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 |
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Leonard Bernstein - education and revealing the music
Video Example 2: From the first Young People's Concert Bernstein explains how a composer can use musical themes to tell a story. Recorded on January 18, 1958. |
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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. The conductor did not like the way that director Hugo Niebeling’s interesting camera angles, soft focus, mirrors, colored floors, overhead shots, and dramatic montages distracted from the music (Video Examples 3 and 4), so in 1979 he formed his own company, Telemondial, in order to have complete artistic control, and became the only major conductor to create film and video productions at his own expense. Video Example 3: Hugo Niebeling's novel effects |
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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 |
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[ Go on to Part 3 ]