The concept of the super television screen is hardly unfamiliar to anyone. Better known to the populous as a JumboTron, the screen that changed the way we look at live events can be seen everywhere from Times Square to Tokyo. While the word JumboTron is technically a brand name developed by Sony in the 80′s, it has become synonymous with large screens in the same way Kleenex is with tissues. It is so prevalent that anytime I go to a large event and there are no JumboTrons, I get a bit upset. Good thing I’m not a Cubs fan.
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Yesterday I plugged a documentary airing on the Sundance Channel, Wetlands Preserved. I’ve been exchanging emails with the producer and director about the film, and he agreed to answer some questions. Dean Budnick is a name all jam fans should know, if they don’t already. He created (with he help of others) Jambands.com, The Jammys and a documentary profiling one of the most significant venues in the genre’s history. If you lived on the East Coast during the 90′s and were into any band that ever graced the stages at H.O.R.D.E. then you know Wetlands. You probably met Dean, too. He is an active fan, one that was kind enough to take the time to answer some questions about his excellent documentary, Wetlands Preserved, which we told you is going to be on the Sundance Channel all this month and is available on DVD as well. He produced and directed the film, so I asked him to indulge the readers of LMB as both personalities. Given the hectic summer schedule for music, many thanks to Dean for taking the time to answer our questions.
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The last few installments of the The Union Forever dealt with the possibility of a cinema that is purely online. Not a reproduction of the movie industry on the Internet, but an entirely different mode of creation. The medium is so similar to that of the traditional cinema that few make a distinction or even care to entertain the thought that online content, which is dominated by amateurs, can be an alternative outlet for filmmaking.
One of the most interesting developments has been the Take Away Shows on France’s La Blogotheque. Directed mostly by Vincent Moon, they have come to be a standard for indie artists to showcase their work in a unique environment. Looking further into Moon’s portfolio reveals that he is a filmmaker testing the boundaries of the online realm. He has several projects going at once, but his notoriety as the auteur of the Take Away Shows attracted Michael Stipe of R.E.M. to commission Moon to make the video for the band’s first single off their new album, Accelerate.
Most recently he released a documentary about the making of The National’s latest LP, Boxer, entitled A Skin, A Night. In this instance, it was given an online trailer, but released exclusively as a DVD with the Cherry Tree EP. I expressed some displeasure that the online world failed to be an adequate forum for the documentary and Vincent wanted to explain some things. So, last week we spoke via Skype about some things and here is what I learned.
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Carson Daly. He delivered Britney Spears to the world. Thanks.
Everyone knows video killed the radio star, but I’m pretty sure video committed suicide with MTV playing the role of Jack Kevorkian. I’ll admit I was kind of pathetic when I was in grade school and I enjoyed getting off the bus and watching TRL. Seeing Carson Daly play chameleon to the flavor of the week guest was tolerable enough to enjoy the top ten pop videos as voted on by every 12-14 year old in New Jersey. Often I overhear jaded urbanites wonder aloud, “How the fuck is Britney Spears so famous?” or sometimes even, “I didn’t know Christina’s pimp allowed here to make videos,” or most terribly, “I wish [insert pop star here] would just die.” Now death is a strong sentiment to wish onto someone you have never met, but I can see their point. MTV has had a worse effect on our culture than CO2 emissions have had on our ozone.
From boy bands like The Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC to diva-sluts like Britney, Christina and the Simpson polycephaly, TRL has launched more corrosive careers than Helen of Troy launched ships. BUT, while all those greedy suits were planning episode after episode of Total Request Live, the busy bees of independent music were creating videos of their own. Some would be stolen from the hearts of the faithful (NIN’s Closer) while some would cater to the machine that suppressed them (every RHCP video). But among the many branches, some rare flowers managed to find daylight. They avoided the traps of MTV standards like close-ups of the lead singer (Bush, No Doubt) or imitating a classic film (Ja Rule, Ashanti) to create a work of art that stands up to the song and in some cases even adds to it. So, in the era of TRL (98-present) here are some videos that managed to remain true to themselves despite enormous pressure from money-makers to submit. LMB commends you, true warriors.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, I stopped watching TRL when DMX appeared as a guest and Carson Daly did the half-bro-hug and said, “Yo, dawg, I’m really feeling your shit right now.” Of course MTV bleeped out the word “shit,” but the damage was done. Even as a 12 year old I knew that Carson Daly did not feel what DMX was shitting about. This is a man that was arrested at JFK airport coked out of his mind claiming to be a federal agent while stealing a car. No Carson Daly, you are not feeling this.
That’s a mug shot ladies and gentlemen. Do you think Carson took it?
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This past Tuesday, Todd Haynes’ film inspired by the music and many lives of Bob Dylan, I’m Not There, was released on DVD and I got a chance to relive the excellent experiment in narrative filmmaking. Not to mention a couple of hours of Dylan songs. Most of us know Dylan as everyone knows Dylan, as the freewheeling young man singing songs of protest and rock and roll, but for those who have been on the festival circuit long enough you also know Dylan the stage performer. This reclusive, re-worked songwriter is one of the least interactive people to still get sell out crowds. It can be frustrating to watch an entire concert where the man of the hour never looks once at the audience. But, this is the point of the film, that Dylan is a man of many men and not all are pleasant. Let us examine the possibilities of music and film through the voice on Bob Dylan.
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Last week saw the announcement that the National would be releasing a DVD chronicling the making of their most recent album, Boxer. Directed by Vincent Moon, the documentary should bring some of his visual aesthetic to a larger audience by making the leap from online auteur to commercial director. By and large this usually means good things for Moon, but what does it do for the prospects of online cinema? So far, the web has allowed people who normally would not have access to the funding required to produce commercial films the ability to create good enough quality films that speak to a more immediate concern.
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I got off the plane in Austin, Texas and headed directly to meet up with LMB’s Justin and Sam, as well Dave from Earvolution.com at a taco place on 2nd street. They had just finished their 11am breakfast and we were headed to the best bar in downtown Austin, the Mohawk on Red River and 7th. That’s about all the definite facts I remember, the rest was muddied in a fog of Sparks, heat stroke, foot failure and Lone Star tallboys. But, I did stay focused for one morning to attend the panel discussion of music supervision in film and television.
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