Awesome; I Shot That!

WOW!!!! How much fun can one person take. Props to the editor Neal Usatin for cutting such a brilliant piece with mass amounts of footage. How many gigs of storage for this project? The stylistic way in which this is put together equals the creative genius of their DVD Anthology. I love the Boys approach to utilizing technology in a new refreshing way.

Finally I just have to say a big "THANK YOU" to The Beastie Boys for another piece of time forever etched into my brain. The positive experiences never end when it comes to these guys. Check out this Film as many times as you can. I hope you have as much fun as I did and they did.

"I'm not here to fight nor incite, I'm like the beach at the Bahamas make you feel alright"

SoCal

I 'm not an Beastie Boys fan and I'm not into Hip Hop. But when this film was shown at the Rotterdam film festival I went to see it because I was triggered by the concept of it being shot by 50 people from the audience.

Well it worked! I was absolutely flabbergasted by the energy that radiated from the screen. Never before a concert film (even Baby Snakes) has captured the essence and true atmosphere of the show. This was a truly landmark movie, because after this movie any director that thinks he can capture a show with an nice crane shot is completely ignorant and out of date. Being at concert is an experience that is broader than just watching the band from the best position. you also get beer, go to the toilet, look around you. etc. That should all be in a concert movie otherwise it is just an old fashioned registration.

10/10.

Watching a concert film is typically something reserved for die-hard fans of that group. This is not the case with Awesome, I shot that. If you like music you probably will like this movie. If you like Hip Hop music, you will definitely love this movie. There are special guests too (like Doug E. Fresh) that will bring it back to the old school! The whole interactive idea of using the fans is brilliant. You get the sense that you are actually at the concert with all the movement - compared to a single shot fading into different angles of 4 cameras. Madison Square Garden practically goes nuts when they play their classics. The Beastie Boys once again prove that they are original, fresh and their music is ultimately better than anything in the todays rap game. All in all the movie keeps you on your toes and is always fun.

In 2004 NYC, the Beastie Boys are performing at Madison Square Garden. They hand out 50 hand-held digital cameras to selected audience members. They use the footage gathered by these fans and put together a concert movie unlike any other before it.

The idea of amateur video is better than the actual execution. The good is to see what is not normally shown. Somebody took their camera into the bathroom. The bad is everything about amateur cameramen. The video looks grainy. It's either shaky or jarringly shaky. It's unfocused. At the core of it all, there is the music. That is good for the fans but not a successful cinematic effort for everybody else.

The concept for this concert film is brilliant and unconventional. It was a fabulous idea to provide the cameras when cameras are normally prohibited at concerts. However, unless you're a huge Beastie Boys fan, chances are you will not enjoy the film as much as their rabid fans do. The clever 50 camera perspective got old for me after about 15 minutes. There were not enough unique shots for me considering they employed 50 different angles and 50 different techniques. The sound quality was average, but improved as the film progressed. If you love the Boys, you'll love 'Awesome'. If you don't know them well or don't enjoy this music, I doubt you like the film.