Original film & video
BLEED 4 U
Music Video
THE LAKE
Opening Credits
Fictional Film
THANKS ANYWAY
Music Video
TELL ME
Music Video
CHAMELEON
MAN: live
Filmed Concert Plus..
NATALIE
BABBITT
Tribute Film
the good life
Music Video
ICE STATION NINE
Music Video
CHAMELEON
MAN
Music Video
thanks anyway
music video 2022 (3:10)
Brand-new collaboration between myself and Francine. Shot in the house during the first days of COVID, we interpreted the song in a variety of ways - but always the visuals are about being dissociated, and finding ways to avoid contact with memory and trauma...
In my song, I'm speaking from that bleak and troubled place all of us know, that feels utterly defeated... The place of "No-hope." Perhaps people are offering support, or solutions, but we just say, "Thanks anyway..." because we just don't want to hear it. No hopeful ending, no "get back on the horse..." - just done done done... It happens - and there's no shame in it.
tell me
music video 2016 (3:24)
Francine and I rented a wonderful, sun-drenched house in York, ME for 2 years - and we made this elaborate set-piece. We joked that I had to make a "prison" inside this light-filled space... Styrofoam and spray paint and 2x3's became a dark and dank background for the song about a man inside the prison of his mind... unable to tell dream from awake..
Director, Set design/construction, Editing by Tom Babbitt.
Co-Direction, Cinematography, Set dressing and Production by Francine Zaslow.
Music, Lyrics, Arrangement, Performance, Recording by Tom Babbitt
Song mixed & mastered, drums played, by Sam Kapala.
CHAMELEON MAN live
LIVE CONCERT FILm 2019 (38:27)
Live show filmed in September 2018, featuring 8 original songs and an extended version of ZZ Top's "Blue Jean Blues." The concert took place at SPACE 320 in Newton, MA with a small studio audience - and features musicians Marciani from Argentina (guitar and vocals); Pietro Gennenzi from Italy (bass); Juan Mejia from Colombia (drums): and Santiago Galeano​ from Argentina (Keyboards and vocals). Each of these monster players (and wonderful guys) are Berklee School of Music grads and accomplished composers, arrangers and bandleaders in their own right. Tom's animations, as well his films with Francine Zaslow were projected during the live show as well as integrated into the finished film.
Natalie Babbitt: in memorial
Brief Tribute film 2016 (8:15)
This is a short film shot by Francine and edited by myself. We played it for the assembled crowd at her Memorial Ceremony, and it was well received - a special moment for many of us. She was a powerful creative force and her writing will live on in the hearts and minds of readers for some time to come.
Co-Directed by Francine Zaslow & Tom Babbitt. Editing and music by TB. Includes clips from the family archives over many years.
THE GOOD LIFE
music video 2020 (3:02)
This is a little experiment, using iPhone movies taken out the window driving around Boston. The city is a blur, but also rhythmic and repetitive, like a drumbeat. Life in the city: "...such hard work convincing myself that this is where I want to be..." About Revere beach: "Miles and miles of broken glassy beaches; stretching lonely by a blacktop road, engines are whining by; cigarette butt, like a crust of bread, attracting winged creatures; spend their day pecking through the dust, looking for a bit of sky..."
Direction, Animation, Editing by Tom Babbitt.
ice station nine
music video 2015 (3:57)
One of the very first collaborations with Francine. We found someone's "room" (with bed and everything) under a bridge in Lewiston, ME which became a symbol for the main theme - that we think so very little of ourselves, and that this "Ice Station" of a post-apocalyptic world seems just normal... "Sure, it ain't much - but neither are you and me..."
Direction, Actor, Editing by Tom Babbitt.
Co-direction, Videography, Production by Francine Zaslow.
Shot on location in both Lewiston, ME and Lawrence, MA.
chameleon man
music video 2013 (3:54)
I just shot myself singing the whole thing through, then went to town using every imaginable idea - of continually morphing from one thing to another. My favorite part is when I've juxtaposed an older man's face onto mine, and the eye gets tricked for a moment about who's singing.
Direction, Acting, Editing, Music & Lyrics by TB.
bleed 4 you
music video 2016 (1:50)
Abstract, animated meditation using stone as a metaphor throughout. Blood from stones... Strangely, I had the distinct feeling the song was about my one true Love, who I'd yet to meet... meaning it was written before I met Miss Z.
Animated by Tom Babbitt; Music, Lyrics, Performance, recording by TB
The lake
demo show opener 2017 (0:45)
The hit NOT-HBO Series that's NOT sweeping the nation, and NOT really a show! However, the "Opening Credit" sequence is an art form all it's own - and sometimes, it's the only really good thing about the series... My favorites, you ask? Look at SHOWTIME'S "The Affair;" HBO's "True Detective" (1st season); HBO's "Six Feet Under; and HBO's "Vinyl" - to name a few. And, of course, the MUSIC carries a lot of weight in these little gems.
Filmed by Francine Zaslow, edited, scored and titled by TB. Actors: Tom Babbitt, Emma Love