TRIBUTE TO THE HOMEBREW SPIRIT

I have and will continue to be critical of many individual elements connected to the Homebrew Videomaking scene, but that should never be confused as disdain. I support this movement and what it represents. Beyond the obvious idea of the underdog and burgeoning filmmaker, my reason is simple: nearly every important movement in film history has it's roots in a rebellion against the status quo by someone embracing the same spirit I see in the Homebrew Videomaker.

THE BROTHERS LUMIERE AND EDISON
It's hard to say who got to it first, but these were the people we owe for the medium of film. And while the Lumiere Brothers created far and away the most interesting shots, it was Edison who embraced the medium as a way to tell stories. Also Edison was the first to make home movies.

So here I solute the innovators, the craftsmen, the insane entrepreneurs who got out there with their crazy inventions and laid the groundwork for an entire medium.

EISENSTEIN
At the birth of Communist Russia, and at the time when Communism was still full of idealsim, this guy had the crazy idea that editing was as important in filmmaking as the writing or the shot composition. This guy's theories, and the films he employed them in, are still used in film classes.

A toast to the revolutionaries.

THE FRENCH NEW WAVE
Rebelling against the vapid glamour of Hollywood productions, the leaders of this movement set out with micro crews and smaller budgets and broke every rule in the book. Hand-held camera? These guys did it first. Jump-cuts? Right here. Not everything they did worked, but the homebrew scene owes much to these guys.

Respect to the rebels.

MTV AND THE MUSIC VIDEO
The early days of MTV, music videos weren't exactly reknown for their artistic prowess. Prominent working directors weren't exactly knocking down the doors of musicians to make a music promotion vehicle. That role went instead to the guys who did. People like Spike Jones and Michelle Gendry weren't especially skilled in the technical department, but they had ideas and broke many-a-rule to make them happen on shoe-string budgets.

In one famous case, Spike Jones wrapped the camera lens in a sandwich bag so he could do an under-water shot. Ballsy.

Props to the ballsy gentlemen of the MTV age.

HOMEBREW IN THE INTERNET AGE
There is a quote that someone made; an artform can't be considered an artform until it's available to everyone. This, they proposed, was as true with paint as with music. If that's the case, then it's only been in the last 10 some odd years that we've seen the artistic legitimization of both animation and movie-making.

It's an exciting time.

It's a time when more videos are uploaded online than produced for television (at the 2008 rate of upload, it'd take 60 days to upload to youtube what American television stations took 60 years to make).

It's a time where ideas matter more than production values.

And yes, it's even a time where a reviewer can be a bigger draw than the media they review.

So here I celebrate the spirit of the Homebrew.

Author's Note
Why hey there! As stated in the previous post (part 2 of which is coming at some point), this article is dedicated to Pugsly6338 for being the only person to actually post a reply to my last article. Good for you, Pugsly6338!

CRITICAL TIMING PART 1: WITH APOLOGIES TO BILL WATTERSON

With my magic marker, I've turned this ordinary cardboard box into a TIME MACHINE! It's filled with some of the most high tech gizmos corrugated paper products can build, and it's built for two! Now, if you'll indulge your own child-like imagination, the two of us are moving backwards through the churning and wildly unreliable mists of time.

And we've arrived at our first destination, 1716.

That wonderful aroma is the smell of rotting fish. I landed us in the wrong part of town... um, sorry.

If we go instead to a concert you'll notice something unusual; you're at a live performance!

That's not too unusual, come to think of it. What is, though, is that this will be the only place you can ever hear music. In 1716 if you want to chill out and listen to music it'll be a full evening and a pretty penny.

Obvious, yes, but a couple things you should notice:

• At no time can you pick and choose the song to listen to.
• Every song you're guaranteed to hear from it's intended start point.
• Your average composition is going to be upwards of 10 minutes on average.
  
• Bach was pop, if you can believe it.
  

Well, okay, sure you could also listen to the bard playing on the corner, but *pfft* who goes to 1716 to listen to a 2-bit ukelele player?

Back into the time machine and forward a bit to 1915. A boring year, to be honest. Just avoid Europe. Films exist, of course, but these days you'd still be discovering music in the live concerts... but wait! Now you can actually take the music home with you on a record! Or on the radio!

Well, if you're rich at least.

Aaaaand 1956. Mind the smoke, I think we dropped a carburetor over New Mexico, there. Oh well, it's not like anyone ever goes to Roswell anyway... wait, you hear that? Music!

What do you mean this is getting predictable?

Radios are in cars and as an indirect result radio is now the prominent way people discover new music. Teenagers got to choose away from their parents what they wanted to listen to on a mass level for the first time. And, of course, the music itself has had to change because of this. Always does, mind, but this is the time where it gets fun! Well, for me at least... I'm a weird duck like that.

Music producers of this era have a lot riding on the music they make. In this era, it isn't unusual for some of the smaller music producers to bet everything they had on the next single (and then do it again on the next, and the next...). These guys couldn't fight with the unlimited resources of the big labels, so they fight smart. First though, what's the biggest thing this radio revolution means?

• Unlike live performances, there's no guarantee you're going to turn into any song at the beginning. You turn on the radio, you change the station, and it's just as likely you'll land halfway into a song.
  

So knowing that, here's what these producers did.

• Limit song length to less than 3 minutes to maximize rotation.
  
• Structure the song with the hook repeated as many times as possible to increase the chance you'll hear it when scanning the channels, catch the catchy bit, and stay to hear the rest.

Now isn't that cool? Now buckle up that corrugated seatbelt, it's home to the present! Huh, it's not starting.

That's not good...

Tell you what, you go ahead; I'll catch up in a bit!

TO BE CONTINUED...

Author's Note:
All dates are approximate and entirely unresearched. Inaccuracies are not only possible, but to be expected!

In fact, let's make this into a contest.

The first person in the comment section to correctly identify an error or expand significantly on a point from the article will have the next article dedicated to them.

And the person who brings up the most interesting idea related to the subject will have the one after that dedicated to them.