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Thread started 09/27/07 10:22am

shaomi

How come Prince gave up directing movies?

When u read Per Nielsen's DMSR, Prince was obviously obsessed by the idea of making movies in the 80's, then he seem 2 have totally given up the idea after the GB fiasco (though 3 Chains O'Gold & The Beautiful Experience were tentatives of some sort.)

Was it the poor feedback about GB that discouraged him or what?
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Reply #1 posted 09/27/07 10:29am

funkyhead

kindly refer to UTCM!
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Reply #2 posted 09/27/07 10:33am

prime

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Have you seen anything the brotha directed? They say that a lot about great artists that spead themselves to thin.... they are great when they do waht they do bests but when they take on everything it loses a little something.
Prime aka The Kid

"I need u to dance, I need u to strip
I need u to shake Ur lil' ass n hips
I need u to grind like Ur working for tips
And give me what I need while we listen to PRINCE"
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Reply #3 posted 09/27/07 10:59am

shaomi

prime said:

Have you seen anything the brotha directed? They say that a lot about great artists that spead themselves to thin.... they are great when they do waht they do bests but when they take on everything it loses a little something.


sure, but Prince was probably thinkin' he was a fucking genius at directing, too, so how come he gave it up?
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Reply #4 posted 09/27/07 11:34am

Anxiety

he directed a handful of videos in the past decade or so, didn't he? i think that's tolerable. five minutes he can work with. an hour and a half? NOOOO!!!
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Reply #5 posted 09/27/07 11:35am

myfavorite

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Anxiety said:

he directed a handful of videos in the past decade or so, didn't he? i think that's tolerable. five minutes he can work with. an hour and a half? NOOOO!!!




lol lawd a jam box in 1920?????
THE B EST BE YOURSELF AS LONG AS YOUR SELF ISNT A DYCK[/r]

**....Someti
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Reply #6 posted 09/27/07 11:38am

Anxiety

myfavorite said:

Anxiety said:

he directed a handful of videos in the past decade or so, didn't he? i think that's tolerable. five minutes he can work with. an hour and a half? NOOOO!!!




lol lawd a jam box in 1920?????



wait, what? confuse

you mean that scene in 'under the cherry moon'?

that was set in present day, it was just filmed to look like an old musical.
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Reply #7 posted 09/27/07 11:43am

madhouseman

Directing is an art. It doesn't happen by accident or without a great deal of planning. Prince has a great ear for music, but that doesn't necessarily translate to movies. In addition to understanding where to put the camera, a director has to be able to tell a story, and understand pacing and subtlety, which is are skills that requires work and long term effort.

A music video is a different beast then a feature film. But I think at the end of the day, there were few people that were willing to give him $10-15 million to make an art film that few would see. That isn't great business and Prince isn't going to pony up his money for it either, so why would he keep going down this road.

Now he can say he did it, and he wants to try other things instead.
The expanded version of my book PRINCE and The Purple Rain Era Studio Sessions 1983-1984 was released in November 2018. (www.amazon.com/gp/product/1538114623/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0) or www.facebook.com/groups/1...104195943/
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Reply #8 posted 09/27/07 12:08pm

shaomi

Anyway, if Prince's lawyers knew what's on the web that they'll never find...
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Reply #9 posted 09/27/07 12:09pm

PurpleHouse

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shaomi said:

When u read Per Nielsen's DMSR, Prince was obviously obsessed by the idea of making movies in the 80's, then he seem 2 have totally given up the idea after the GB fiasco (though 3 Chains O'Gold & The Beautiful Experience were tentatives of some sort.)

Was it the poor feedback about GB that discouraged him or what?



no. He was crap at directing. Period. He quit while he was ahead... just.
The Tao te Ching gives advice to rulers:

"Interfere Less".
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Reply #10 posted 09/27/07 12:47pm

3121

I liked how UTCM was shot, i thought it looked great.
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Reply #11 posted 09/27/07 12:59pm

DreamyPopRoyal
ty

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3121 said:

I liked how UTCM was shot, i thought it looked great.


yeah, me too.
Although I didn't really the way he directed himself when he dies. He was probably thinking, "eh, I don't want u to see my dying face..." or something like that with that crazy voice he uses during his rap in "Push".

I think he gave it up possibly due to the bad reviews. (Got a "raspberry" from critics on his directing for UTCM... and of course, Graffiti Bridge didn't pan out for the critics either).
But the real reason was because that became a really prolific time for him. Like during D&P, they say he cut a bunch of the tracks within an hour or so each. Possibly write them and recorded them on the spot, leaving plenty of room for improv... not completely sure.

Music started pouring from his mouth & fingertips and he started writing/recording all the time. Then u know the whole story when he changed his name and wanted to break away from "the ego" and obsessively writing/recording.

Which left little time for directing. And by the time he freed himself and was a new man, his interests probably changed. But that doesn't stop him from directing some of his videos on occasion.
had 2 run away... pride was 2 strong. It started raining, baby, the birds were gone
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Reply #12 posted 09/27/07 2:10pm

bungle

Sign o the Times has amazing direction ,but UTCM and GB didnt cut it wit me...
but then the scripts being shit didnt help!
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Reply #13 posted 09/29/07 11:40am

prime

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bungle said:

Sign o the Times has amazing direction ,but UTCM and GB didnt cut it wit me...
but then the scripts being shit didnt help!


Yup

I loved UTCM and SOTT was great but when it comes down to movies that will make money and become a block buster I think P lacks in that area.
Prime aka The Kid

"I need u to dance, I need u to strip
I need u to shake Ur lil' ass n hips
I need u to grind like Ur working for tips
And give me what I need while we listen to PRINCE"
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Reply #14 posted 09/29/07 1:09pm

sexxydancer

Bcuz he's 2 busy doing other stuff. wink
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Reply #15 posted 09/29/07 1:25pm

ludwig

3121 said:

I liked how UTCM was shot, i thought it looked great.

It looked great, because he had (one of) the best cameraman on this planet (Michael Ballhaus). But the directing and his acting was bad. The kissing scene with him and Kristin Scott Thomas is cringeworthy, just like the death scene. Very very poor acting.
[Edited 9/29/07 13:26pm]
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Reply #16 posted 09/29/07 1:40pm

prime

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ludwig said:

3121 said:

I liked how UTCM was shot, i thought it looked great.

It looked great, because he had (one of) the best cameraman on this planet (Michael Ballhaus). But the directing and his acting was bad. The kissing scene with him and Kristin Scott Thomas is cringeworthy, just like the death scene. Very very poor acting.
[Edited 9/29/07 13:26pm]



Could he open his mouth a little bit to make it seem real?
Prime aka The Kid

"I need u to dance, I need u to strip
I need u to shake Ur lil' ass n hips
I need u to grind like Ur working for tips
And give me what I need while we listen to PRINCE"
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Reply #17 posted 09/29/07 1:53pm

sosgemini

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bungle said:

Sign o the Times has amazing direction


ui think the performances and songs are awesome but the direction is very amateur hour.
Space for sale...
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Reply #18 posted 09/29/07 4:08pm

KidaDynamite

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prime said:

ludwig said:


It looked great, because he had (one of) the best cameraman on this planet (Michael Ballhaus). But the directing and his acting was bad. The kissing scene with him and Kristin Scott Thomas is cringeworthy, just like the death scene. Very very poor acting.
[Edited 9/29/07 13:26pm]



Could he open his mouth a little bit to make it seem real?


confuse
surviving on the thought of loving you, it's just like the water
I ain't felt this way in years...
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Reply #19 posted 09/29/07 4:36pm

vivid

DreamyPopRoyalty said:

3121 said:

I liked how UTCM was shot, i thought it looked great.


yeah, me too.
Although I didn't really the way he directed himself when he dies. He was probably thinking, "eh, I don't want u to see my dying face..." or something like that with that crazy voice he uses during his rap in "Push".

I think he gave it up possibly due to the bad reviews. (Got a "raspberry" from critics on his directing for UTCM... and of course, Graffiti Bridge didn't pan out for the critics either).
But the real reason was because that became a really prolific time for him. Like during D&P, they say he cut a bunch of the tracks within an hour or so each. Possibly write them and recorded them on the spot, leaving plenty of room for improv... not completely sure.

Music started pouring from his mouth & fingertips and he started

writing/recording all the time. Then u know the whole story when he changed his name and wanted to break away from "the ego" and obsessively writing/recording.

Which left little time for directing. And by the time he freed himself and was a new man, his interests probably changed. But that doesn't stop him from directing some of his videos on occasion.


Don't think so. He directed two films that were savaged and bombed. Film career over.
[Edited 9/29/07 16:38pm]
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Reply #20 posted 10/16/07 5:09am

bungle

sosgemini said:

bungle said:

Sign o the Times has amazing direction


ui think the performances and songs are awesome but the direction is very amateur hour.

No, I think the direction was good.
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Reply #21 posted 10/16/07 9:16am

Genesia

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Why doesn't he direct? Have you seen Graffiti Bridge? lol
We don’t mourn artists because we knew them. We mourn them because they helped us know ourselves.
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Reply #22 posted 10/16/07 9:58am

Joyinrepatitio
n

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Each to his own!!
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Reply #23 posted 10/16/07 1:20pm

ufoclub

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The supposed uncredited director/advisor of additional shoots for the SOTT movie: Albert Magnoli... you know that guy that directed Batdance, Partyman, Purple Rain... etc.

It's even listed on IMDB
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Reply #24 posted 10/16/07 5:32pm

spacedolphin

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vivid said:

DreamyPopRoyalty said:



yeah, me too.
Although I didn't really the way he directed himself when he dies. He was probably thinking, "eh, I don't want u to see my dying face..." or something like that with that crazy voice he uses during his rap in "Push".

I think he gave it up possibly due to the bad reviews. (Got a "raspberry" from critics on his directing for UTCM... and of course, Graffiti Bridge didn't pan out for the critics either).
But the real reason was because that became a really prolific time for him. Like during D&P, they say he cut a bunch of the tracks within an hour or so each. Possibly write them and recorded them on the spot, leaving plenty of room for improv... not completely sure.

Music started pouring from his mouth & fingertips and he started

writing/recording all the time. Then u know the whole story when he changed his name and wanted to break away from "the ego" and obsessively writing/recording.

Which left little time for directing. And by the time he freed himself and was a new man, his interests probably changed. But that doesn't stop him from directing some of his videos on occasion.


Don't think so. He directed two films that were savaged and bombed. Film career over.
[Edited 9/29/07 16:38pm]


Yup. He was the Ed Wood of musicals and WB were tired of wasting money on his delusions.

Real reason? LOL
music I'm afraid of Americans. I'm afraid of the world. music
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