The Beastie Boys lent 55 fans quality digital cameras at a 2004 Madison Square Garden Show with some simple instructions: do whatever you want, rock out, act like a filmmaker, act like fan - but always keep rolling tape. This creative use of new affordable technologies is titled "Awesome; I Fuckin' Shot That" and is debuting this week at Sundance.
The may be the first concert film ever shot by amateurs. But the final $1.2 million product, is apparently anything but amateurish. Three teams of editors working on Macs with Final Cut Pro did three initial cuts, which band member Adam Yauch (aka MCA, aka Nathanial Hörnblowér) and editor Neal Usatin then molded them into one final cut.
Affordable high quality digital cameras and editing software have been available for several years as has the option of direct to DVD release. But with the advent of video iPods and paid video downloads as well as the coming digitization of movie theater projection formerly niche content can become a source of real income.
Every artist should be investing today in a good camera and shooting everything from rehearsals to recording sessions to backstage. With a little editing it all can be offered - free or paid - and serve as another way to sustain fan interest in this area of increasing media fragmentation.
