The Work of Director-Mark Romanek (2005)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Documentary	Main Menu Audio & Animation Audio Commentary-Interviews and Commentaries Featurette-The Work of Director Mark Romanek Interviews-Cast-Romanekian Featurette-Behind The Scenes-Making of 99 Problems Booklet-56 Page Book Credits
Rating
Year Of Production	2005
Running Time	100:54
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Mark Romanek Lance Bangs
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Fiona Apple Audioslave Beck Brian Bell Chester Bennington David Blaine Rob Bourdon David Bowie Peter Buck Johnny Cash Chris Cornell Rivers Cuomo Brad Delson
Case	Amaray-Transparent-S/C-Dual
RPI	$29.95	Music	None Given

The fourth DVD volume from The Director’s Label is devoted to the work of Mark Romanek. A veteran of the music video industry, Romanek also wrote and directed the critically acclaimed feature film One Hour Photo (2002). Unfortunately since then Romanek’s feature films projects have fallen through. However this year Romanek signed on to direct a remake of The Wolf Man (1941) for Universal Studios starring Benicio Del Toro with a script written by Andrew Kevin Walker.

Romanek’s first feature film Static (1985) found a cult audience in the UK but the director decided to work within the music video medium through a division of David Fincher's Propaganda Films. Romanek’s work is highly recognisable as he has worked with many high profile artists, musicians and bands.

There are a few music videos absent from this release including Romanek’s debut music video Sweet Bird of Truth for The The, You Don't Have To Worry for En Vogue, Is There Any Love In Your Heart and If You Can't Say No for Lenny Kravitz, Do Something and I Try for Macy Gray, Sleepwalker for The Wallflowers and finally Speed of Sound for Coldplay, which was left off the DVD compilation as it was produced after the compilation was released in 2005.

Video

Unfortunately no content on this DVD is 16x9 enhanced and each of the 25 music videos are presented in the 1.33:1 Full Frame aspect ratio, replicating how the videos would have originally been broadcast. There were some incidents of aliasing and film artefacts but overall the picture quality is relatively good, as the videos remain clear and colour remains true to artistic vision. The transfer has been encoded at an average bit rate of 5.92 Mbps over a dual-layer, single-sided DVD. The high bit-rate overall achieves a pleasing transfer, the most recent videos are pristine and remain sharp and detailed, such as 99 Problems and Cochise, while the older videos such as Constant Craving and Are You Gonna Go My Way display low level noise and minor incidents of cross colouration. No subtitle options are available for the music videos.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

The single audio option is clear and error-free and is suitable for the medium of a music video. The 2.0 Dolby Digital soundtrack does not take advantage of the possibilities of surround sound and subwoofer usage is limited. Overall the soundtrack is appropriate.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Main Menu Audio & Animation

The main menu is 16x9 enhanced and features a subtle, atmospheric soundtrack with various animated still images from Mark Romanek’s music videos. The menu is suited to the different content on the DVD and is presented in a clear, practical and functional design that enables the user to navigate through the content with ease. A play all option is available for the music videos which are listed in a reverse chronological order.

Audio Commentary

As with previous DVDs in the series the commentaries have been sourced from interviews. Romanek provides commentary for each video while some of the artists provide a separate commentary. Each are brutally honest; Rivers Cuomo speaks of his frustrations regarding the final product of El Scorcho, Trent Reznor speaks about his first impression of Johnny Cash’s cover of his song, while Fiona Apple speaks about her negative experiences after Criminal was released, due to the provocative nature of the music video. However all the artists conclude they admire Romanek’s unique approach and with time have understood Romanek’s sophisticated and sometimes dangerous ideas. Romanek equally speaks honestly about various issues which plague a music video production and how he needs to balance the artist’s expectations with his own concepts and ideas. Each commentary draws upon the complexities and volatile nature of music video productions:

99 Problems (director's cut) by Jay-Z

• Commentary with Mark Romanek

• Commentary with Jay-Z

Faint by Linkin Park

• Commentary with Mark Romanek

• Commentary with Mr. Hahn

Can't Stop by Red Hot Chili Peppers

• Commentary with Mark Romanek

• Commentary with Anthony Kiedis

• Commentary with Flea

Hurt by Johnny Cash

• Commentary with Mark Romanek

• Commentary with Trent Reznor

Cochise (director's cut) by Audioslave

• Commentary with Mark Romanek

• Commentary with Tom Morello

Hella Good (director's cut) by No Doubt

• Commentary with Mark Romanek

• Commentary with Gwen Stefani

God Gave Me Everything by Mick Jagger

• Commentary with Mark Romanek

Got 'til It's Gone by Janet Jackson

• Commentary with Mark Romanek

• Commentary with Janet Jackson

• Commentary with Joni Mitchell

Criminal by Fiona Apple

• Commentary with Mark Romanek

• Commentary with Fiona Apple

Perfect Drug by Nine Inch Nails

• Commentary with Mark Romanek

• Commentary with Trent Reznor

Devil's Haircut by Beck

• Commentary with Mark Romanek

• Commentary with Beck

El Scorcho (director's cut) by Weezer

• Commentary with Mark Romanek

• Commentary with Rivers Cuomo and Brian Bell

Novocaine for the Soul by Eels

• Commentary with Mark Romanek

• Commentary with Mark Oliver Everett.

Little Trouble Girl by Sonic Youth

• Commentary with Mark Romanek

• Commentary with Kim Gordon

Scream (director's cut) by Michael Jackson & Janet Jackson

• Commentary with Mark Romanek

• Commentary with Janet Jackson

Bedtime Story by Madonna

• Commentary with Mark Romanek

Strange Currencies by R.E.M.

• Commentary with Mark Romanek

• Commentary with Michel Stipe

Cold Beverage by G. Love & Special Sauce

• Commentary with Mark Romanek

Closer (director's cut) by Nine Inch Nails

• Commentary with Mark Romanek

• Commentary with Trent Reznor

Jump They Say by David Bowie

• Commentary with Mark Romanek

Rain by Madonna

• Commentary with Mark Romanek

Are You Gonna Go My Way by Lenny Kravitz

• Commentary with Mark Romanek

• Commentary with Lenny Kravitz

Wicket as it Seems (director's cut) by Keith Richards

• Commentary with Mark Romanek

• Commentary with Keith Richards

Free Your Mind by En Vogue

• Commentary with Mark Romanek

Constant Craving by k.d. lang

• Commentary with Mark Romanek

The Work of Director Mark Romanek (38:19)

The same interviews which were sourced for audio commentaries are expanded and edited with rare behind the scenes footage from the music video productions, treatments and stills. Other interviewees included are Michel Gondry, Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Steven Soderbergh, Rick Rubin, Chris Rock and Shannyn Sossamon. An excellent addition to the compilation. Optional subtitles are available.

Romanekian (7:48)

Ben Stiller, Chris Rock and Robin Williams speak about their favourite Romanek music videos and try to decipher the ‘Romanekian’ style. As you would expect the three comedians provide very funny commentary on the music videos. Optional subtitles available.

Making of 99 Problems(10:42)

Jay-z originally wanted Quentin Tarantino to direct the production but after a suggestion by Rick Rubin and after seeing the music video for Hurt by Johnny Cash chose Mark Romanek instead. Jay-Z wanted a realistic black and white music video set where he grew up, which is an approach uncommon in music videos of the rap genre. Interviews with Romanek, Jay-Z and Rick Rubin are all included in this feature which is blended with rare behind the scenes footage.

Booklet

A revealing in-depth interview with Romanek by Spike Jonze is included in the 56-page colour book, which also includes rare photographs of the artists, cast and crew of Romanek's music video productions and film productions.

Credits (1:00)

The NTSC R1 and PAL R4 are identical in terms of features.

Almost all of Romanek's work is included on this compilation with an in-depth behind the scenes look at the complexities and volatile nature of music video productions. The picture quality is average and somewhat flawed with a limited yet appropriate soundtrack. Overall this volume is a welcome addition to The Director's Label series and demonstrates artistic integrity does exist within the commercial music video industry.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall