As the director of this video I take umbrage at this “opinion” and how it masquerades as a review. Its negativity is in all honesty not very bothersome, and is expected in this business, it’s actually what isn’t said or mentioned here that I have issue with. Professional non-biased reviews and critiques are actually valuable to artists, they can (at their best) tell an artist where he/she has succeed or failed and WHY they have succeeded or failed. I am very disappointed that there is a complete lack of critical analysis and research on this video by a person that is very well equipped to provide such an analysis (Axl Rosenberg).

After reading and re-reading Axl’s opinion I am still unsure as to what it is exactly that he despises about the video. I sincerely hope that he is not judging it solely off of the horrendous YouTube presentation. Anyone who has ever uploaded anything to YouTube’s servers knows full well the level of Flash compression that is applied to a video clip. This problem is exacerbated by high levels of contrast and video noise/grain, and is completely uncontrollable by the end user. The amount of compression on this video is no better or worse than most of the material on YouTube. This video was actually mastered for broadcast and DVD distribution and the quality difference between said master and the YouTube video is staggering.

The style of the video is/was not born of happenstance, ineptitude, laziness, or unprofessionalism, it was a deliberate stylistic choice that was carefully and difficultly executed. If it happens to be the style that Axl finds unwarranted or objectionable I can completely understand that opinion, because it simply comes down to taste in that instance. However to accuse any of the production crew as being unprofessional, inexperienced, or “children” is needlessly insulting and adds nothing to his opinion. I am fairly confident that the reference to “your son’s friend from the high school [sic] A/V club” is meant as humor, but I would have liked something further in-depth as to why he thought and inferred that. 2 minutes of research could have provided Axl with either a deeper understanding of the stylistic intent and production of the video, or more and better ammunition for his dislike of it. The “info” tag on the YouTube page provides a decent synopsis of this as does the actual press-release, written and published on February 16, 2010, a full day day before Axl wrote this.

Press-release:
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=135252

As the press-release states: “Tony Myles and Cage XXI have created a vision of a post-apocalyptic television broadcast. This unique look was filmed with the custom-made ‘Wartooth’ camera.” As I said, this video was created with a deliberate style. In fact it was so deliberate that we built our own camera solely for this production. The biggest reason that we undertook this approach was that none of us (band included) wanted a video that was in any way reminiscent of other music videos (re: visual style), especially since it’s a performance piece. This camera was designed, built, tested, and was approved by me and the band. The degraded and ghostly video style is (obviously) offset with professional lighting, framing, and production design. If that aspect has been lost in translation then it is definitely my fault as a filmmaker, however if this is merely a difference in stylistic opinion then I have no problem respectfully disagreeing. Really, all this is is a heavily stylized performance video, I’m not sure what there is to rail against.

I’m not going to bore anyone with my résumé for the simple fact that I believe that every project should exist on its own merits, so what I have or haven’t done in the past is for the most part irrelevant. Needless to say this was a difficult production that succeeded because of the skill, professionalism, and experience of the crew. Yes, there was an entire 10 person crew, which is on the small side but that’s to be expected on lower budget shoots. Budget notwithstanding, there were many problems to overcome in the production of this video (such as a key crewmember having emergency surgery 2 days before shooting), that were successfully overcome, not with luck but rather skill and fortitude. There are so many easier ways to make a living than working in the film industry, but I digress…

I don’t mean to imply that Axl should know or have known the intricacies of the production, but on some level an understanding of the process is necessary for a legitimate and probative critique, and a strong visual language is of obvious necessity when critiquing a visual medium. If he does possess such knowledge it was not evidenced in his opinion. It’s this lack of material that would constitute a professional criticism that bothers me. As I said before, Axl is fully capable of writing excellent critiques, so I am more than a little befuddled as to why he chose not to in this instance. All his opinion consisted of was a sophomoric headline and the statement that he does not like the video. His statement of: “You’re almost better off not making a video at all, so that pricks like me won’t make fun of it.” misses the mark for me as well, since I would have liked it if he made fun of it more so that I and his reading audience would have a better understanding for the basis of his opinion. I am not so misguided to believe that I can change his opinion (nor would I want to), I simply want to understand it.

The terseness of this opinion makes me think that it was written for Twitter but ran a little long. Aside from that it just reads as lazy too, why not take the extra time to mention that Axl Rose is your featured “poet” (as your arms get shorter, your pockets get deeper), or fix the typo in the opening sentence? Another famous poet (note: Shakespeare) once said “brevity is the soul of wit”, although in this instance it leaves far too much unanswered. What I have attempted to do here is critique Axl’s opinion in the manner that I myself would have liked this music video critiqued. As I write this I do so with limited understanding of Axl’s mindset or motivation. For all I know his dog was killed that morning and he got into a car accident on his way to work and absolutely needed something to hate and denounce that day. If that’s the case then I’m glad I could help. However I cannot understand writing about something simply because you don’t like it and never tell why. Why waste the time?

At the end of the day any legitimate artist produces something to be viewed by an audience and those legitimate artists also understand that it is impossible to please everyone. I am personally and professionally no different. Novembers Doom has a target market and fanbase that this video was produced for, so it goes without saying that if you’re not a fan of the band you probably won’t like the video. But as Axl appears to have some appreciation for Novembers Doom, I would have appreciated an actual critique of this video, so that I know where he feels that this video missed its mark. There’s certainly no ill-will on my part, especially since my dislike of Axl’s opinion is tempered with my general appreciation of his website. If any actual reviewer took the time to contact me I would gladly provide a screener copy and behind the scenes photographs for an in-depth analysis. Metal is supposed to be a community of sorts isn’t it? Then again, this is just the internet, where people feel justified in publicly telling Universal Studios that the Wolfman plagiarized Twilight: New Moon, so I suppose that I’ll just take this opinion for what it is.

Now It’s Dark,

Tony “Chainsaw” Myles
President/Director of Photography
Cage XXI Enterprises, Inc.
http://www.cagexxi.com