Video Direction as an Application of the Study of Music
Part 2: Three Approaches to Directing Concert Music Videos
Kirk Browning - entertainment for a general audience
The camera work is not closely dictated by the score, and there are instruments shown like the harp that are not prominent in the audio track. There are also places in which the audience is shown. Kurt Masur conducts the New York Philharmonic in Dukas's "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." This performance was captured by Live From Lincoln Center on May 5, 1992 at Avery Fisher Hall in New York. Video Example 1: The Sorcerer's Apprentice, directed by Kirk Browning |
|
Leonard Bernstein - education and revealing the music
Video Example 2: From a Young People's Concert The performance starts with an establishing wide shot.The switching of shots follows the score closely by changing at the beginnings of phrases to show the instruments that carry the main themes, interspersed with short shots of Bernstein conducting before beginning a lecture. Directed by Roger Englander. Recorded on 24, 1959. Video Example 2: From a Young People's Concert |
|
Herbert von Karajan - an aesthetic production for the ages
Recorded at the Berlin Philharmonie, October 1967. Directed by Hugo Niebeling who discovered novel effects for recording the group. From Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 "Pastorale" conducted by Herbert von Karajan with theBerliner Philharmoniker. Recorded at the Berlin Philharmonie, October 1967. Video Example 3: Hugo Niebeling's novel effects |
|
Scenes from Maestro for the Cinema comparing Niebeling's and Karajan's vision.
Niebeling had a different vision than Herbert von Karajan. They had a falling out and Karajan formed his own company, Telemondial in order to have artistic control. Video Example 4: Horand Hohlfeld, producer |
|
This recording of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 was made by Karajan's company, Telemondial. The soundtrack was recorded by the Berliner Philharmoniker in front of a live audience. Afterwards the musicians repeatedly played along with the recording in the studio for the filming that Karajan supervised with Director of Photography, Ernst Wild. This arrangement provided an opportunity to get ideal lighting, groupings, and angles.
Recorded at the Berlin Philharmonie, February 1972. Video Example 5: Production under von Karajan's direction |
|
[ Go on to Part 3 ]