Highlights from the Ned O'Hanlon Conference (featuring Edge)

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Sunday, January 28 1996 4:00PM EDT - 6:30PM EDT

Fan Club Forum on CompuServe


Marcus - U2 SL OK gang, a couple of ground rules first...If you have a question, type a '?' at any time. That will get you on the list, but don't ask the question until Michelle or I recognize you.

It is with great pleasure that Michelle and I introduce Ned O'Hanlon, who, as you know, has produced many of U2's recent video exploits, including 'ZOO TV Live From Sydney' and Achtung Baby the videos, the cameos and a whole lot of interference from ZOO TV. Married to Anne-Louise Kelly, Ned has been close to the band for many years and has a unique insight into the way U2's music is transferred to your screens.

Welcome Ned!

Zooropa Child Greetings Ned !

U2 Naku hi ned

Zooropa Baby Hi Ned

Melon/U2 Co-SL Welcome!

Melissa Welcome Ned

Ms MacPhisto Welcom NED!!!

!!!AmbroSia@U2(TM) Dui Duit, Ned!

Lis Hello Ned!

Guy W. Welch Hi Ned

Billy Boola Slan!

L.J. Savage Hey Ned, Remember me?

CallyCat Hi Ned. Welcome to Wonderland . . . :)

Peter Hi, Ned!

Elizabeth Hi Ned!

Ned O'Hanlon Hello! Sorry for the delay

Billy Boola Failte

Guy W. Welch Guten Abend Ned

E. Fong Hi- whereever you are

Melissa Congratulations for your grammy Ned!

Ned O'Hanlon The Grammy was for Zoo TV Live From Sydney

Kim The first question:... Ned, great to have you here. Now, what's all been on our minds... When's the next tour, and will you be working your magic on it?

Ned O'Hanlon The next tour won't happen til the next album is out. Expected street date.. I don't know if I'll be working on it... far too early to say

U2 Naku ok my question is will the next tour be more sophisticated tech wise than Zoo Tv, will it have some of the similar concepts

Ned O'Hanlon I really don't know. I don't work for the guys - so I'll have to wait ..

Melissa Do you like working with them?

Ned O'Hanlon Yes. Very much. They have been very good for me and my company. We've been allowed to spend a great deal of their money in the past. I hope we can do it again!

Aingeal very funny, Ned. as if they can't spend it fast enough themselves. :)

Guy W. Welch The video for Hold me, Thrill me, Kiss me, Kill Me had a lot of inside stuff. Bono sliding down the surface of things", the Screwtape Letters, Elvis in a trabant... a fabulous video. What part of that was input from the band and what inputs did you have?

Joe Fronek Hi ---Ned---its Joe Fonek ---driver from zoo tv tour---I pulled the Grove Lift from show to show---how are you?

Ned O'HanlonWell, Guy W. The idea to do animation was the band. The script was from Kevin Godley and the rest was ourselves - with a lot of help from the animators Manga. Joe. How the hell are ya!

Joe Fronek I am well

Mark P. Ring Hi Ned - this is Paul Ring, I knew you briefly in Dublin at the Communications Dept. of the College of Commerce. Just wanted to say hi, good luck and continued success. I think the videos are great.

Melissa You are both so lucky to have had the change to work with U2!

Ned O'Hanlon PAUL RING!!! How are you and what are you doing here!

Mark P. Ring I'm editing and producing for an independent production company in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Ned O'Hanlon You're right, Melissa. Although it ain't all beer and skittles

Melissa Yes I know :-)

Ned O'Hanlon Good on you Paul. Next time I'll call you

Eric Palmer With all these "old friends" running into Ned, this is starting to feel like a walk down O'Connell Street, eh?

Zooropa Child Ned -- What is the most memorable moment you have in working with U2 so far?

Ned O'Hanlon Being mistaken for Bono in Mexico!

Hype Hi Ned Any plans do more documentaries on U2?

Ned O'Hanlon We'd love to. They are in studio so we'll have to see..

Joe Fronek it,s all memorable---the guys are great

L.J. Savage Hey Ned, I just tuned in to say hello. I hope all is going well for you. Say hi to Maurice. I must go now. Take care.

Ms MacPhisto ok..my ? is along thelines of guy's 1st one...for the videos that you've done..how do you come up with the ideas for it? do the guys bring you the idea or is it like a group discussion? hope that's not too vague)

At this point in the conference - Ned's computer crashed.

Ms MacPhisto I'm just wondering how a u2 video is born...does the band come to you and say "put this here and that there" or do you interpret freely....or something else?

Aingeal You let Bono touch the computer, didn't you, Ned. :)

Ned O'Hanlon Sorry. I crashed. But I'm back, Something else.....

Michael Murphy Ned as good with computer as he swith a squash raquet ?

Ned O'Hanlon Michael Murphy. Is that You?. Anne-Louise won't let me say GA

Michael Murphy pint o lager and a bag of tayto please Ned

Aingeal Ned, how many people do you KNOW online? :)

CallyCat More than he thought apparently :D

Ned O'Hanlon You owe me 50 quid fro our last game

Michael Murphy Ned last time U played OJ it wasnt inspiring!!

Mike Altenburg Does anyone out there have a date of the new U2 album release and tour info???

Ned O'Hanlon Hey! What about me?

Hermann hey Ned. Did Wim Wenders direct Faraway, So Close?

Ned O'Hanlon Yes he did, along with Mark Neale

Hermann sweet. Is he directing Bonos movie?

Ned O'Hanlon Yes Herman, he is GA

Achtung Baby Ned, do you know how's the relationship between the band members right now?

Ned O'Hanlon Well, Achtung, what a question.

RM What happened to the FAll?

Ned O'Hanlon What's the FALL?

Lis I don't know if this is a question you can answer but..As I understand it, the band went with the idea of the ZooTV tour to catch the wave of technology in the early 90's. Even "Hold Me Thrill Me" seemed to capture the feel of Japanese cartoon technology. Since then, the world of Internet with places like WIRE, the World Wide Web and forums such as this one have cropped up all over. Does U2 plan to create a presence on the Internet and how do they feel about some of the Internet U2 groups out there, like WIRE and forums like this one?

Ned O'Hanlon Liz, They could be watching now....

Matt Shapiro Hey Ned, how did you become a video producer?

Ned O'Hanlon Matt, it was an accident, I swear

Melissa Watching right now.... interesting

E. Fong pls explain

Aingeal Ned, you don't wanna give these people anymore reason to act up. You think they're bad NOW...

U2 Naku if they are watching, guys, I love you, stay cool, don't forget about us....

Lis Big mistake to say that, Ned! (and my next one won't be so long!)

Ned O'Hanlon Relax. It's well past their bedtime

U2 Naku yeah but i heard they stay up all nite

Mike Altenburg Ned, what do you or anyone else hear about the new music? Is it more rock like or more Techno?

Hermann Industrial?

Ned O'Hanlon Howie B. is around a lot these days......GA

Michael Murphy c ya ned, regards to Anne louise

Matt Shapiro It was my understanding that the new album was going to be alomg the lines of a more traditional, rock sound (relatively speaking, of course).

Ned O'Hanlon Well good for you Matt!

Melissa Where are you right now Ned?

Ned O'Hanlon In bed

Hermann Ned, Do you feel Bono has become to big for his britches?

Ned O'Hanlon No No. He just has big britches!

Melon/U2 Co-SL Here in the U.S., the Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me video was shown in two different versions - the one originally shown was with Mr. Pussy's on one of the marquees in the alley, but in later showings the version shown had that as Mr. Swampy's. I was wondering about the reasons behind the switch, if there was some pressure from MTV or somewhere else because they didn't like the name Mr. Pussy's. Was this anticipated and the second version ready to go or was this something that had to be done quicky after the video's premiere? GA

Ned O'Hanlon MTV didn't like Mr Pussy's. We had to change to Mr Swampy's on the day of release. Mr Swampy was Kevin Godley's dogs name. FYI Mr Pussy won't ever refer to MTV again

Melon/U2 Co-SL I wonder why...

Matt Shapiro Hey Ned, how much creative freedom are you given? Do you work within broad guidelines or are band members breathing down your neck?

At this point in the conference - Ned's computer crashed again.

Marcus - U2 SL Welcome back Ned

lancer ned how is it going?

Ned O'Hanlon Can I say that I really don't know what the band are doing in the studio. All I know is that sometimes they put their heads up and say... What about some video?

Kim I saw the Garth Brooks special that Dreamchaser did. Since Garth is from my hometown, what was it like to "work" with him? Or did you have much contact with him?

Aingeal Amen, Ned.

Ned O'Hanlon Well,Maurice did all the travelling. Garth was brilliant to work with but that's another conversation

Kim mabye we can have that conv. later...

CallyCat Er, I was wondering how your work U2 has affected anyother projects, like, any ideas used? Also, feel free to share any whimsical anecdotes about the band that may pop into your head :)

Ned O'Hanlon HHmmm not sure about that. Working with U2 is such an organic experience....

Aingeal you've been watching too many shampoo commercials, ned.

Ned O'Hanlon I make most of them

CallyCat Aha. Next shampoo commercial I see I'll look for U2 stuff then ha ha

U2 Naku Ned, gotta go, nice meeting you...... i think this is about as close to them as i will ever get.......but anyway.....slan!

Ned O'Hanlon Slan Leat abhaile

Rory (:~)> U2 Ned, nice to see you keeping the Irish language going:)

lancer ned whats that funny language you are speaking ?

Ned O'Hanlon Rory. Where have you been!!!GA. Lancer, Behave yourself

Rory (:~)> U2 Ned~ just off the plane!

Guy W. Welch What did you and the band have in mind when doing the Miss Sarajevo video? Clearly, the band feels very strongly about the situation in that part of the world. Was the video intended to elevate the issue in the minds of the public? Unfortunately in the U.S. MTV did not play the video very often and the single floundered in the charts compared to Europe. Do you think this is because of the violent footage in the video, and the ideas that the U.S. audience has about rock and roll? Great Video BTW

Joe Fronek Ned-- your the best--but you know that,hope i see you next time the U-2 boys tour the U.S.A--if i get the gig--tell them all Hi for me----Joe (coffee) or Mr. FROGNECK

Ned O'Hanlon Miss Sarajevo wasn't released as a single in America. The footage came from a documentary called strangely Miss Sarajevo, shot on cheap video and very heavily post-produced GA

Guy W. Welch I am familair with the video, shot by American Bill Carter. Do you know if it is available?

Marcus - U2 SL The video for 'The Fly' was the first the U2 audience had seen of the 90's U2. How much input did you have into the direction the video took and what can you tell us of the making of the video ?.GA

Ned O'Hanlon It took two days to shoot and a lot of editing. We had two directors, Richie who did the performance and Jon who did the conceptual. It was a very "intersting' time GA

Marcus - U2 SL in what way interesting ? GA

Ned O'Hanlon Well, It took a long time to complete. It was a very important time for the band. They were mixing the album downstairs and we were editing upstairs. We all got caught up in the cabin fever..GA

Ned O'Hanlon I have a question. What do you think of Original Soundtracks?

Melissa I have to go too. It was a pleasure talking to you Ned. Say hi to the band for me and keep those grammies coming!

Aingeal Guy, the documentary has been shown on public television as well as the Discovery Channel.

Ned O'Hanlon Thanks, Melissa. Has it? Nobody told us. Where's our money?

Joshua M. Tree I think Original Soundtracks is too techno , even for 90's U2

Aingeal Perhaps it was a promo, or it was featured in a special about Sarajevo I saw one day

Rory (:~)> U2 paying off the french government

Ms MacPhisto I love Passengers...great "mood music"

Jessica I loved `Elvis Ate America'...

Zooropa Baby it's okay, but there isn't enought of the guys' "touch" on it, it just seems more like Brian Eno than the guys.

Zooropa Child I think "Passengers" is a creative album.. Lots of great music..

Lis I thought it was great, it really asks for the listener to pay attention to the music.

Joshua M. Tree Yes Zooropa Baby- I feel the same

Jessica yes, I agree with Zooropa Baby

Zooropa Baby i'm glad somebody else does

Peter It took a few listens, but I really like it.

Melon/U2 Co-SL I really love about 3/4's of the songs

Zooropa Child I agree with, Lis

Guy W. Welch I enjoy Original Soundtracks, a lot of good material. I am also glad that U2 decided to release it under the name of Passengers. Too bad though, without a big name I think it went largely unnoticed.

Aingeal Elvis Ate America' has to be the most flippant U2 song since 'Party Girl'. I love it.

Melon/U2 Co-SL Slug, Corpse, MS, Elvis.

Aingeal Basically a slow rocket to tokyo. GREAT funky wallpaper for those of us who write scripts and stories

Joshua M. Tree I love "youre Blue Room"

Zooropa Baby that's a good one, so is Slug

Joshua M. Tree Yeah, they both sound more like Zooropa U2

Jessica Ned, I'm sure you've been asked this quite a lot, but I just gut here... When will U2 be touring next?

Ned O'Hanlon Sorry Jessica. We covered that

Zooropa Child Ned -- How long does it usually take to film a video and do you have a favorite video you filmed so far?

Ned O'Hanlon Usually one day for a 'normal' video. The best was a video for 'ONE' which we shot in 36 hours in New York and finished 90 hours later, without sleep. That was the marathon GA

Zooropa Child Wow ! Good work though, Ned ! For you and the boys ! =-)

- Visitor Hi Ned. I was there for "one" Remember me? (PM)

Ned O'Hanlon PM Identify yourself !!

- Visitor Dayton Taylor, I PM "One" in New York. Production Managed

Ned O'Hanlon Dayton! I remember. Do I owe you money?

- Visitor No

Aingeal do you owe him money?

- Visitor I have a camera that does that "trick" we talked about now.

Ned O'Hanlon Oh Yes! Most interested in that trick. Did I see something of that in the recent Stones vic?

- Visitor Yes. I think Michele Gandri (France) did it. Very similar thing. He morphed between 10 or 15 stills.If you're interested in my camera call Rocky Morton with Morton Jankel Zander in LA. He really wants to direct something with it.

Aingeal okay here we go: Hi Ned, I'm Aingeal but my real name tends to get me confused with your wife (not a bad thing!). Lemme just say you are doing right now what I have wanted to do all my life. My question is, to the best of your knowledge, would U2 ever be tempted to go the comic/cartoon route again with a video?

Kim Ned, Anna is a BRILL cartoonist!

Ned O'Hanlon Aingeal, I know the band were delighted with the Batman vid. They might well go again. Dayton, do give us a call....

Aingeal I was also impressed!. You should have seen my face when I found out they were going to be animated. Edge and Bono were accurate, although Adam's hair was far too flexible. It rarely moves! Larry was a little too...plastic. :)

Ned O'Hanlon They liked it too. No sitting around film sets!

Lis Was there any special reason three videos were shot for "One"? Does it make it difficult as avideo producer to be fresh and creative with ideas when the same song is being used over and over?

Ned O'Hanlon On the 'One' video. There were 5 videos. One never seen and the others all happened within the space of one month. Call it video overload GA

Aingeal 5? I have only seen 3

Marcus - U2 SL I've seen 4

Lis What happened to the other 2?

Ned O'Hanlon Aaaaahhhhh, there ya go!

Zooropa Baby what was the fourth?

Marcus - U2 SL I've seen 2 Buffalo videos one featured the band the other didn't

Aingeal dressed as buffalos?

Ned O'Hanlon A mixture of the buffalo video with other stuff. It never worked. We junked it

Marcus - U2 SL not quite

Aingeal I mean, if they can dress as women...

CallyCat Say, Ned, does the term "can of worms" mean anything toyou now . . . ;-)

Zooropa Baby buffalo + band interesting

Ned O'Hanlon What 'can of worms'??

Aingeal oh god, I get this mental picture of Bono in his 'Wanderer' cowboy togs riding a buffalo down Grafton street.

!!!AmbroSia@U2(TM) LOL

Lis Were they remaining 2 videos all featuring the Buffalo?

Zooropa Baby heeheeheee - draw it!!

CallyCat hee hee. Just that your answer sparked a most interestingdiscussion!

Aingeal A can of worms about 5 videos while most people have seen 3

!!!AmbroSia@U2(TM) Let April, draw that one!!!!!!!!

Ned O'Hanlon When we use that idea, I'll claim it as my own!

Aingeal Hey!! Oh no you don't! it's already been done! Bah ha!

Zooropa Baby don't worry, what song would they use?

- Visitor Ned, are you in NY, Ireland, or somewhere else?

Ned O'Hanlon Maybe

- Visitor Ha!

Ned O'Hanlon I work with them sometimes. I work for myself mostly. Seeya Peter. Rory. I'm waiting!

Rory, (:~)> U2 Come back to me, not ready:(

Zooropa Baby what was it like taping Zoo TV Live, with Adam missing the night before? tense?

Ned O'Hanlon That was very scary. We were very worried about him. Had he not been well enough on the night, we would have broadcast that show, without Adam. That would have been horrible.

Zooropa Baby it seemed like it went well anyway (no live experience to draw from)

Ned O'Hanlon It went really well. Everything was in it's Place - including Adam! Happily for us all. Bye Liz

Zooropa Baby it looks really good . you definitely deserve the grammy

Ned O'Hanlon Thank you. For us it was the culmination of 2 years work. It was freat to capture the phenomenon of Zoo TV on tape that way GA

Aingeal 'freat'? Ned, don't let Bono type!

Marcus - U2 SL OK, In Bill Flanagan's book, it says that you were very close to center of all Zoo action, can you elaborate on this and give us any insights to the way visual elements were selected for use in the show. GA

Ned O'Hanlon Well, I was as close as I couyld be without getting burned. The decision making on Zoo Tv was by a group of people. The band were at the centre and we were there to help

Guy W. Welch Do you have any news on Bono's movie script, Hollywood Hotel? I heard Phil Joanou wanted to direct....what is the status on it. Will Bono ever make it in show business? Will you be invloved?

lancer Ned Do you make money at this or is it just for the fun?

Ned O'Hanlon Lancer. Behave yourself. I'll pay you back as soon as i can

Marcus - U2 SL so how many times did you have to re-do sequences when the band changed their minds ? GA

Ned O'Hanlon Not so much when they changed their minds. We would all decide that we should change stuff. We would hear about something, meet some new artists, get new ideas, and, late at night when good people are in bed, we would dream up mad and crazy ideas....

Aingeal hmmm...when good people are in bed. Makes me the insomniac feel better.

Marcus - U2 SL Who's idea was it to have the Drummer boy for the Zooropa tour ? GA

Aingeal that was Leni Reifenstahl footage, I believe? (that was NOT spelled right.)

Ned O'Hanlon We constantly wanted to update. That is what was great

Rory, (:~)> U2 How did it really feel at the Berlin show as it was playing?

Ned O'Hanlon First person was Brian Eno. EBN (answers on a postcard) made the loops and Maurice incorporated them into the show footage

Aingeal 'kay.Emergency Broadcast Network. Nyah. :)

Eric Palmer Ned, share some thoughts with us about the U2 audience. I've heard people say that U2 and its fans "get along" like no others. Do you agree? Why? GA

Ned O'Hanlon They do enjoy a very special relationship with the band.

Aingeal Do they every get annoyed with us?

Eric Palmer Why is that?

Aingeal I mean, if we can get annoyed with fellow fans I can't imagine what it must be like for the band.

Ned O'Hanlon Er um, don't know the answear to that one. You buy their records, pay their wages......

Aingeal i know, I paid for that green Jag Bono drives or tries to, at least). :) But I cannot believe they would not get sick of us once in a while.

Zooropa Baby but it would tick me if people were constantly discussing my life/problems

Flare The U2 audience is very passionate. (And Aingeal, you annoy enough people already!)

Rory, (:~)> U2 I wish some of those security guys knew that

Aingeal Hey!

Eric Palmer Do other bands have similar relationships with their fans, to your knowledge?

Ned O'Hanlon Leave Aingeal alone! The green jag is now maroon, a ticked off fan poured acid on the green paint!

Zooropa Baby MAROON?!?!?!?!?!

Aingeal Thanks, Ned. :) I thought he owned TWO Jags! it's the same one!If they had to destroy a car, why not the Cortina?

Ned O'Hanlon What's wrong with the cortina?

Aingeal Nothing, really. But the Jag is just a little more expensive, no?

Ned O'Hanlon Less about cars, guys

Kim I'm listening to Zooropa at the moment, and I was wondering: Why weren't some kind of videos made for the title track and Babyface, both very both very visual songs. Why weren't some kind of videos made for them, and can you tell us some of the thoughts behind the vid for Lemon?

Ned O'Hanlon Videos for Zooropa and Babyface were made only for the show, during the latter days of Zooropa 93. These songs wern't released as singles, so no commercial vids. For Lemon, Mark Neale just came up with the plot and the band liked it!

Kim so what's the plot? do you know?

Ned O'Hanlon You mean the idea behind the video?

Kim exactly. and what does the vid for Zooropa look like? I've always seen it as a view from an airplane, looking down on a lit up city at night.

Aingeal me too, Kim, except the plane is flying THROUGH the city, and the city is Tokyo

Ned O'Hanlon I guess you'll have to ask Mark Neale about that one. I wasn't involved.

Ned O'Hanlon Unfortunately, that smacks of post-rationalisation on an enormous scale!

Aingeal okay, back to my first question about the Hold Me... video - how much say did the band get in the 'look' of the video? Did Bono get to say how big his nose could be, etc? (it's a serious question, Ned, I swear! I just threw that in to make sure you heard me. )

Ned O'Hanlon This one was unusual. As they wanted to go the animation route and we had less that 4 weeks, the band had to agree to some B&W line drawings, some storyboards and a good sell. Animation takes a long time - we didn't have that luxury!

Aingeal I know! it DOES take a long time, I was AMAZED it was done so fast and with the quality it had

- Visitor Ned That fire needs some more coal

Ned O'Hanlon Thank you, visitor, I shall attend immediately. We had a lot of fun with that video. It was a first for us. One of the best parts was calling up the movie director's office and saying we want this bit, or that bit of the movie

Aingeal Heheheh, the wife came after you, Ned. :) A lot of fans were really confused by that video, though I suspect it was intended to clear things up

Zooropa Child Ned -- Are you going to make you own World Wide Web page sometime about your line of work, working with U2 and what do you think U2 thinks about some of the creative artwork, writings, etc. that are on some of these U2 Web pages.

Ned O'Hanlon What was the confusion ? I'll have to get better aquainted with The Net first

Aingeal Well, a lot of people wondered what the sequence towards the end meant - Bono being hit by the car driven by Elvis, being in a mad - scientists' lab, etc.

Zooropa Baby that i'm amazed with the # of frequent flier miles the 2 of you must have. bye everybody

Aingeal bye!

- Visitor Hey Lancer are you still awake? GA

lancer Of course I am awake - I wouln't miss this for the world!

Rory, (:~)> U2 Mr O'Hanlon ,Personal question sorry: I am a 17 year old student at present. A few years ago I began to think seriously what way to take my education etc in order to get a good job that not only would I would enjoy but love. I 'had' no idea what I wanted to do, and was advised to go where my heart takes me. Well, after getting into ZooTv I really enjoyed the idea and was *really* interested (use of video with music and lights at concerts). Since then I have directed my studies towards that area Physics, Computers and Music) with work experience and all. My question is what is the best path now to take in Ireland as it is one of the hardest industries to get into here? I have thought about just getting out there and starting at the deep end, but others said it would be best to go to Uni. etc....what do you think? I really want to get into the music industry in this area........oh God this so hard to get my point across in this question! ~ does Dreamchaser take on any work experience people or anything??? (Don't have to answer the last part:) ..........on another point...... (Does Bono speak much Irish now? I mean, when I was in class there was Bono on this photo about great people who speak Irish, but I have never really heard much out of him:) GA

Aingeal Yikes, Rory!

Rory, (:~)> U2 ~~~opps, never thought it was so long

Ned O'Hanlon Visitor, Lancer, don't you have homes to go to?

Edge Ned, who in your opinion has the most charisma Garth or Bono?

Ned O'Hanlon Rory, That's a conversation for another place. I went to college, my partner, Maurice did Zoology - befor Zoo Tv - and we know lots of others that never finished... so who knows

Kim I'm voting Bono. Although, the people of Yukon would vote Garth, since he's on our watertower.Nice ta see ya, Edge. Been a long time.

Aingeal Garth, Edge, because he has the better hats. :)

Ned O'Hanlon Are you here to cause trouble, Edge?

Aingeal he should have been here earlier if he wanted trouble!

Kim Ned, he won't talk to me!

Ned O'Hanlon Sorry Kim!

lancer Now Now Ned Be Nice- You KNOW what happens when your bold!

Edge Just a stray dog looking for a home Ned

Aingeal He's ignoring us, Kim. :)

Eric Palmer ? for Ned: do you owe Lancer or Edge money? :-)

Kim I won't say anything about that, Edge.

Aingeal Hey Edge, Ned, did you guys get my Christmas card? I apologise if it annoyed you.

Kim How have you been, tho, Edge?

Edge Kim I'm good, been astray...

Kim that's too bad. You could come to my house and curl up on my floor....

The Fly Ned, tell me about the "Numb" video, what was your input for it? I haven't seen many of your/U2's vid's(sorry). But of the one's I've seen, Numb is definitley one of the strangest...who's idea was it? etc;

Kim They wanted to torture poor Edge.

The Fly strange torture... :)

Rory, (:~)> U2 ~they did!

Aingeal Notice they didn't quite ignore his request for beautiful women to nibble on him, though.

Ned O'Hanlon That's a good one. That came from a think tank in Cologne. We knew we had to make a video for numb and as we sat with the band brainstroming, the idea finally came out. Maurice caught it and put the shape on it.

The Fly great. I really love it, strange as it is!

Ned O'Hanlon Then they idea got fleshed out and Kevin Godley was asked to direct. It all happened very fast, as most things did. but Maurice's finger plays a vital role!

The Fly was it, as Kim said, a way to torture The Edge?

Ned O'Hanlon pretty much. But I think he enjoyed it

The Fly cool. thanks Ned.

Marcus - U2 SL Can you give me the official reason why Tryin to throw your arms around the world' was left off the 'Zoo TV Live From Sydney' video ?

Ned O'Hanlon I'm not sure there's an 'official' reason. I think the band just changed the set, so it didn't fit as well, I think (!)??)

Marcus - U2 SL any ideas Edge ?

Edge I didn't Know it was missing

Marcus - U2 SL well it is... it kinda surprised me

Ned O'Hanlon I wasn't sure myself!

Marcus - U2 SL it was on the pay-per-view broadcastbut not on the video release

Rory (:~)> U2 There was a theory that Bono mooned to the crowd..I believe that's Marcus' idea behind the question (Is it?)

Flare The whole of U2 net-fandom's breath is baited on resolving this issue!

Ned O'Hanlon We did have to cut down the concert for sell-through. Can't remember why that one didn't make it, though. No, Bono didn't moon. No reason to edit that, had it happened!

Aingeal yeah, why should Bono's tuckus end up on the cutting room floor if Adam's willy makes the album cover? :)

G.W. Welch why were the confessionals taken out of the home video version.

Ned O'Hanlon The confessionals were taken out because they upset the flow of the show. In the venue they were great, they just didn't stand up to repeated viewings

G.W. Welch Ned, I loved the History Mix on Interference. How long did that take to put together?

Ned O'Hanlon Guy, that took forever. We spent about 8 weeks on that.

G.W. Welch It was time well spent, absolutely fantastic. It does show a lot of work though.

Ned O'Hanlon Finding the archive was the hard part - then treating it differently to show the evolution of the band, seeing what we had done, changing our minds, taking the band input - it was a long one!

G.W. Welch musically, as well as visually, the evolution was seamless

Rory (:~)> U2 Did you know that the wall opposite Windmill studios is going to be demolished for a new development? How does the guys feel about that, because I started a petition and so far the fans are really t'ed off about it. As for most, it is the only means of 'talking to the band' and to show how much they love the band etc.........also, up here we have a great place for concerts (for the next tour), Derry city football grounds, 30 thousand etc:) GA ~sorry

Ned O'Hanlon Rory, I hadn't heard about the wall. I'll have to ask tomorrow.GA

Rory (:~)> U2 Its true, and I am gonna stop it! i have HUNDREDS, plus e mails from fans all over the world about it!

The Fly ok, Ned, what was the first video you did with U2, and how have you evolved (with them) since then?

Ned O'Hanlon My first video was a Clannad/Bono video called 'In A Lifetime' I was a runner. That was 1983/4. Then the first I produced was 'All I Want Is You' little seen in America. We shot it on a beach outside Rome over 4 days. It's one of my favourite tracks and videos

G.W. Welch Whose idea was it to flash words quickly across the screen as seen in the Fly video and during the live shows? Was it the band or somebody at Dreamchaser? Had this been done previously in film or video?

Rory (:~)> U2 In a lifetime: Outside Ardara, Donegal:)

Aingeal Weren't the Fly messages based on Jenny Holzer (name?) videos?

Rory (:~)> U2 Yes

Aingeal I thought so! :)

Ned O'Hanlon Words were always a part of Zoo TV. Brian Eno and Willie Williams and Bono and all sorts of others had it it different ways. In the video, Jon Klien came up with some of the slogans Bono with outhers, ourselves with others. The show was Mark Pellington. Pellington took the word idea and went mad. We all sat in an edit suite and thought up all the words we could. All our names are in there....Jenny Holzer was certainly an influence. She wasn't the first person to use words as 'Art' and neither were we..

G.W. Welch Cool. Everybody I know that had been to the shows were really impressed with the fly text

Ned O'Hanlon It is one of my favourite moments of the show

G.W. Welch somebody on the net has been spreading a screen saver version of the fly text

Ned O'Hanlon Love to get a copy of that!

G.W. Welch it makes the screen look like the video wall, I put my name in there

Zooropa Child That's a cool screensaver.. I have it on my BBS..

G.W. Welch It's on the U2 newsgroups, Zooropa Child could help youit works for windows, good fun

Eric Palmer Ned: the screensaver isn't designed for the Mac.

Zooropa Child Yeh, I have a copy of the screensaver for download on my BBS..

Ned O'Hanlon Boo! Hiss!

Flare Yep! Ned - I wondered, given that your work has a large effect on the way U2 are perceived publicly, how do you feel about criticisms that the band are "self-agrandising" or "pompous" in their output?

Marcus - U2 SL ok gang, time has run out on us and Ned has to go

G.W. Welch thnaks for spending time with us ned. Can we e-mail you?

Zooropa Child Good chatting with you Ned !

Aingeal yes, Ned, thanks for being such a trouper. You have infinite patience!

Flare Doh! Interesting listening anyhow..!

Melon/U2 Co-SL Thanks Ned so much for coming on and your friends as well.

The Fly thanks a lot Ned, it was great having you here. :)

Ned O'Hanlon Flare. I just work for them sometimes. Their image comes from them we are interpreters. They've been called all those things and have been guitly of them too. They've also never stood still.

Danielle thanks for letting me listen in guys, can I email you a quick question Ned?

Rory (:~)> U2 Ned, thanks so much for your time, looking forward to many more great years of videos:)

Ned O'Hanlon Guys, I have to go. Work tomorrow and the Superbowl is on, though I've no idea what's happening. Thanks y'all, see ya later, NED

Eric Palmer Cheers to Ned!

Melon/U2 Co-SL Thanks to all for coming.

The Fly super bowl, schmuper bowl thanks Melon and Marcus!!


ng, a couple of ground rules first...If you have a question, type a '?' at any time. That will get you on the list, but don't ask the question until Michelle or I recognize you.

It is with great pleasure that Michelle and I introduce Ned OHanlon, who, as you know, has produced many of U2s recent video exploits, including ZOO TV Live From Sydney and Achtung Baby the videos, the cameos and a whole lot of interference from ZOO TV. Married to Anne-Louise Kelly, Ned has been close to the band for many years and has a unique insight into the way U2s music is transferred to your screens.

Welcome Ned!

Zooropa Child Greetings Ned !

U2 Naku hi ned

Zooropa Baby Hi Ned

Melon/U2 Co-SL Welcome!

Melissa Welcome Ned

Ms MacPhisto Welcom NED!!!

!!!Ambroia@U2 Dui Duit, Ned!

Lis Hello Ned!

Guy W. Welch Hi Ned

Billy Boola Sln!

L.J. Savage Hey Ned, Remember me?

CallyCat Hi Ned. Welcome to Wonderland . . . :)

Peter Hi, Ned!

Elizabeth Hi Ned!

Ned O'Hanlon Hello! Sorry for the delay

Billy Boola Falte

Guy W. Welch Guten Abend Ned

E. Fong Hi- whereever you are

Melissa Congratulations for your grammy Ned!

Ned O'Hanlon The Grammy was for Zoo TV Live From Sydney

Kim The first question:... Ned, great to have you here. Now, what's all been on our minds... When's the next tour, and will you be working your magic on it?

Ned O'Hanlon The next tour won't happen til the next album is out. Expected street date.. I don't know if I'll be working on it... far too early to say

U2 Naku ok my question is will the next tour be more sophisticated tech wise than Zoo Tv, will it have some of the similar concepts

Ned O'Hanlon I really don't know. I don't work for the guys - so I'll have to wait ..

Melissa Do you like working with them?

Ned O'Hanlon Yes. Very much. They have been very good for me and my company. We've been allowed to spend a great deal of their money in the past. I hope we can do it again!

Aingeal very funny, Ned. as if they can't spend it fast enough themselves. :)

Guy W. Welch The video for Hold me, Thrill me, Kiss me, Kill Me had a lot of inside stuff. Bono sliding down the surface of things", the Screwtape Letters, Elvis in a trabant... a fabulous video. What part of that was input from the band and what inputs did you have?

Joe Fronek Hi ---Ned---its Joe Fonek ---driver from zoo tv tour---I pulled the Grove Lift from show to show---how are you?

Ned O'HanlonWell, Guy W. The idea to do animation was the band. The script was from Kevin Godley and the rest was ourselves - with a lot of help from the animators Manga. Joe. How the hell are ya!

Joe Fronek I am well

Mark P. Ring Hi Ned - this is Paul Ring, I knew you briefly in Dublin at the Communications Dept. of the College of Commerce. Just wanted to say hi, good luck and continued success. I think the videos are great.

Melissa You are both so lucky to have had the change to work with U2!

Ned O'Hanlon PAUL RING!!! How are you and what are you doing here!

Mark P. Ring I'm editing and producing for an independent production company in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Ned O'Hanlon You're right, Melissa. Although it ain't all beer and skittles

Melissa Yes I know :-)

Ned O'Hanlon Good on you Paul. Next time I'll call you

Eric Palmer With all these "old friends" running into Ned, this is starting to feel like a walk down O'Connell Street, eh?

Zooropa Child Ned -- What is the most memorable moment you have in working with U2 so far?

Ned O'Hanlon Being mistaken for Bono in Mexico!

Hype Hi Ned Any plans do more documentaries on U2?

Ned O'Hanlon We'd love to. They are in studio so we'll have to see..

Joe Fronek it,s all memorable---the guys are great

L.J. Savage Hey Ned, I just tuned in to say hello. I hope all is going well for you. Say hi to Maurice. I must go now. Take care.

Ms MacPhisto ok..my ? is along thelines of guy's 1st one...for the videos that you've done..how do you come up with the ideas for it? do the guys bring you the idea or is it like a group discussion? hope that's not too vague)

At this point in the conference - Ned's computer crashed.

Ms MacPhisto I'm just wondering how a u2 video is born...does the band come to you and say "put this here and that there" or do you interpret freely....or something else?

Aingeal You let Bono touch the computer, didn't you, Ned. :)

Ned O'Hanlon Sorry. I crashed. But I'm back, Something else.....

Michael Murphy Ned as good with computer as he swith a squash raquet ?

Ned O'Hanlon Michael Murphy. Is that You?. Anne-Louise won't let me say GA

Michael Murphy pint o lager and a bag of tayto please Ned

Aingeal Ned, how many people do you KNOW online? :)

CallyCat More than he thought apparently :D

Ned O'Hanlon You owe me 50 quid fro our last game

Michael Murphy Ned last time U played OJ it wasnt inspiring!!

Mike Altenburg Does anyone out there have a date of the new U2 album release and tour info???

Ned O'Hanlon Hey! What about me?

Hermann hey Ned. Did Wim Wenders direct Faraway, So Close?

Ned O'Hanlon Yes he did, along with Mark Neale

Hermann sweet. Is he directing Bonos movie?

Ned O'Hanlon Yes Herman, he is GA

Achtung Baby Ned, do you know how's the relationship between the band members right now?

Ned O'Hanlon Well, Achtung, what a question.

RM What happened to the FAll?

Ned O'Hanlon What's the FALL?

Lis I don't know if this is a question you can answer but..As I understand it, the band went with the idea of the ZooTV tour to catch the wave of technology in the early 90's. Even "Hold Me Thrill Me" seemed to capture the feel of Japanese cartoon technology. Since then, the world of Internet with places like WIRE, the World Wide Web and forums such as this one have cropped up all over. Does U2 plan to create a presence on the Internet and how do they feel about some of the Internet U2 groups out there, like WIRE and forums like this one?

Ned O'Hanlon Liz, They could be watching now....

Matt Shapiro Hey Ned, how did you become a video producer?

Ned O'Hanlon Matt, it was an accident, I swear

Melissa Watching right now.... interesting

E. Fong pls explain

Aingeal Ned, you don't wanna give these people anymore reason to act up. You think they're bad NOW...

U2 Naku if they are watching, guys, I love you, stay cool, don't forget about us....

Lis Big mistake to say that, Ned! (and my next one won't be so long!)

Ned O'Hanlon Relax. It's well past their bedtime

U2 Naku yeah but i heard they stay up all nite

Mike Altenburg Ned, what do you or anyone else hear about the new music? Is it more rock like or more Techno?

Hermann Industrial?

Ned O'Hanlon Howie B. is around a lot these days......GA

Michael Murphy c ya ned, regards to Anne louise

Matt Shapiro It was my understanding that the new album was going to be alomg the lines of a more traditional, rock sound (relatively speaking, of course).

Ned O'Hanlon Well good for you Matt!

Melissa Where are you right now Ned?

Ned O'Hanlon In bed

Hermann Ned, Do you feel Bono has become to big for his britches?

Ned O'Hanlon No No. He just has big britches!

Melon/U2 Co-SL Here in the U.S., the Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me video was shown in two different versions - the one originally shown was with Mr. Pussy's on one of the marquees in the alley, but in later showings the version shown had that as Mr. Swampy's. I was wondering about the reasons behind the switch, if there was some pressure from MTV or somewhere else because they didn't like the name Mr. Pussy's. Was this anticipated and the second version ready to go or was this something that had to be done quicky after the video's premiere? GA

Ned O'Hanlon MTV didn't like Mr Pussy's. We had to change to Mr Swampy's on the day of release. Mr Swampy was Kevin Godley's dogs name. FYI Mr Pussy won't ever refer to MTV again

Melon/U2 Co-SL I wonder why...

Matt Shapiro Hey Ned, how much creative freedom are you given? Do you work within broad guidelines or are band members breathing down your neck?

At this point in the conference - Ned's computer crashed again.

Marcus - U2 SL Welcome back Ned

lancer ned how is it going?

Ned O'Hanlon Can I say that I really don't know what the band are doing in the studio. All I know is that sometimes they put their heads up and say... What about some video?

Kim I saw the Garth Brooks special that Dreamchaser did. Since Garth is from my hometown, what was it like to "work" with him? Or did you have much contact with him?

Aingeal Amen, Ned.

Ned O'Hanlon Well,Maurice did all the travelling. Garth was brilliant to work with but that's another conversation

Kim mabye we can have that conv. later...

CallyCat Er, I was wondering how your work U2 has affected anyother projects, like, any ideas used? Also, feel free to share any whimsical anecdotes about the band that may pop into your head :)

Ned O'Hanlon HHmmm not sure about that. Working with U2 is such an organic experience....

Aingeal you've been watching too many shampoo commercials, ned.

Ned O'Hanlon I make most of them

CallyCat Aha. Next shampoo commercial I see I'll look for U2 stuff then ha ha

U2 Naku Ned, gotta go, nice meeting you...... i think this is about as close to them as i will ever get.......but anyway.....slan!

Ned O'Hanlon Slan Leat abhaile

Rory (:~)> U2 Ned, nice to see you keeping the Irish language going:)

lancer ned whats that funny language you are speaking ?

Ned O'Hanlon Rory. Where have you been!!!GA. Lancer, Behave yourself

Rory (:~)> U2 Ned~ just off the plane!

Guy W. Welch What did you and the band have in mind when doing the Miss Sarajevo video? Clearly, the band feels very strongly about the situation in that part of the world. Was the video intended to elevate the issue in the minds of the public? Unfortunately in the U.S. MTV did not play the video very often and the single floundered in the charts compared to Europe. Do you think this is because of the violent footage in the video, and the ideas that the U.S. audience has about rock and roll? Great Video BTW

Joe Fronek Ned-- your the best--but you know that,hope i see you next time the U-2 boys tour the U.S.A--if i get the gig--tell them all Hi for me----Joe (coffee) or Mr. FROGNECK

Ned O'Hanlon Miss Sarajevo wasn't released as a single in America. The footage came from a documentary called strangely Miss Sarajevo, shot on cheap video and very heavily post-produced GA

Guy W. Welch I am familair with the video, shot by American Bill Carter. Do you know if it is available?

Marcus - U2 SL The video for The Fly was the first the U2 audience had seen of the 90s U2. How much input did you have into the direction the video took and what can you tell us of the making of the video ?.GA

Ned O'Hanlon It took two days to shoot and a lot of editing. We had two directors, Richie who did the performance and Jon who did the conceptual. It was a very "intersting' time GA

Marcus - U2 SL in what way interesting ? GA

Ned O'Hanlon Well, It took a long time to complete. It was a very important time for the band. They were mixing the album downstairs and we were editing upstairs. We all got caught up in the cabin fever..GA

Ned O'Hanlon I have a question. What do you think of Original Soundtracks?

Melissa I have to go too. It was a pleasure talking to you Ned. Say hi to the band for me and keep those grammies coming!

Aingeal Guy, the documentary has been shown on public television as well as the Discovery Channel.

Ned O'Hanlon Thanks, Melissa. Has it? Nobody told us. Where's our money?

Joshua M. Tree I think Original Soundtracks is too techno , even for 90's U2

Aingeal Perhaps it was a promo, or it was featured in a special about Sarajevo I saw one day

Rory (:~)> U2 paying off the french government

Ms MacPhisto I love Passengers...great "mood music"

Jessica I loved `Elvis Ate America'...

Zooropa Baby it's okay, but there isn't enought of the guys' "touch" on it, it just seems more like Brian Eno than the guys.

Zooropa Child I think "Passengers" is a creative album.. Lots of great music..

Lis I thought it was great, it really asks for the listener to pay attention to the music.

Joshua M. Tree Yes Zooropa Baby- I feel the same

Jessica yes, I agree with Zooropa Baby

Zooropa Baby i'm glad somebody else does

Peter It took a few listens, but I really like it.

Melon/U2 Co-SL I really love about 3/4's of the songs

Zooropa Child I agree with, Lis

Guy W. Welch I enjoy Original Soundtracks, a lot of good material. I am also glad that U2 decided to release it under the name of Passengers. Too bad though, without a big name I think it went largely unnoticed.

Aingeal Elvis Ate America' has to be the most flippant U2 song since 'Party Girl'. I love it.

Melon/U2 Co-SL Slug, Corpse, MS, Elvis.

Aingeal Basically a slow rocket to tokyo. GREAT funky wallpaper for those of us who write scripts and stories

Joshua M. Tree I love "youre Blue Room"

Zooropa Baby that's a good one, so is Slug

Joshua M. Tree Yeah, they both sound more like Zooropa U2

Jessica Ned, I'm sure you've been asked this quite a lot, but I just gut here... When will U2 be touring next?

Ned O'Hanlon Sorry Jessica. We covered that

Zooropa Child Ned -- How long does it usually take to film a video and do you have a favorite video you filmed so far?

Ned O'Hanlon Usually one day for a 'normal' video. The best was a video for 'ONE' which we shot in 36 hours in New York and finished 90 hours later, without sleep. That was the marathon GA

Zooropa Child Wow ! Good work though, Ned ! For you and the boys ! =-)

- Visitor Hi Ned. I was there for "one" Remember me? (PM)

Ned O'Hanlon PM Identify yourself !!

- Visitor Dayton Taylor, I PM "One" in New York. Production Managed

Ned O'Hanlon Dayton! I remember. Do I owe you money?

- Visitor No

Aingeal do you owe him money?

- Visitor I have a camera that does that "trick" we talked about now.

Ned O'Hanlon Oh Yes! Most interested in that trick. Did I see something of that in the recent Stones vic?

- Visitor Yes. I think Michele Gandri (France) did it. Very similar thing. He morphed between 10 or 15 stills.If you're interested in my camera call Rocky Morton with Morton Jankel Zander in LA. He really wants to direct something with it.

Aingeal okay here we go: Hi Ned, I'm Aingeal but my real name tends to get me confused with your wife (not a bad thing!). Lemme just say you are doing right now what I have wanted to do all my life. My question is, to the best of your knowledge, would U2 ever be tempted to go the comic/cartoon route again with a video?

Kim Ned, Anna is a BRILL cartoonist!

Ned O'Hanlon Aingeal, I know the band were delighted with the Batman vid. They might well go again. Dayton, do give us a call....

Aingeal I was also impressed!. You should have seen my face when I found out they were going to be animated. Edge and Bono were accurate, although Adam's hair was far too flexible. It rarely moves! Larry was a little too...plastic. :)

Ned O'Hanlon They liked it too. No sitting around film sets!

Lis Was there any special reason three videos were shot for "One"? Does it make it difficult as avideo producer to be fresh and creative with ideas when the same song is being used over and over?

Ned O'Hanlon On the 'One' video. There were 5 videos. One never seen and the others all happened within the space of one month. Call it video overload GA

Aingeal 5? I have only seen 3

Marcus - U2 SL I've seen 4

Lis What happened to the other 2?

Ned O'Hanlon Aaaaahhhhh, there ya go!

Zooropa Baby what was the fourth?

Marcus - U2 SL I've seen 2 Buffalo videos one featured the band the other didn't

Aingeal dressed as buffalos?

Ned O'Hanlon A mixture of the buffalo video with other stuff. It never worked. We junked it

Marcus - U2 SL not quite

Aingeal I mean, if they can dress as women...

CallyCat Say, Ned, does the term "can of worms" mean anything toyou now . . . ;-)

Zooropa Baby buffalo + band interesting

Ned O'Hanlon What 'can of worms'??

Aingeal oh god, I get this mental picture of Bono in his 'Wanderer' cowboy togs riding a buffalo down Grafton street.

!!!Ambroia@U2 LOL

Lis Were they remaining 2 videos all featuring the Buffalo?

Zooropa Baby heeheeheee - draw it!!

CallyCat hee hee. Just that your answer sparked a most interestingdiscussion!

Aingeal A can of worms about 5 videos while most people have seen 3

!!!Ambroia@U2 Let April, draw that one!!!!!!!!

Ned O'Hanlon When we use that idea, I'll claim it as my own!

Aingeal Hey!! Oh no you don't! it's already been done! Bah ha!

Zooropa Baby don't worry, what song would they use?

- Visitor Ned, are you in NY, Ireland, or somewhere else?

Ned O'Hanlon Maybe

- Visitor Ha!

Ned O'Hanlon I work with them sometimes. I work for myself mostly. Seeya Peter. Rory. I'm waiting!

Rory, (:~)> U2 Come back to me, not ready:(

Zooropa Baby what was it like taping Zoo TV Live, with Adam missing the night before? tense?

Ned O'Hanlon That was very scary. We were very worried about him. Had he not been well enough on the night, we would have broadcast that show, without Adam. That would have been horrible.

Zooropa Baby it seemed like it went well anyway (no live experience to draw from)

Ned O'Hanlon It went really well. Everything was in it's Place - including Adam! Happily for us all. Bye Liz

Zooropa Baby it looks really good . you definitely deserve the grammy

Ned O'Hanlon Thank you. For us it was the culmination of 2 years work. It was freat to capture the phenomenon of Zoo TV on tape that way GA

Aingeal 'freat'? Ned, don't let Bono type!

Marcus - U2 SL OK, In Bill Flanagan's book, it says that you were very close to center of all Zoo action, can you elaborate on this and give us any insights to the way visual elements were selected for use in the show. GA

Ned O'Hanlon Well, I was as close as I couyld be without getting burned. The decision making on Zoo Tv was by a group of people. The band were at the centre and we were there to help

Guy W. Welch Do you have any news on Bono's movie script, Hollywood Hotel? I heard Phil Joanou wanted to direct....what is the status on it. Will Bono ever make it in show business? Will you be invloved?

lancer Ned Do you make money at this or is it just for the fun?

Ned O'Hanlon Lancer. Behave yourself. I'll pay you back as soon as i can

Marcus - U2 SL so how many times did you have to re-do sequences when the band changed their minds ? GA

Ned O'Hanlon Not so much when they changed their minds. We would all decide that we should change stuff. We would hear about something, meet some new artists, get new ideas, and, late at night when good people are in bed, we would dream up mad and crazy ideas....

Aingeal hmmm...when good people are in bed. Makes me the insomniac feel better.

Marcus - U2 SL Who's idea was it to have the Drummer boy for the Zooropa tour ? GA

Aingeal that was Leni Reifenstahl footage, I believe? (that was NOT spelled right.)

Ned O'Hanlon We constantly wanted to update. That is what was great

Rory, (:~)> U2 How did it really feel at the Berlin show as it was playing?

Ned O'Hanlon First person was Brian Eno. EBN (answers on a postcard) made the loops and Maurice incorporated them into the show footage

Aingeal 'kay.Emergency Broadcast Network. Nyah. :)

Eric Palmer Ned, share some thoughts with us about the U2 audience. I've heard people say that U2 and its fans "get along" like no others. Do you agree? Why? GA

Ned O'Hanlon They do enjoy a very special relationship with the band.

Aingeal Do they every get annoyed with us?

Eric Palmer Why is that?

Aingeal I mean, if we can get annoyed with fellow fans I can't imagine what it must be like for the band.

Ned O'Hanlon Er um, don't know the answear to that one. You buy their records, pay their wages......

Aingeal i know, I paid for that green Jag Bono drives or tries to, at least). :) But I cannot believe they would not get sick of us once in a while.

Zooropa Baby but it would tick me if people were constantly discussing my life/problems

Flare The U2 audience is very passionate. (And Aingeal, you annoy enough people already!)

Rory, (:~)> U2 I wish some of those security guys knew that

Aingeal Hey!

Eric Palmer Do other bands have similar relationships with their fans, to your knowledge?

Ned O'Hanlon Leave Aingeal alone! The green jag is now maroon, a ticked off fan poured acid on the green paint!

Zooropa Baby MAROON?!?!?!?!?!

Aingeal Thanks, Ned. :) I thought he owned TWO Jags! it's the same one!If they had to destroy a car, why not the Cortina?

Ned O'Hanlon What's wrong with the cortina?

Aingeal Nothing, really. But the Jag is just a little more expensive, no?

Ned O'Hanlon Less about cars, guys

Kim I'm listening to Zooropa at the moment, and I was wondering: Why weren't some kind of videos made for the title track and Babyface, both very both very visual songs. Why weren't some kind of videos made for them, and can you tell us some of the thoughts behind the vid for Lemon?

Ned O'Hanlon Videos for Zooropa and Babyface were made only for the show, during the latter days of Zooropa 93. These songs wern't released as singles, so no commercial vids. For Lemon, Mark Neale just came up with the plot and the band liked it!

Kim so what's the plot? do you know?

Ned O'Hanlon You mean the idea behind the video?

Kim exactly. and what does the vid for Zooropa look like? I've always seen it as a view from an airplane, looking down on a lit up city at night.

Aingeal me too, Kim, except the plane is flying THROUGH the city, and the city is Tokyo

Ned O'Hanlon I guess you'll have to ask Mark Neale about that one. I wasn't involved.

Ned O'Hanlon Unfortunately, that smacks of post-rationalisation on an enormous scale!

Aingeal okay, back to my first question about the Hold Me... video - how much say did the band get in the 'look' of the video? Did Bono get to say how big his nose could be, etc? (it's a serious question, Ned, I swear! I just threw that in to make sure you heard me. )

Ned O'Hanlon This one was unusual. As they wanted to go the animation route and we had less that 4 weeks, the band had to agree to some B&W line drawings, some storyboards and a good sell. Animation takes a long time - we didn't have that luxury!

Aingeal I know! it DOES take a long time, I was AMAZED it was done so fast and with the quality it had

- Visitor Ned That fire needs some more coal

Ned O'Hanlon Thank you, visitor, I shall attend immediately. We had a lot of fun with that video. It was a first for us. One of the best parts was calling up the movie director's office and saying we want this bit, or that bit of the movie

Aingeal Heheheh, the wife came after you, Ned. :) A lot of fans were really confused by that video, though I suspect it was intended to clear things up

Zooropa Child Ned -- Are you going to make you own World Wide Web page sometime about your line of work, working with U2 and what do you think U2 thinks about some of the creative artwork, writings, etc. that are on some of these U2 Web pages.

Ned O'Hanlon What was the confusion ? I'll have to get better aquainted with The Net first

Aingeal Well, a lot of people wondered what the sequence towards the end meant - Bono being hit by the car driven by Elvis, being in a mad - scientists' lab, etc.

Zooropa Baby that i'm amazed with the # of frequent flier miles the 2 of you must have. bye everybody

Aingeal bye!

- Visitor Hey Lancer are you still awake? GA

lancer Of course I am awake - I wouln't miss this for the world!

Rory, (:~)> U2 Mr O'Hanlon ,Personal question sorry: I am a 17 year old student at present. A few years ago I began to think seriously what way to take my education etc in order to get a good job that not only would I would enjoy but love. I 'had' no idea what I wanted to do, and was advised to go where my heart takes me. Well, after getting into ZooTv I really enjoyed the idea and was *really* interested (use of video with music and lights at concerts). Since then I have directed my studies towards that area Physics, Computers and Music) with work experience and all. My question is what is the best path now to take in Ireland as it is one of the hardest industries to get into here? I have thought about just getting out there and starting at the deep end, but others said it would be best to go to Uni. etc....what do you think? I really want to get into the music industry in this area........oh God this so hard to get my point across in this question! ~ does Dreamchaser take on any work experience people or anything??? (Don't have to answer the last part:) ..........on another point...... (Does Bono speak much Irish now? I mean, when I was in class there was Bono on this photo about great people who speak Irish, but I have never really heard much out of him:) GA

Aingeal Yikes, Rory!

Rory, (:~)> U2 ~~~opps, never thought it was so long

Ned O'Hanlon Visitor, Lancer, don't you have homes to go to?

Edge Ned, who in your opinion has the most charisma Garth or Bono?

Ned O'Hanlon Rory, That's a conversation for another place. I went to college, my partner, Maurice did Zoology - befor Zoo Tv - and we know lots of others that never finished... so who knows

Kim I'm voting Bono. Although, the people of Yukon would vote Garth, since he's on our watertower.Nice ta see ya, Edge. Been a long time.

Aingeal Garth, Edge, because he has the better hats. :)

Ned O'Hanlon Are you here to cause trouble, Edge?

Aingeal he should have been here earlier if he wanted trouble!

Kim Ned, he won't talk to me!

Ned O'Hanlon Sorry Kim!

lancer Now Now Ned Be Nice- You KNOW what happens when your bold!

Edge Just a stray dog looking for a home Ned

Aingeal He's ignoring us, Kim. :)

Eric Palmer ? for Ned: do you owe Lancer or Edge money? :-)

Kim I won't say anything about that, Edge.

Aingeal Hey Edge, Ned, did you guys get my Christmas card? I apologise if it annoyed you.

Kim How have you been, tho, Edge?

Edge Kim I'm good, been astray...

Kim that's too bad. You could come to my house and curl up on my floor....

The Fly Ned, tell me about the "Numb" video, what was your input for it? I haven't seen many of your/U2's vid's(sorry). But of the one's I've seen, Numb is definitley one of the strangest...who's idea was it? etc;

Kim They wanted to torture poor Edge.

The Fly strange torture... :)

Rory, (:~)> U2 ~they did!

Aingeal Notice they didn't quite ignore his request for beautiful women to nibble on him, though.

Ned O'Hanlon That's a good one. That came from a think tank in Cologne. We knew we had to make a video for numb and as we sat with the band brainstroming, the idea finally came out. Maurice caught it and put the shape on it.

The Fly great. I really love it, strange as it is!

Ned O'Hanlon Then they idea got fleshed out and Kevin Godley was asked to direct. It all happened very fast, as most things did. but Maurice's finger plays a vital role!

The Fly was it, as Kim said, a way to torture The Edge?

Ned O'Hanlon pretty much. But I think he enjoyed it

The Fly cool. thanks Ned.

Marcus - U2 SL Can you give me the official reason why Tryin to throw your arms around the world was left off the Zoo TV Live From Sydney video ?

Ned O'Hanlon I'm not sure there's an 'official' reason. I think the band just changed the set, so it didn't fit as well, I think (!)??)

Marcus - U2 SL any ideas Edge ?

Edge I didn't Know it was missing

Marcus - U2 SL well it is... it kinda surprised me

Ned O'Hanlon I wasn't sure myself!

Marcus - U2 SL it was on the pay-per-view broadcastbut not on the video release

Rory (:~)> U2 There was a theory that Bono mooned to the crowd..I believe that's Marcus' idea behind the question (Is it?)

Flare The whole of U2 net-fandom's breath is baited on resolving this issue!

Ned O'Hanlon We did have to cut down the concert for sell-through. Can't remember why that one didn't make it, though. No, Bono didn't moon. No reason to edit that, had it happened!

Aingeal yeah, why should Bono's tuckus end up on the cutting room floor if Adam's willy makes the album cover? :)

G.W. Welch why were the confessionals taken out of the home video version.

Ned O'Hanlon The confessionals were taken out because they upset the flow of the show. In the venue they were great, they just didn't stand up to repeated viewings

G.W. Welch Ned, I loved the History Mix on Interference. How long did that take to put together?

Ned O'Hanlon Guy, that took forever. We spent about 8 weeks on that.

G.W. Welch It was time well spent, absolutely fantastic. It does show a lot of work though.

Ned O'Hanlon Finding the archive was the hard part - then treating it differently to show the evolution of the band, seeing what we had done, changing our minds, taking the band input - it was a long one!

G.W. Welch musically, as well as visually, the evolution was seamless

Rory (:~)> U2 Did you know that the wall opposite Windmill studios is going to be demolished for a new development? How does the guys feel about that, because I started a petition and so far the fans are really t'ed off about it. As for most, it is the only means of 'talking to the band' and to show how much they love the band etc.........also, up here we have a great place for concerts (for the next tour), Derry city football grounds, 30 thousand etc:) GA ~sorry

Ned O'Hanlon Rory, I hadn't heard about the wall. I'll have to ask tomorrow.GA

Rory (:~)> U2 Its true, and I am gonna stop it! i have HUNDREDS, plus e mails from fans all over the world about it!

The Fly ok, Ned, what was the first video you did with U2, and how have you evolved (with them) since then?

Ned O'Hanlon My first video was a Clannad/Bono video called 'In A Lifetime' I was a runner. That was 1983/4. Then the first I produced was 'All I Want Is You' little seen in America. We shot it on a beach outside Rome over 4 days. It's one of my favourite tracks and videos

G.W. Welch Whose idea was it to flash words quickly across the screen as seen in the Fly video and during the live shows? Was it the band or somebody at Dreamchaser? Had this been done previously in film or video?

Rory (:~)> U2 In a lifetime: Outside Ardara, Donegal:)

Aingeal Weren't the Fly messages based on Jenny Holzer (name?) videos?

Rory (:~)> U2 Yes

Aingeal I thought so! :)

Ned O'Hanlon Words were always a part of Zoo TV. Brian Eno and Willie Williams and Bono and all sorts of others had it it different ways. In the video, Jon Klien came up with some of the slogans Bono with outhers, ourselves with others. The show was Mark Pellington. Pellington took the word idea and went mad. We all sat in an edit suite and thought up all the words we could. All our names are in there....Jenny Holzer was certainly an influence. She wasn't the first person to use words as 'Art' and neither were we..

G.W. Welch Cool. Everybody I know that had been to the shows were really impressed with the fly text

Ned O'Hanlon It is one of my favourite moments of the show

G.W. Welch somebody on the net has been spreading a screen saver version of the fly text

Ned O'Hanlon Love to get a copy of that!

G.W. Welch it makes the screen look like the video wall, I put my name in there

Zooropa Child That's a cool screensaver.. I have it on my BBS..

G.W. Welch It's on the U2 newsgroups, Zooropa Child could help youit works for windows, good fun

Eric Palmer Ned: the screensaver isn't designed for the Mac.

Zooropa Child Yeh, I have a copy of the screensaver for download on my BBS..

Ned O'Hanlon Boo! Hiss!

Flare Yep! Ned - I wondered, given that your work has a large effect on the way U2 are perceived publicly, how do you feel about criticisms that the band are "self-agrandising" or "pompous" in their output?

Marcus - U2 SL ok gang, time has run out on us and Ned has to go

G.W. Welch thnaks for spending time with us ned. Can we e-mail you?

Zooropa Child Good chatting with you Ned !

Aingeal yes, Ned, thanks for being such a trouper. You have infinite patience!

Flare Doh! Interesting listening anyhow..!

Melon/U2 Co-SL Thanks Ned so much for coming on and your friends as well.

The Fly thanks a lot Ned, it was great having you here. :)

Ned O'Hanlon Flare. I just work for them sometimes. Their image comes from them we are interpreters. They've been called all those things and have been guitly of them too. They've also never stood still.

Danielle thanks for letting me listen in guys, can I email you a quick question Ned?

Rory (:~)> U2 Ned, thanks so much for your time, looking forward to many more great years of videos:)

Ned O'Hanlon Guys, I have to go. Work tomorrow and the Superbowl is on, though I've no idea what's happening. Thanks y'all, see ya later, NED

Eric Palmer Cheers to Ned!

Melon/U2 Co-SL Thanks to all for coming.

The Fly super bowl, schmuper bowl thanks Melon and Marcus!!

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About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by Jonathan published on January 28, 1996 9:40 PM.

Bono Spends New Year's 1996 in Sarajevo was the previous entry in this blog.

Highlights from the Dreamchaser Conference is the next entry in this blog.

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