Priscilla Hernandez (Official Blog)
@yidneth – Singer-Composer-Illustrator Nature-Photography
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You know that there are places you’d better not roam alone in. You can feel that weird sensation that alerts you. What if the ghost in a haunted place is the place itself? Cross the fence and enter into the desolate feelings of an abandoned house. Places are not haunted by ghosts but by desolation.
Continue reading “Haunted: New Official Videoclip and Locations / Photoshoot”
The Witch in the Woods
Halloween is drawing near and the veil is getting thin…
Every year I do a Halloween special and this was last year’s Hocus Pocus but I am resharing it now along with the photoshoot, making of and locations
so get ready for some eerie entries this October… :). Video was done last Fall, but many of the pictures have been recently edited and are shared now for the first time. Sharing here a special creepy little music video I made for Halloween last year as I am preparing a new seasonal special for this one. In the mood for something slightly eerie? This post also includes photo shoot, filming locations, and lots of pictures!
Are you in Halloween mood quite yet? Do you usually celebrate it?
Are you plotting your costume already?
There will be some “Special Spectral entries” as Autumn is here now in
its full glory with its mysterious mists and fallen leaves.
Press play to listen / watch the video featuring several locations in Spain and France.
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Hocus Pocus is a fantasy seasonal Halloween movie that was released
in 1993 by Disney. Featuring a trio of Witches (The Sanderson Sisters)
the movie is lighthearted and fun entertainment, but there was an eerie
haunting moment, darker than the rest of the film by its tone and
meaning, that stayed with me longer, and that was the moment Sarah, the
blonde haired witch (how appropiate) uses her power, her sweet voice
with which she is able to lure unfortunate children into her lair…
just like a Siren.
So as a collector of movie scores, my main and major influence in my
own music, I have been picking some “classics” from my childhood and
giving them a spin within my own style. And thus here I’m sharing my own
version of the soundtrack.
So do you remember this movie?
It was indeed a commercial and critical flop back in the day but slowly it became a cult classic. Apparently there is a sequel about to be released too after so many years. I remember it with fondness though and some scenes like Sarah singing this song are quite vivid in my mind… It is now a seasonal classic of my generation, so well drop also your impressions if you remember or have watched it. If not, this is the perfect month to have a look at it!
I put a spell on you and now you’re mine
But this post is more than about the song but also the hikes and behind the scenes of this little creepy video I made as Halloween special. (Preparing another surprise for this one) as we get into the mood for the forthcoming All Hallows Eve. Despite being blonde myself and having a “similar garment” than the character that sings it I did not pretend to cosplay the character but tell a different kind of story (darker in mood) than the original take… I am curious about your own interpretations.
The veil is getting thinner…
“Sarah’s Theme” is one of the sung and most iconic tracks in Hocus Pocus Movie score with music by James Horner; lyrics by Brock Walsh inspired by Edgard Allan Poe; performed by Sarah Jessica Parker in the movie. Additional variations were made by who was in charge of most of the instrumental soundtrack of the movie. The theme also known as “Garden of magic” and has become a rather well known seasonal Halloween classic. There are longer versions but the original lyrics (very short) are these:
Come little children, I’ll take thee away,
Into a land of enchantment.
Come little children, the time’s come to play,
Here in my garden of magic.
Credits: Sarah´s theme was composed by James Horner and variations and rest of the movie soundtrack by John Debney http://johndebney.com/. Lyrics by Brock Walsh.
John Debney was kind enough to listen to my version and send back a
compliment which I found so encouraging. This is just a tribute cover
and it’ was not an official release, I always recommend to purchase the
ORIGINAL soundtrack but I enjoyed recording this as it was a challenge
was a good practise to improve my hammered dulcimer playing 🙂 and thus it deviates quite a lot from the original arrangement.
I loved your rendition, it sounded great John Debney (Hocus Pocus OST composer and conductor)
Cover and arrangements by me, Priscilla Hernandez (http://priscillahernandez.com)
Priscilla Hernandez voice, lead and choir, arrangements, hammered dulcimer, piano, video edition
Armen Vartanyan: violin
Svetlana Tovstukha: cello
Héctor Corcín : mixing, mastering, camera work, video edition
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The abandoned decaying ruins of a former village of miners of Arruitzgain on Basakaitz Mount (Spain) served as main background to film the video… There used to be also a train (Plazaola) to transport the minerals from this area that has been of mining interest since the Romans settlements in the area… And at the beginning of the hike you can choose to go over the now deserted rails and tunnels. Then there is a hike uphill while while enjoying a forest of long and slender beech trees. I filmed this exactly mid October last year but the leaves hadn’t fully shifted into autumn colours quite yet (thus we used color correction in the video to make it moodier)
The mining village was abandoned in the fifties and barely a few buildings tumbling down and emerging chimneys and walls over the engulfing and lush vegetation and they look much older while a thick pad of moss, vines and blackberry bushes have covered the walls.
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It felt convenient that there was a fireplace in one of them… oddly enough with signs of recent use, maybe one hiker took the remaining building structure as shelter.
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Don’t worry, I don’t eat children, I’m vegetarian 😉
We also collected some wood in order to create that uneasy feeling of “Witch in the Woods” as I was intending to do a video for the song “Come Little Children” anyway. I always try to release a Halloween special, whether a cover of Halloween classic like this, or an original… so already working in this year special Halloween release. The early autumn filtered light was perfect and I found a perfect witchy staff out of a wooden stick.
After filming we stayed in the woods until dark… you had to be careful as light got dim you could easily for into hollows like this
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El Señorío de Bertiz also in Navarra (Spain) served as additional location including the spooky shot at the end wearing a mask I made out of a piece of bark I collected from the floor. It’s a place we often visit and hike that I will cover in detail in one of my “hiking adventures” posts. But here a clear still of that “eerie ominous ending”. I decided to add a spooky reverse effect to finish. And well , I think I succeeded in my “spectral” makeover.
Additional scenes were added filmed on or hike to the mountaing Midi
dOssau (French Pyrenees), some general scenes of autumnal elements and
small waterfalls and conveniently filming scenes dressed in black like
casting spells in different spots on our ascent. Yes, I hiked with a
corset up to the Pyrenees and here is proof!
I even got into thef freezing mountain lake but I did not use that footage in the final edit of the video.
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Little boys and girls don’t get lost in the woods after dark
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Priscilla Hernandez
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Left to Oblivion…
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Tiermas is a Spanish abandoned village in Aragón in a region of Zaragoza known as Jacetania. This place is located next to the Yesa dam, that was built in the late 50s to provide irrigation and drinking water to this area. Very close to this very water reservoir we can also find another of my favourite deserted locations, Escó that I will cover maybe in another moment, as I spent one magical night stargazing and watching a meteor shower so it deserves its own post.
Those two villages are very close one from another so you can visit them both in one hike. My partner Héctor knows I have a weakness for ruins and desolate locations and they are less than hour drive from where I live now, so we have visited them both through the years and been myself spectator of their decay. I cannot help to feel a pang when I see them falling apart. Some places transcend beautifully when returning to Nature, but there is a sad ghostly quality in Tiermas, futures truncated, homes confiscated from their families, life taken away from a place.
In the case of Tiermas most of the village was flooded in 1959 and it is now underwater. Only part of it remained uncovered, isolated and safe on top of a hill. More than 1500 people lost their homes and crops and had to leave the village, which remained isolated and surrounded by water. In the 90s there were claims by former owners to try to restore the remains of the village but these plans were not taken into account as there are intentions to make the reservoir bigger (engulfing other locations like Escó that are also abandoned). Well technically Escó has 1 inhabitant (a single person that visits the place and keeps his dogs and cattle in it). I know because I met him once and talked with him though there are even legends he’s a “ghost”. Again, that is another story.
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Above: ruins of the thermal baths rising from underwater once a year
The place was once well known for the thermal baths and Hot Springs with hot sulfurous waters. The ruins of this former Health resort rises once a year around September when the water reservoir is rather low. People still gather to take baths when these rise from the waters and it remains known to have “healing properties”. Even though laying down on the spontaneous pools that are formed among the scattered ruins every season is not safe, and one wonder if they can collapse on top of your head, the place is crowded even at night as hikers tend to set up their tents and sing songs while enjoying the thermal hot waters. The ruins return underwater when rain fills the dam again.
It is rumored that they intend to use pipes to build brand new Health Resort eventually on top of the hill for what this old village with so much History would need to be wiped out from existence.
And meanwhile it’s vanishing slowly into forgetfulness.
But today Tiermas it is just a rumble of houses covered in vines. At least emerged on top of the hill. From up above on clear days sometimes you can see the ruins of the rest of the village underwater. I wonder how it may look down there if diving were allowed. I have never seen footage of it and apparently currents make it dangerous. Just curiosity… As a sunk ship wreckage.
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On top of the Hill the abandoned village decays each year, each season one or two houses crumble down. The overgrown vegetation has engulfed everything. The thorns of blackberry bushes have cut the access to many of the old streets unless you want to leave a few drops of blood making a way through.
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One of the highlights is the Church. Some graffiti and painting have
vandalized the romantic decadence of this place. Some are of poor
taste, especially the ones around the church which makes me sad.
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These pictures are old rather old, two years ago the vault collapsed and is gone. So my entry photo doesn’t exist anymore as it is shown in these pictures.
Both Esco and Tiermas were used as “sceneries” for the recent movie “Guernica” (that was bombed in the Civil War) as they both look like a reenactment of villages destroyed by war.
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The “Witches Portal” was built in the XIII century by order of the King Pedro II of Aragon as this was the frontier of the Kingdom of Navarre. It is the only door that remains out of the three that were part of the “fortification” of the village. At the edge of the abandoned Tiermas it offers an excellent aerial view.
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Last time I visited the place oddly a brand new road has been made to reach the location, yet there are no plans for its conservation and all it’s left to fall down. A ghost of a town. It is obviously sad that brand new “Spa” might be built in the near future, wiping out Tiermas history and story.
So this place as it is on these pictures is NO MORE… the arches of the church remain but the vault collapsed… some constructions are barely held by vines… Others have still belongings and objects scattered around… One cannot help to imagine it when it was flourishing and full of life. Both Tiermas and Escó are doomed to oblivion, even if their origins date them on the XII century as towns and even as “settlements” in the Bronze Era. So much History and legacy… falling down and becoming a part entangled by ivy.
Let’s remember it…
This place has shifted and will be no more soon…
But let’s not forget…
Tiermas, Zaragoza, Spain
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All pictures (c) to Priscilla Hernandez. The ones I appear in taken in collaboration with my partner Héctor Corcín.
Do you like abandoned places? Share your thoughts!
Nature can transform everything… even an industrial munition factory into a fantasy scenery… A little imagination can wipe out the ugliness and transform it into an enchanted location.
As I mentioned in my recent article, I have a fondness for ruins and abandoned places. I find them very eerie but melancholic and romantic… I think places are haunted by desolation and disuse but in some cases they are transformed into something magical when overgrown Nature claims them back and this is the case of Orbaizeta.
Continue reading “Orbaitzeta: Old Munition factory turned into Tolkien elven Halls”