This suddenly didn't become an issue when they did the Rio gigs a WEEK apart, but strangely all appeared in the same garb so they could splice his solos!
[/QUOTE]
I reckon this is apples and oranges. They did the Montreal gigs purely with the intention of creating a concert film, but we can't necessarily say the same for the Rio gigs.
The beef with Swimmer is pretty clear, and there's no need to take any of it with a pinch of salt. He was a film director who had no idea about how a rock concert worked, and he was cutting in on the band's territory. They were the biggest band in the world and he was telling them how to do their job. That's a time bomb waiting to go off.
But of course you guys are right when it comes to the Rio DVD release. It is inexcusable.
Bad Seed · Member since
I too would take Brian's comments with a pinch of salt. Saul Swimmer's version of events is very different to Brian's, his commentary on the wwry DVD is quite interesting.
In that commentary he states that one of the reasons they chose Montreal was cost, it was cheap to film there.
He also mentions that the band had the audio tapes for months while THEY were working on them NOT mobilvision, a dry mix was asked for but the band were obviously happy with it at the time.
Roger even threw a premier party at his house in '83 so relationships couldn't have been that bad.
The Real Wizard · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]Bad Seed wrote:[/b]
He also mentions that the band had the audio tapes for months while THEY were working on them NOT mobilvision, a dry mix was asked for but the band were obviously happy with it at the time.[/QUOTE]
But when would they have had the time to work on them? After the shows they almost immediately went into the studio to record Hot Space, then embarked on the longest tour of their career. And then they took 8 months off because they were internally falling apart. So they shipped off the tapes to Mack for him to work on, and we all know how well that went. Saul Swimmer certainly did not have the benefit of perspective.
The fact that it was released like this doesn't mean they were happy with the final mix. If they had no creative control, then that's where the discussion ends and the questions begin. In the business arrangement, did the band relinquish all creative control to Swimmer, even regarding the audio mix? How in the world did this happen ?!
Furthermore - they have been happy with the mix as a film to be shown in theatres, but not as a home video, which was not in the original game plan. These are two completely different mediums.
Holly2003 · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wanker wrote:[/b]
[QUOTE] [b]cmsdrums wrote:[/b]
This suddenly didn't become an issue when they did the Rio gigs a WEEK apart, but strangely all appeared in the same garb so they could splice his solos!
[/QUOTE]
The beef with Swimmer is pretty clear, and there's no need to take any of it with a pinch of salt. He was a film director who had no idea about how a rock concert worked,
[/QUOTE]
He directed one of the most famous rock films of the 1970s: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Concert_for_Bangladesh_(film)
[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wanker wrote:[/b]
[QUOTE] and he was cutting in on the band's territory. They were the biggest band in the world and he was telling them how to do their job. That's a time bomb waiting to go off.
[/QUOTE]
You could easily turn that around: Queen had no idea how a concert film worked, he was a famous director and they wouldn't let him do his job properly. His demands, that they stay in the same costume both nights so that footage could be used from both nights, doesn't sound to me unreasonable at all. In fact, as cmsdrums has pointed out, they even did that themselves for Rio so it obviously seemed like a good idea at the time. And Brian was complaining of too many cameras? WTF!? (there are a couple of occasions when a cameraman is in shot, but that used to happen quite often in older concert films). And Swimmer changed their lights a bit. I would imagine he had more of an idea what would look best ON FILM (his medium of choice, not theirs) than they did.
The Real Wizard · Member since
^ yup, fair play.
As always, the truth is somewhere in the middle.
Holly2003 · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]Bad Seed wrote:[/b]
I too would take Brian's comments with a pinch of salt. Saul Swimmer's version of events is very different to Brian's, his commentary on the wwry DVD is quite interesting.
In that commentary he states that one of the reasons they chose Montreal was cost, it was cheap to film there.
He also mentions that the band had the audio tapes for months while THEY were working on them NOT mobilvision, a dry mix was asked for but the band were obviously happy with it at the time.
Roger even threw a premier party at his house in '83 so relationships couldn't have been that bad.
[/QUOTE]
Interesting point about the audio. I've said before that on the old VHS I could hear two Fred's singing during WATC -- one is the main clear vocal and the other is an underlying, faint vocal that is different to the main one. So if my ears aren't deceiving me, either a vocal from one night was used over the top of another, or a new vocal was added in the studio.
musicland munich · Member since
MACK and Brian have a strange but "professional" relationship. For somewhat reason they like to do their statements in public to hurt each other a bit...
Bad Seed · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wanker wrote:[/b]
[QUOTE] [b]Bad Seed wrote:[/b]
He also mentions that the band had the audio tapes for months while THEY were working on them NOT mobilvision, a dry mix was asked for but the band were obviously happy with it at the time.[/QUOTE]
But when would they have had the time to work on them? After the shows they almost immediately went into the studio to record Hot Space, then embarked on the longest tour of their career. And then they took 8 months off because they were internally falling apart. So they shipped off the tapes to Mack for him to work on, and we all know how well that went. Saul Swimmer certainly did not have the benefit of perspective.
The fact that it was released like this doesn't mean they were happy with the final mix. If they had no creative control, then that's where the discussion ends and the questions begin. In the business arrangement, did the band relinquish all creative control to Swimmer, even regarding the audio mix? How in the world did this happen ?!
Furthermore - they have been happy with the mix as a film to be shown in theatres, but not as a home video, which was not in the original game plan. These are two completely different mediums.[/QUOTE]
Well we know Freddie certainly had time to do plenty overdubs!
Pim Derks · Member since
In addition to what already has been said regarding Roger's premiere party etc - I think the "Queen Works!" tourbook even had an advert for it, so I seriously doubt relations were that bad.
matt z · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]musicland munich wrote:[/b]
MACK and Brian have a strange but "professional" relationship. For somewhat reason they like to do their statements in public to hurt each other a bit...[/QUOTE]
Sounds like they'll give each other a hard time. But Mack seemed to be the most unbiased in docs
How sad.
They're two of my avowed heroes. TCR could have benefited from Mack 's input
The Real Wizard · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]Bad Seed wrote:[/b]
Well we know Freddie certainly had time to do plenty overdubs!
[/QUOTE]
Ah yes, this is true ! I wonder if any of the others were involved .. ?
The Real Wizard · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]matt z wrote:[/b]
Sounds like they'll give each other a hard time. But Mack seemed to be the most unbiased in docs
[/QUOTE]
I've found it to be about equal. Mack recently slagged Brian off in a recent interview, about how he was too much of a perfectionist and actually wanted to hang around for the final mix - as if this was a bad thing !
tero! 48531 · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wanker wrote:[/b]
Mack recently slagged Brian off in a recent interview, about how he was too much of a perfectionist and actually wanted to hang around for the final mix - as if this was a bad thing ![/QUOTE]
That of course depends on the details of their agreement, which we don't know.
It could very well be that Mack was supposed to be in charge of the final mix, and the band wasn't supposed to participate?
Toon_86 · Member since
Just watched it again, still think the crowd were pretty crap. I was at the Freddie tribute and Sheffield for Return of the Champions, so can understand the noise of the crowd gets lost, who wants to buy a DVD to hear the crowd singing right, but its their body language, just no movement of enthusiasm. And they didn't know LOML. :)
Toon_86 · Member since
Also, The Real Wanker? Shouldn't that be the Russian trolls nick?
