, bringing a sense of intoxication and delirium before he finally surrenders to his fate.

Chris Rodley has since made several notable music documentaries for television, and worked on Alan Yentob's acclaimed series Imagine.

Return Trip

Return Trip, a film directed by Bernard Rudden, was made to accompany the anthemic gospel-tinged 'Let Me Live'. It depicts a married couple on the verge of breaking up, who have become completely unable to communicate with one another.

This film was one of only two from the project to be used to promote a single release from the album, and as such an alternate edit appears on the 'Greatest Hits III' vhs, released in 1999.

Bernard Rudden continues to make short films.

Mother Love

Whilst many directors would take the last recording worked on by Freddie Mercury before his death, and make an intentionally melancholic piece that examines the meaning of grief, or perhaps summarises Freddie's life and work... director Jim Gillespie instead chose to make an intriguing piece of science fiction piece to accompany the song of the same name.

Surprisingly, it works. The film depicts a crew member of the deep space cruiser Gagarin, as he engages in a deadly game of cat and mouse with an alien adversary in deepest space, as the rest of the crew remain in cryogenic freeze. Whilst he reminisces about the life he left behind on earth, the alien takes the form of his lost love, and forces the astronaut to make a painful sacrifice.

Jim Gillespie has had the most success of any of the directors given funding for the project, having gone on to direct the films I Know What You Did Last Summer, D-Tox and Venom.