Monday, May 08, 2006
Reel Question: Top Beastie, Adam “MCA” Yauch on making the concert film of a lifetime
51 filmmakers share the billing with Nathanial Hörnblowér — alias for top Beastie Boy Adam “MCA” Yauch, on their concert film ‘Awesome: I Fuckin’ Shot That!’ Yauch handed out 50 handheld Hi-8 cameras to lucky concertgoers at the Oct. 9, 2004 sold out Madison Square Garden Beasties Boy show. Their task was to film the show of a lifetime. Yauch has been in charge of the band’s video art and photography for 15 years but he credits inspiration for ‘Awesome’ to one of the band’s devoted fans. Yauch says he saw concert footage a kid shot on his camera phone and could envision an entire concert filmed in the gritty format.
The amateur photographers filmed until their video cartridges run out and Yauch edited the hundreds of hours of fan footage into a kaleidoscope of rocking images.
Told that “Awesome’ looks like the perfect movie to watch on a handheld device, Yauch gives a shout out for cinema nostalgia. He’s more old fashioned than you think.
“I love going to the movie theater. It’s an amazing thing, a room full of people and a full-blown sound system and a big screen. Film is an amazing medium and I hope it does not come down to everyone looking at an i Pod.”
Awesome: I Fuckin’ Shot That! premiered at 2006 Sundance Film Festival. THINK Films is currently releasing the film in theaters across America.
