Post by fourlittlediamonds on Apr 19, 2016 23:15:52 GMT
I wonder how it was that TV director Mike Mansfield became so involved with ELO and their videos? Personally I find the coverage of the Wembley 1978 concert very disappointingly produced. The decision to shoot it on video rather than film was a major mistake as the show lacks any atmosphere and because of the lower quality of standard definition broadcast video of the time looks poor, (another drawback is that it can't be upscaled to HD now either) and the cameras of the time also struggled in low and contrasting light situations (like rock concerts). Mansfield also liked to use all the (then) latest and now rather cheesy video effects that added nothing to the show. Also, did he add huge cheering and applause to the soundtrack as it sounded like it? (He did the same on the ELO Part 2 video in Birmingham in 1990 as I was there and the audience then was very quiet but on the video he'd added huge, deafening, cheering and applause after every song which most definitely wasn't recorded on the night!
I assume he also directed all of the "Discovery" videos but once again they were all performance in style and shot in a TV studio, though to be fair, the budget was probably pretty low and had to be done quickly as this was before the pop video became a vital marketing tool for bands and record companies. Its not that he was a bad director as I remember watching Supersonic, an ITV version of Top of the Pops in the late 70s , that he did and which tried to do some interesting things with staging and camera movement. But I still feel the Wembley concert could have been shot much more creatively and stylishly on film.
I mention all this because a couple of years ago Supertramp released their 1979 Paris shows on DVD for the first time. They had been shot on 16mm film and then left in a vault somewhere for more than 30 years. They were eventually found in a very deteriorated state but due to modern digital restoration were transformed into a superb concert film and could even be upgraded to HD for a Blu Ray release. As those shows were also recorded for a live album too, the sound was also superb and combined to produce a really great and atmospheric live concert film that could have been shot last week.Of course, its all academic now and at least we have it, but by comparison, the Live at Wembley video looks and sounds poor especially by todays standards and as it's the only live show of the classic ELO line-up well ever have, that's a bit of a shame.
I assume he also directed all of the "Discovery" videos but once again they were all performance in style and shot in a TV studio, though to be fair, the budget was probably pretty low and had to be done quickly as this was before the pop video became a vital marketing tool for bands and record companies. Its not that he was a bad director as I remember watching Supersonic, an ITV version of Top of the Pops in the late 70s , that he did and which tried to do some interesting things with staging and camera movement. But I still feel the Wembley concert could have been shot much more creatively and stylishly on film.
I mention all this because a couple of years ago Supertramp released their 1979 Paris shows on DVD for the first time. They had been shot on 16mm film and then left in a vault somewhere for more than 30 years. They were eventually found in a very deteriorated state but due to modern digital restoration were transformed into a superb concert film and could even be upgraded to HD for a Blu Ray release. As those shows were also recorded for a live album too, the sound was also superb and combined to produce a really great and atmospheric live concert film that could have been shot last week.Of course, its all academic now and at least we have it, but by comparison, the Live at Wembley video looks and sounds poor especially by todays standards and as it's the only live show of the classic ELO line-up well ever have, that's a bit of a shame.