Tip jar

If you like CaB and wish to support it, you can use PayPal or KoFi. Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the site - Neil.

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Support CaB

Recent

Welcome to Cook'd and Bomb'd. Please login or sign up.

March 28, 2024, 07:19:12 PM

Login with username, password and session length

Being Frank: The Chris Sievey Story (Frank Sidebottom documentary)

Started by Wayman C. McCreery, February 24, 2019, 10:19:19 AM

Previous topic - Next topic


Small Man Big Horse

I watched this tonight and absolutely adored it, it's the best documentary I've seen in years and even if you're not a fan I'm sure you'd still find it fascinating. Only £3.49 in SD too which is a bargain and then some.

Quote from: kalowski on April 13, 2019, 06:22:32 PM
Bit of my Frank collection here:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/otdf1gi89uvh8sp/AACwIhi94V2TrF377ITsh3-xa?dl=0

Thanks so much for that, I can't wait to explore more of his work.

I've only occasionally seen bits of him.  One time was on some kids' Saturday morning TV programme, in the 90s.  After kicking a ball into a TV studio goalmouth, he got on a miniature bus and rode round, singing 'guess who's just been match on the day; I have; it's a very good show,' over-and-over, in a deadpan voice.  Somehow, I couldn't help but find this drily amusing.

Blue Jam


AVR2

I've never particularly been a Frank fan but the documentary is compulsive viewing and, as said, ultimately rather sad. We see Sievey's handwritten 5-year timeline for what he planned to achieve with Frank's 00s comeback, and while the "Book" and "Film" would have been fascinating to see, imagine what he could have done with his own YouTube channel with some decent production values.

In fact, while none of the Freshies songs heard in the doco really grabbed me (they all sounded a bit too generically punk-poppy, but minus any really strong melodic hooks), I was seriously impressed with the quality of what Sievey was doing with video back in the early 80s when the equipment to make home videos was horrifically expensive.

And that ZX81 program that precisely synced lyrics and animated graphics with the song - that was *very* cleverly done.

He looks like he was a handy stop-motion animator too.

BritishHobo

Just got out of a Q&A screening of this at Chester Storyhouse. God. It really is beautiful and sad. I went in expecting to just get little glimpses of Sievey, but by the twenty-minute/half-an-hour mark I'd almost forgotten the film had anything to do with Frank Sidebottom.

One of the things I've been thinking about most, especially after some of the questions Steve fielded, is the fact that the respective Kickstarters for the funeral, statue and film show that a lot of love for Frank existed, and the potential for a fairly significant following, beyond what he had already cultivated. Obviously Sievey's death was a major catalyst in bringing that out, but I wonder if there's anything he could have done had he lived that would have gotten there - and then whether he would have been able to convert that back into a following for himself.

Left me very wistful and thoughtful. Beautifully done.


Operty1


Bennett Brauer

About 20 minutes of extras - five scraps from Chris Sievey's archive and eight scenes shot for the film that weren't used, mostly interview outtakes.

There's a lot more from the archive that was made available to the film's backers. Maybe they''ll be on a future expanded release if the demand is there.

rimbaud

Staggering that Caroline Aherne was his sidekick, Chris Evans his driver and both Mark Radcliffe and Jon Ronson were in his band.

I'm in the kickstarter for this and looking forward to it.

Also loved the Fassbender film.

the

Quote from: Bennett Brauer on April 25, 2019, 11:14:45 PMAbout 20 minutes of extras - five scraps from Chris Sievey's archive and eight scenes shot for the film that weren't used, mostly interview outtakes.

There's a lot more from the archive that was made available to the film's backers. Maybe they''ll be on a future expanded release if the demand is there.

According to the Q&A, there are plans to make the archive now stored at Manchester library (and still being exhibited until this Tuesday, 30th April) accessible online in the future. If true, this comes as a relief, due to the sheer volume of film archive available at the exhibition.

And if you get a chance, watch the entire 2 hour 1989 show where Frank talks about doing the intro for Bros at Wembley Stadium (seen in excerpt in the film). The whole show is a joy.

madhair60

Quote from: the on April 26, 2019, 01:22:56 AM
And if you get a chance, watch the entire 2 hour 1989 show where Frank talks about doing the intro for Bros at Wembley Stadium (seen in excerpt in the film). The whole show is a joy.

Any chance you've got a link?

buzby

Quote from: AVR2 on April 15, 2019, 11:42:10 PM
And that ZX81 program that precisely synced lyrics and animated graphics with the song - that was *very* cleverly done.
I'm fairly sure the clip of the Camouflage ZX81 video used in the film was supplied by Soundhog/Ben Hayes, who managed to get it working in an emulator (read the whole video description to see the full story of the problems in getting it working - Chris was working at the bleeding edge of technology at the time).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u9ZyV-BHFA

Artie Fufkin

Quote from: rimbaud on April 26, 2019, 12:25:30 AM


I'm in the kickstarter for this and looking forward to it.



Me too! My copy turned up yesterday, almost 6 years to the day that I 'kickstarted'.

the

Quote from: madhair60 on April 26, 2019, 08:24:15 AM
Quote from: the on April 26, 2019, 01:22:56 AMAnd if you get a chance, watch the entire 2 hour 1989 show where Frank talks about doing the intro for Bros at Wembley Stadium (seen in excerpt in the film). The whole show is a joy.

Any chance you've got a link?

I don't have a copy. Either:

A) Go to Manchester Library before the exhibition ends on Tuesday and watch it, or
B) Wait for the archive to be made available online (when this will happen has not been specified yet AFAIK)

madhair60






Rolf Lundgren

Quote from: Bennett Brauer on April 25, 2019, 11:14:45 PM
About 20 minutes of extras - five scraps from Chris Sievey's archive and eight scenes shot for the film that weren't used, mostly interview outtakes.

I've got 40 mins worth. 20 mins from the archive and 20 mins of interview outtakes. The best is his son describing how he was invited over to take part in 'Gun Day' which is exactly what it sounds like.

Quote
One of the things I've been thinking about most, especially after some of the questions Steve fielded, is the fact that the respective Kickstarters for the funeral, statue and film show that a lot of love for Frank existed, and the potential for a fairly significant following, beyond what he had already cultivated. Obviously Sievey's death was a major catalyst in bringing that out, but I wonder if there's anything he could have done had he lived that would have gotten there - and then whether he would have been able to convert that back into a following for himself.

It would have been interesting to see how his 5 year plan would have panned out and doing a film would have got some attention. It's easy to imagine him being well into Twitch, Kickstarter and all kinds of new technology that could have helped him do whatever he wanted.

Bennett Brauer

Quote from: Rolf Lundgren on April 26, 2019, 06:17:34 PM
I've got 40 mins worth. 20 mins from the archive and 20 mins of interview outtakes.

Maybe I miscalculated or skipped something on the menu. Will check again later.

Small Man Big Horse

I know there's a difference between the dvd and blu-ray extras, with more on the latter if that helps.

lazarou

I haven't got it myself yet, but the last newsletter was saying there's 45 mins of various extras on the DVD with an extra half hour of bonus stuff on the Blu Ray.

Bennett Brauer

Quote from: Bennett Brauer on April 26, 2019, 07:02:20 PM
Maybe I miscalculated or skipped something on the menu. Will check again later.

Turns out knucklehead here didn't spot 'Next' on the Extras menu.

the

Here's a great microcosm of Frank, for those who've never seen it

      Panic On The Streets Of Timperley

Musical parody is one thing, but to thread that in with an actual fallen tree and your adventures with a film crew is sublime.

For anyone who hasn't seen it and has access to Sky Arts, it premiered last night and is getting a repeat showing Sunday night at 12.15 am, it's also available on Sky Arts on demand.

Jockice

I watched it last night. Brilliant. You know it is, it really is.

Jockice

Quote from: kalowski on April 04, 2019, 09:37:56 PM
I've not seen the film yet, but there's such a sad coda with his kids, as his son Harry was killed a few years ago, getting hit by a car whilst cycling.

Ah yeah, I was wondering about that bit at the end. Ta. Really sad.