ISSUE #57
BEAM FROM THE BOOTH | GRAND RAPIDS FILM SOCIETY
[EDITED BY: GRIFFIN SHERIDAN]
Hello and welcome back to an all-new installment of BEAM FROM THE BOOTH brought to you by GRAND RAPIDS FILM SOCIETY!
You’re finding us on the other side of two very exciting events. A huge THANK YOU to both NATHAN FAUSTYN and JEANIE JEFFERIES for making our screenings of The People’s Joker and Dawn of the Dead, respectively, such a huge success. And thanks to all of YOU who joined us.
We have another couple of events coming your way in the next week. To start, we’re hosting another FILM SOCIETY ROUNDTABLE this THURSDAY EVENING (5/16)! Join us for another free social event and chat movies with familiar faces — or meet some new ones!
And then, NEXT MONDAY (5/20), join us for a screening of Hype Williams’ BELLY. We’re really looking forward to this one, and we’ve even put together a few columns for this issue to highlight the event…
HYPE WILLIAMS: THE MUSIC VIDEO MASTER
[BY: SPENCER EVERHART]
This coming Monday, May 20th, at 8:00pm the Grand Rapids Film Society is proud to be presenting a rare theatrical presentation of Belly (1998) — the only feature film made by the enormously influential music video director Hype Williams (and starring rap legends DMX and Nas).
In anticipation of this exciting event, here is a selection of Williams’ iconic music videos that showcases his immense talent. This is only a small sampling of the inventive work he created during an especially prolific period in the late 1990s that cemented his legacy, but he continues to push the aesthetic potential of the form to this day.
Missy Elliott — “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)” (1997)
2Pac feat. Dr. Dre — “California Love” (1996)
Jay-Z feat. UGK — “Big Pimpin’” (2000)
Busta Rhymes — “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See” (1997)
Missy Elliott — “She’s a Bitch” (1999)
The GRFS screening of Belly is co-presented by the Grand Rapids HipHop Coalition and will feature both a Hype Williams music video pre-show and a panel discussion following the film. Tickets are available now!
THE MUSIC-VIDEO-TO-FILMMAKER PIPELINE
[BY: MATT EVERITT]
The upcoming screening of Belly by Hype Williams has got me thinking about other directors who made the jump from music videos to feature films. If the history of music videos was as well documented as fiction film is, I think Williams would be written about in the same breathless wonder as Orson Welles. He’s a one-of-a-kind genius whose ability to create culture-defining images has rarely been matched (Dave Meyers is the only one who comes close in my opinion). His work defined hip-hop imagery and icons in the 1990s and 2000s.
There’s almost too many directors who got their start making music videos to wrap your head around. You’ve got the old guard: Spike Jonze, David Fincher, Michael Bay, and my personal favorite Jonathan Glazer.
There’s also the well-established ‘director dipping their toe in the music video’ waters, like Paul Thomas Anderson directing the shit out of every Radiohead-related side project, De Palma directing a Springsteen video, and Sofia Coppola working with The White Stripes.
But the music video industry has changed (er...collapsed) and labels are no longer shelling out for 6- or 7-figure video shoots like they once were. Despite that, or more likely because of that, there’s a fascinating roster of more recent music video directors who managed to leverage much smaller budgets into creative work that paves the way to their first feature film or high-level television. Here’s a selection of my favorite music videos and directors from the “Vimeo Staff Picks” generation and their feature films/extraordinary TV work.
THE DANIELS
Definitive Video: DJ Snake, Lil Jon - “Turn Down for What”
Honorable Mention: Manchester Orchestra - “Simple Math”
Before they won a buttload of Oscars, the Daniels were THE music video directors to watch. Their ability to power through budget limitations with savvy practical effects, pushing the After Effects program to its limit, and calling in a LOT of favors made each music video something to behold. And they found the formula in Swiss Army Man (2016), with a couple of weirdos trying to understand their place in an unforgiving world through increasingly imaginative twists, that they would repeat all the way to the Academy Awards. Bonus music-video-to-feature detail: Andy Hull, lead singer of Manchester Orchestra, provided the score for Swiss Army Man.
First Feature: Swiss Army Man (Stream on Max and Kanopy)
HIRO MURAI
Murai elevates almost all of his music videos to the realm of transcendence. His collaboration with Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino led to him direct 26 episodes of Atlanta, which is one of the defining TV shows of the decade. I just hope one of these days he gets around to making a feature film.
Definitive Video: Flying Lotus - “Never Catch Me” ft. Kendrick Lamar
Iconic Episode: “Teddy Perkins” - s02e06 of Atlanta (Stream on Hulu)
AOIFE MCARDLE
Personally, McArdle has come to represent the early 2010s aesthetic and the best of what it has to offer. “Glacier” was her first video in a trilogy for James Vincent McMorrow, all of which are thematically and stylistically connected — and equally haunting. Her work walks a remarkably fine line between serving the music and broadcasting a fully-developed directorial voice. It’s no wonder she was one of a handful of directors tapped to bring the Apple+ series Severance to life.
Definitive Video: James Vincent McMorrow trilogy - “Glacier”, “Red Dust”, and “Cavalier”
Iconic Episode: “Hide & Seek” - s01e06 of Severance (Stream on Apple+)
FRANCIS GALLUPPI
This one’s a little bit of a cheat: full transparency, Francis and I are pals. We found each other after we directed projects for the same band and really dug each others’ work. His first feature, Last Stop in Yuma County, is just beginning its theatrical rollout. While you’ll see a lot of the retro influences of today’s music videos in his work, nothing in his music videos prepares you for the live wire electricity in Last Stop in Yuma County. It’s such a massive leap forward that he’s now writing and directing the next Evil Dead film.
Definitive Music Video: Mt. Joy - “Evergreen”
First Feature: Last Stop in Yuma County (Theatrical and PVOD)
PRODUCTION PARABLES
HOMESICK ON SET
[BY: JACKSON EZINGA]
I love making movies in Michigan. I’ve been making movies in this great state since I was 11 years old. I even made them using a pawn shop camcorder...but they were still movies! Even as a kid I was able to shoot in Michigan’s beautiful forests, our picturesque lakeshores, our sprawling cityscapes, and on small town main streets. We have a wealth of talent in front of, and behind, the camera here. We have a stubbornness and a work ethic that has produced some amazing feats of cinematic art, and I’m proud to have been the 1st Assistant Director on ten feature films and a cast and/or crew member on dozens of other movies here in Michigan.
I recently wrapped principal photography on my 11th feature film as 1st AD. The local talent in front of and behind the camera were excellent, we shot in some gorgeous and cinematic locations, and our cast and crew collaborated to piece together shots and scenes of an excellent script into a darkly comedic dramatic thriller that will premiere sometime next year. I had a great time! I love my job, and I’m always happy to work on features! It’s been my dream since my pawn shop camcorder days! But towards the end of the shoot, the reality that I was 1000 miles away from home and that I had been in Oklahoma for over a month really started to set in.
I had never been to Oklahoma, and — don’t get me wrong! — it’s a beautiful state with a lot to offer...but I missed my partner, I missed my family, I missed my friends, and I missed my cat. I missed my own bed, I missed my apartment, I missed my neighborhood. I missed a whole month of GRFS events, you-had-to-be-there moments, and memories I could have been a part of in Michigan. I was hired for this job while I was at SXSW for a premiere of a film that I AD’d in Detroit. I took it without hesitation because I had nothing lined up back home. Traveling is part of my career, and I do enjoy it, but homesickness definitely hits hard when I’m away for more than a few days. To add to it, this was a film that was originally written to take place in a different state. Oklahoma had something the state this story was written for didn’t have: film incentives.
The script for this film was re-written to take place in Oklahoma. In 2010, I worked as a background actor on 30 Minutes Or Less, which was shot in Grand Rapids. The original 30 Minutes script took place in Maryland but was re-written to take place in Grand Rapids because we had something that we don’t anymore: film incentives. I’m not saying that the film I just wrapped would have been shot in Michigan if we had film incentives, but it definitely could have! If the Multimedia Jobs Act, which would give tax credits to films, TV shows, and other media that shoot in Michigan were to pass then actors, actresses, and crew members like myself wouldn’t be forced to leave home for weeks (sometimes months) at a time to work in the industry they love.
When I got home last week, one of the first things I did was write to my State Representative and urged her to support the Multimedia Jobs Act. Oklahoma passed their film incentive bill in 2001, and they have built a thriving film community down there. Honestly, I would be happy to return to work there someday because of the positive experience I had, but I also believe that we can build something similar here. Hell — we already have an excellent film community without incentives, and I’m proud of the work the Grand Rapids Film Society has done in helping foster that community and facilitate connections with screenings and community events. But states with film incentives allow film enthusiasts and hobbyists to become film professionals and allow film professionals the luxury of working close to home.
As I mentioned before, I love traveling for work, but it would be nice to travel for work when I want to — not when I have to. My recent experience became a call to action (pun intended) to reach out to my state rep. If you want the Grand Rapids and Michigan film community to grow stronger, the Multimedia Jobs Act could be legislation that brings more projects to our state and could give Michigan filmmakers a better opportunity to make their projects at home. The Michigan Film Industry Association has a link on their website that allows you to contact your Representative about this bill and ask for their support.
It’s good to be home. Let’s make movies in Michigan.
UPCOMING EVENTS
WHAT: Join us for another FREE social event and chat about filmmaking, screenwriting, and cinephilia with other like-minded members of the GR film community.
WHEN: Thursday, May 16th, 7:00pm
WHERE: The Front Studio Annex — right next to the Wealthy Theatre!
BELLY (Williams, 1998)
WHAT: Ever since they were kids, Sincere (Nas) and Buns (DMX) have lived life close to the edge, doing whatever it takes to survive. Featuring a Hype Williams music video pre-show and panel discussion!
WHEN: Monday, May 20th, 8:00pm
WHERE: Wealthy Theatre
WHAT: An extension of our FILM SOCIETY ROUNDTABLE social events —Up to 10 local filmmakers will have the opportunity to pitch their concepts to an audience of potential collaborators and supporters.
WHEN: Tuesday, May 21st, 6:00pm (Doors: 5:30pm — arrive early to mingle!)
WHERE: Koning Micro-Cinema @ Wealthy Theatre
[FREE EVENT, JOIN THE AUDIENCE!]
And so we’ve arrived at the end of another BEAM FROM THE BOOTH! We appreciate you taking the time to read it and truly hope you’ll continue to do so. Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to get each issue in your inbox every MONDAY (usually), and stay up-to-date on all things GRFS.
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Look for ISSUE #58 in your inbox NEXT WEEK!
Until then, friends...
