By David Farrier
Industrial rockers Nine Inch Nails planned to make a concert DVD but then disaster, as their former record label cancelled the deal.
Enter the band, the fans and the internet.
Two years ago NIN embarked on their most ambitious tour yet, working with tech whizkids Moment Factory to create an interactive set.
"Trent [Reznor, lead singer] wanted to make the stage an instrument, he wanted also to be able to manipulate visuals with music and movement," says Aaron Shorty, the lead developer from Moment Factory.
In the words of Reznor himself, "We spent a helluva lot of time on it, trying to get the video right."
Now Reznor wanted to capture what they'd created on film with James Cameron's 3D team, but because Reznor had parted ways with his record label it didn't happen.
"I made two critical mistakes," he says. "One was to approach a certain record company that owns some of the song rights about producing and funding, the second was to allow said company to f**k around as usual for months before saying no."
So, Reznor hired a pro crew and filmed it himself.
He then posted online: "The internet is full of surprises these days. I was contacted by a mysterious, shadowy group of subversives who somehow managed to film over 400 gigabytes of raw, unedited HD footage - security must have been lacking at these shows because the quality of the footage is excellent."
So, fans all over the world downloaded the footage and set to editing - a large portion cut in New Zealand.
Eventually it was done, the fan edit screening in cinemas all over the world - including here.
"For a change we are downloading something from the internet and putting it on the big screen, as opposed to people stealing it from the big screen and downloading it onto the internet," says John Davies of Academy Cinemas.
Auckland's Academy Cinemas starts screening the film from 9pm tomorrow night. Cinemas in Wellington and Christchurch will get involved next month.
It's perfect example of a band, the internet and fans getting on just fine without a record label poking about.
The fan edited Nine Inch Nails concert film is playing at Auckland’s Academy Cinema at the following times:
- Fri 30 July, 9pm
- Sat 31 July, 9pm
- Sun 1 August, 12pm
- Sat 7 August, 9:30pm
- Wed 11 August, 6:15pm
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