Stop making Sense (PG.)
Directed by Jonathan Demme. 1984.
Featuring David Byrne, Tina Weymouth, Jerry Harrison and Chris Frantz. 85 mins. Released on Blu-ray and DVD from Second Sight.
I've seen a few concert films in my times; a shameful, will-I-never-learn confession. Concert movies are invariably terrible. Even ones that seemed like good ideas in principle – Prince's Sign of The Times, Tom Waits Big Time turn out to be largely ineffectual in practice. It's 88 years since Al Jolson burst into the song in the Jazz Singer and the title of greatest concert movie ever made is still a straight choice between The Last Waltz, Scorsese's record of The Band's farewell concert and Talking Head's Stop Making Sense.
The Last Waltz's reputation lies in the weight of the people involved and the sense of it being a summation and requiem of an era. Stop Making Sense's is down to the effort and thought that has been put into it. Demme and the band approached the film as a project to take an inherently dull genre and find ways to make it interesting. Here's what the came up with.
1. They have a head start in that while the rest of the band come across as dull functionaries, lead singer David Byrne is custom made for the task. He's an anonymous ham, a crowd pleaser who affects total detachment. He milks the audience response as completely as Jon Bon Jovi, while retaining an aloof New York art rock distance. He's a compelling screen presence – plus he looks like Roy Keane from certain angles
2, Constant flux. Make every song individual with costume changes, set changes, different lighting and of course, wearing the big suit. The film starts out on what looks like an empty set with Byrne performing Psycho Killer alone with a tape recorder. With each of the next three songs another member of the quartet is added to the stage, which still looks more like a rehearsal space than a concert stage, until at the end of the fourth, the help (extra musicians, backing singers) arrive and the back drop falls.
3, Keep the energy up. There is so much bounding around and running on the spot it's like a very trendy exercise class.
4, Forget about spontaneity; accept that everything has been choreographed and planned, down to the last air punch.
5, Have great songs. If you haven't listen to The Heads for a decade or two you'll be amazed by how infectiously enjoyable these songs still are. They are timeless, just like the film.
For how not to do it check out:
Shine A Light
U2 3D
Directed by Jonathan Demme. 1984.
Featuring David Byrne, Tina Weymouth, Jerry Harrison and Chris Frantz. 85 mins. Released on Blu-ray and DVD from Second Sight.
I've seen a few concert films in my times; a shameful, will-I-never-learn confession. Concert movies are invariably terrible. Even ones that seemed like good ideas in principle – Prince's Sign of The Times, Tom Waits Big Time turn out to be largely ineffectual in practice. It's 88 years since Al Jolson burst into the song in the Jazz Singer and the title of greatest concert movie ever made is still a straight choice between The Last Waltz, Scorsese's record of The Band's farewell concert and Talking Head's Stop Making Sense.
The Last Waltz's reputation lies in the weight of the people involved and the sense of it being a summation and requiem of an era. Stop Making Sense's is down to the effort and thought that has been put into it. Demme and the band approached the film as a project to take an inherently dull genre and find ways to make it interesting. Here's what the came up with.
1. They have a head start in that while the rest of the band come across as dull functionaries, lead singer David Byrne is custom made for the task. He's an anonymous ham, a crowd pleaser who affects total detachment. He milks the audience response as completely as Jon Bon Jovi, while retaining an aloof New York art rock distance. He's a compelling screen presence – plus he looks like Roy Keane from certain angles
2, Constant flux. Make every song individual with costume changes, set changes, different lighting and of course, wearing the big suit. The film starts out on what looks like an empty set with Byrne performing Psycho Killer alone with a tape recorder. With each of the next three songs another member of the quartet is added to the stage, which still looks more like a rehearsal space than a concert stage, until at the end of the fourth, the help (extra musicians, backing singers) arrive and the back drop falls.
3, Keep the energy up. There is so much bounding around and running on the spot it's like a very trendy exercise class.
4, Forget about spontaneity; accept that everything has been choreographed and planned, down to the last air punch.
5, Have great songs. If you haven't listen to The Heads for a decade or two you'll be amazed by how infectiously enjoyable these songs still are. They are timeless, just like the film.
For how not to do it check out:
Shine A Light
U2 3D
