[78-L] "Prohibition" DVD

[Jeff Sultanof]

There was an article recently (don't remember details now) about the Civil
War series being shown on PBS, and the author interviewed a professor of
history on his feelings. The professor said that the series was great in
that it created interest in the conflict, not so great as it made the whole
thing very romanticized and not what the conflict really was.

Burns has a habit of finding one talking head whom he relies on for
justification of his perspective. As we know, historical events are
multifaceted prisms that can be looked at any number of ways.

Cary, you may know this story, but just in case...... Burns attended a
performance of the Chicago Jazz Ensemble playing at Birdland, conducted by
Bill Russo, where they played several compositions that Bill wrote for Stan
Kenton. People who were there said that Burns' reaction was amazement, as in
"Why didn't I know about this?" Did he think that Wynton was actually going
to have good words to say about Kenton?

Jeff Sultanof

On Fri, Oct 7, 2011 at 11:35 AM, Cary Ginell <soundthink at live.com> wrote:

>
> I enjoyed "The Civil War" immensely but I have been told by Civil War buffs
> that the documentary was as rife with errors as was "Jazz." I caught a major
> one myself when I watched the show for the first time. In the last episode,
> the narration got Abraham Lincoln's age wrong when he died. They were off by
> ten years, making him either 65 or 66 (can't remember which they said).
> Lincoln was 56 when he died. How did they miss that one? I know, I know - I
> make mistakes, too. But you can bet that I wouldn't have made that one,
> which involves the central figure of American life in the 19th century.
>
> Cary Ginell
>
>
>
> > Date: Fri, 7 Oct 2011 09:23:56 -0600
> > From: p.schow at comcast.net
> > To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> > Subject: Re: [78-L] "Prohibition" DVD
> >
> > On Fri, Oct 07, 2011 at 07:51:44AM -0700, Cary Ginell wrote:
> > >
> > > There's plenty to attack Burns on - none intended towards you, Jeff!
> > >
> > > Early this year, my son showed me the program iMovie, which he taught
> me
> > > how to use so I could put together a photo montage for his Eagle Court
> > > ceremony. On the effects toolbar, they have something that enables you
> > > to randomly pan or zoom in on a still photograph. It is called
> > > the "Ken Burns Effect." Can you believe this? He probably got a royalty
> > > for licensing something in his name that has been in existence since
> > > documentaries were first produced. I call that arrogant.
> >
> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Burns_effect
> >
> > I would not be in a rush to criticize KB over this.  Sounds like it
> > was Apple who came up with the idea and from the article above, KB
> > acknowledges his influences.  Remember that his "Civil War" documentary
> > in 1990 was immensely popular and made the cover of Newsweek despite only
> > showing photographs and talking heads.  Many thought such a format
> > would not succeed in the modern age.  And yes, he pretty much stuck
> > with the same format 21 years later with "Prohibition".
> >
> > No idea about royalties but I wouldn't be surprised if Steve Jobs
> > made a donation to KB's foundation.
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>
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