Smashing Pumpkins - The Making of 'Ava Adore' (With Commentary)

Here's the making of the Ava Adore music video, with commentary. This was filmed in London, UK, in May 1998. Directed by Dominic Hawley and Nic Goffey. ©1998 Virgin Records.
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING IN THIS VIDEO. ALL MUSIC BELONGS TO THE SMASHING PUMPKINS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE LABELS.

[@jonasness]

D'arcy looks amazing!

[@michaelbrocosthevolvoguy]

She's such a hottie

[@tamathawalden2037]

Sexy as hell in this 😎💋

[@whiterabbit75]

That's a given.

[@Hilaire_Balrog]

She always did ❤

[@Martin_Hermann]

with a lot of paint on her face

[@mortenrobinson]

Very fucking cool music video, imho still one of the best i've ever seen! So demonic, ghostly and vampirical :-D

[@Emy-fv5ny]

This video is one of the best music videos I've ever watch. It's a little bit annoying they complain about the making of this video when the results are so good.

[@jakeenan]

So it WAS done in one take. I always thought it was....but also thought: there's no f**king way they could pull that off.

[@Hilaire_Balrog]

That video is a piece of cinematic art

[@goatmonty]

I really fucking wish they had a higher quality version of the video, all versions I've seen are not just grainy but very pixelated as well. Almost hard to make visual aspects out, a shame because the costume and makeup work is some of the best I've ever seen for a music video

[@nomanejane5766]

I know this is an old comment, but someone uploaded a 4k version of the video

[@ethansloan]

Wish they had included the 35-16-super8 version as an extra on the dvd. Would love to see a video seamlessly change film formats, especially done pre-digital.

[@gdoubleyou3159]

I thought it was one take because you can see a couple of parts where they messed up, like D'arcy running across in the camera's view and her almost walking into one of the dancers.

[@billhunt2605]

Nosferatu meets uncle fester. Awesome

[@SkywalkerSamadhi]

It looks like Darcy messes up a lip sync at one point. Doesn't look like she's singing 'we must never be apart'.. Not that I care too much. She looks gorgeous in this.

[@mrkurt64]

It's weird to say but Adore was the first Pumpkins' album I bought, and I liked it...

[@calxshaw06]

nah you had to get into it some way, the first song I'd heard from sp was 1979 and I was expecting more of the same going into Mellon Collie, which probably accentuated my love for em when I was pleasantly surprised they were doing some heavy shit 😂

[@Dielawn69]

Adore os amazing. Not a bad song on it

[@ezekielbrockmann114]

Adore is great. Nightmare is one of their best songs and it's placement on the album is just totally perfect.

[@gggumball]

​@calxshaw06 it was the opposite for me, first listened to zero, went into mellon colli3 expecting heavy shit, surprised but I love softer songs just as much so I was thrilled to hear it.I actually thought i wasn't going to like it,I didn't like tonight tonight for a while and I thought the whole album was going to be like that after 2 songs

[@georgial6398]

It's a cool video, very pretty and haunting in parts, but Corgan is a creative genius and not just in music but just - in anything he is interested in being a genius about. So I kind of think that if his version had come to fruition it would maybe have been a masterpiece up there w Tonight, Tonight or that kind of thing. But even as is, the Pumpkins have a few of the best music videos ever made. They tried to make real art w them.

[@titmusspaultpaul5]

Amazing video. I was BLOW AWAY by it when I first saw it, and still am. It's a masterpiece. And it helps that its one of my favourite Pumkin songs.... very well done.

[@Utubesanarc]

I would have been d arcys doll. She was delicious here

[@rebeldiamondz]

Thanks so so much for uploading all the 'making of' videos- they really are great & I love watching them all xxx

[@RexRude99]

This video looks better than the crap on the SP’s channel. That looks like a bad VHS converted in Windows 95.

[@ABSOLUTgarbage]

I was thinking this too. It's possible that the VEVO channel sourced the NTSC transfers of the video masters, compared to this footage, which might be from a PAL source, which would explain the better quality, even though both are still standard def.

[@awolsurf-TC]

@@ABSOLUTgarbage there is an even better version on Vimeo uploaded by the director

[@Diane-xh7vl]

I thought this was COOL as SHIT. Loved it😨

[@ShweMyaukMyauk]

Extras are extras and they come early. That's their job and tha's how it has been and always been. There is a reason for that, everyone has a role to play. Just as the director doesnt f around with your music, you shouldnt f around with his work as well and let him do what he does best!

[@anjelinavillalobos3973]

I wish they had the making of all their videos

[@amezianeallioui9374]

You can find on YT, sometimes they're called "alternative videos"

[@minka1781]

I think this video came from their "greatest hits video collection". I'm 90% sure, sadly though I have this dvd , currently I don't have anything to play it. Hope it still works.

[@DaemonovEarth]

MTV has a lot of those making of´s. They used to have a 45 minute show about this stuff.I remember this particular one and The Everlasting Gaze

[@sweetcell8767]

I love this video. Who makes videos like this these days?

[@nicolasriveros943]

3:20 that guy looks like The drummer From Alice in Chains

[@vaciohaciaeldespertar6681]

Sean Kinney.

[@christar9527]

Yeah, Sean Kinney and he’s hotter than all hell!!

[@DaemonovEarth]

ahah I thought the exact same thing the first time i saw this

[@classicpauldanof4u]

So the final video was basically born out of a tribute to Fellini's Satyricon but having Nosferatu-Billy as the main character and throwing in that late 90s industrial-cybergothic aesthetic, and adding to the whole product the grungy Kevin Kerslake (a Smashing Pumpkins music video alum) technique of artistically damaging the film itself. Fascinating.

[@jonrobbin170]

The pumpkins will always need all four members to do what they did in their prime

[@hgodvilla00]

D'Arcy is long gone. She was eye candy, but she was not a good bass player.

[@miralita7869]

@@hgodvilla00no she wasn’t

[@hgodvilla00]

@miralita7869 have you read any interviews with Billy over the past 30 years? He has mentioned these two things in interviews before. If D'Arcy was such a good bass player, why did Billy play her bass parts on the records? Also, there were no other rock bands lining up to hire her in the years after she left the band, even before the drugs took over her life.

[@jack_rabbit]

i miss d'arcy, man... damn

[@vincelong3132]

I'm with you bro

[@tamathawalden2037]

Yes

[@EicherCorp]

1:31 xD ohh fuck! so closed!

[@whiterabbit75]

What I want to know is, who was the Vampire: The Masquerade player; Billy, the director, the set designer, or the costume designer?

[@russellgore9875]

I was born in 1996 wish i could've seen them live such an amazing band

[@mobiuspaw494]

Billy you are a Genius. Awesome video ! 💖

[@berealsupportive2744]

I always loved this video! Bully was so hot in it too

[@celosemnexo]

Bully?

[@christophcarle]

And the producers dont give a f.... about the video and still have the 360p version in their portfolio. Wow.

[@judasthepious1499]

sooo.. awesome..

[@Illuminata6]

Great!!

[@tutsybassista]

I first saw this in college on something called The Box! I only had a small black and white 📺 with rabbit ears!

[@ryemoboy7234]

No matter how you did it guys this made my childhood days! thank you very much! i love it!

[@teenyverse7707]

So, is it, Ay-VA or Ah-VAH???

[@celosemnexo]

First option.

[@awolsurf-TC]

Great BTS video!!! I just wished they would address the "reveal" halfway through where we see the cameras/crew/extras etc. Would love to know the reasoning behind pulling back the curtain. Love this video and I also would love to see "alternate" film versions of it.

[@nimjayawardhana8973]

0:22 they explain

[@monkeyliver1986]

Is that Sean kinney at 3:20?

[@TakeFlight]

So how much did it cost ?

[@israelabrahamortizoropeza1276]

best video EVER

[@Lei-AICPhD]

Yessssssss

[@saturahman7510]

Billy is a genious. I love his music and videos.

[@DJSTOEK]

cool

[@PeoplesChoiceofficial]

love

[@gyelamagnechavez]

The first time I saw this, I thought Billy Corgan was uncle Fester

[@cleangoblin2021]

Billy is a genius. My respect for this man just cant end

[@sparkle8632]

What does "Bakken" alien insanity mean?

[@sebastianpaper]

bacchanalian