Taken By Storm, the superb, indepth film about Thorgerson's life and work as told through his own reflection, his personal archive of never-before seen photographs and films, through ex-partner of Hipgnosis Aubrey Powell, and through first hand narratives from some of the most important musicians of our time, has been in the works for some years now, but this autumn/fall, it finally will see a DVD and VOD release.
Roddy Bogawa, the man behind the film, premiered it on the opening night of 2011’s prestigeous SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, USA, in front of Storm himself, and has refined the film since then. The following year it was shown in New Year (our review and thoughts on the film here), and more recently there was a screening at London’s Olympus-Rockarchive Image Space Gallery, hosted by Rupert Truman. Roddy explained that "it's really a film about Storm's creative processes from the Hipgnosis days until now and his relationships/friendships with all the musicians and bands he's worked with through his four decades of making album art. There are interviews with David Gilmour and Nick Mason, as well as Robert Plant, Peter Gabriel, Graham Gouldman, Alan Parsons [and others], as well as Storm's many collaborators, assistants, etc. including photographers Tony May and Rupert Truman, Jill Furmanovsky, and artists Damien Hirst and Sir Peter Blake. The film goes beyond talking about Storm's relationships and creative processes in visualizing music; it is also about how technology has changed our lives, especially the digital realm in music and also the disappearance of vinyl and other physical objects".
He noted that it explores numerous covers and their creation and there's a lot of material from Storm's archives that has never been seen before. "Pink Floyd have given me some footage of a helicopter fly-by shot over the beds on the beach for Momentary Lapse of Reason as well as Paul McCartney's permission to use footage of Storm directing the Band on the Run cover shoot".
Here's the teaser trailer for the film release later this year. There are plans for a theatrical release and screenings with planned events along with the aforementioned DVD and VOD releases. Information on the release will be here on Brain Damage, as well as on the takenbystormfilm.info website, and their Facebook page too.
Further to previous news about the worldwide (albeit in selected cinemas) screening of Roger Waters The Wall on September 29th, 2015, which is followed by a Q&A with Roger Waters and Nick Mason (of which questions from you, the fans, have been requested for the event), the official poster for the screenings has now been unveiled. Click the thumbnail here to see the poster in more detail.
As a reminder, tickets for the one-night-only screening will go on sale on June 19th at rogerwatersthewall.com. We will keep you posted with any further developments, and will of course give you a reminder of the ticket sales, which take place in three week's time.
Our very best wishes go to Gerald Scarfe today as he celebrates his birthday. Gerald, of course, is a graphic artist with a long history with the Floyd, from the 1974 tour programme caricature, through to his most famous work on The Wall, and beyond that, working with Roger Waters on his Pros and Cons project, and most recently, as Roger returned to The Wall for the 2010-2013 tour. Many happy returns to Gerald on this special day.
As a reminder, recently published in paperback was Gerald's superb "The Making of Pink Floyd: The Wall", which is the authorized, definitive book about the project and includes new commentaries from the surviving members of Pink Floyd: Roger Waters, David Gilmour and Nick Mason, together with the director of the film, Sir Alan Parker. Roger Waters has written the foreword. The album imagery, stage performances and film were created in close collaboration with Gerald Scarfe, and his massive archive includes original storyboards, animation cells, concept drawings, models and other three-dimensional material together with photographs of the creation and staging of the live performances and the filming of The Wall. It even covers the 2010-2013 tour. Our review and full ordering details can be found here.
Finally, in case you've not seen these yet, here's a trio of exclusive interviews done for Brain Damage by Gerald, talking about The Wall...
As most of you now know, on Thursday morning Pink Floyd were honoured in London with a permanent plaque affixed to the wall outside the University of Westminster (formerly the Regent Street Polytechnic), where Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Richard Wright met. Nick and Roger were both on hand to unveil the plaque in the warm, springtime sunshine which bathed the front of the building. The plaque will be a permanent fixture of the building, so fans will be able to visit it themselves when in London. The building is located between Oxford Circus, and the BBC headquarters.
The pair were presented to the press by Crown Estate's David Shaw, and the Vice Chancellor of the University of Westminster, Geoff Petts. Throughout, Roger in particular seemed in fine spirits and was clearly enjoying the experience.
Despite Roger, Nick and Richard not having actually studied at the building itself (it was at a nearby building, which has now been demolished) the plaque marks their tenure at the seat of learning. As you'll see, particularly from Roger's comments below, their studies weren't as rigorous as some people's, with Roger back and forth to the Poly.
Also included below are a further selection of exclusive shots from the unveiling, for your enjoyment. Now, here are the speeches to those present, which included family, friends and others such as Joe Boyd (pictured below with Roger, meeting as Roger arrived)…
Thursday evening, BBC Radio 4 in the UK broadcast an interview with Roger Waters and Nick Mason, following the unveiling of the plaque at the University of Westminster (Regent Street Polytechnic). On the subject of that, we've just finished the transcript of the unveiling speeches and will be posting that along with more exclusive pictures from the event, shortly. In the meantime, here's the BBC interview:
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