New Documentary Chronicles the Sonic History of Video Games
Amongst all the documentaries of 2016, one you may have missed is the largely crowdfunded doc called Beep: A Documentary History of Game Sound, that is, well, exactly that. Beep traces the sonic history of video games: starting with the early days of Victorian penny arcades to pinball machines and the chiptunes of the 8-bit video game days to the modern day inclusion of massive, high0caliber soundtracks and live music. The doc includes clips from over 80 interviews with industry game composers, sound designers, audio directors, and voice actors. Viewers can expect talking heads from composer heavyweights like Marty O’Donnell, Nathan McCree, and Yoko Shimomura, who composed the soundtracks to Halo, Tomb Raider, and Kingdom Hearts respectively. You can check out a trailer for Beep below:
Elton John Wants Your Fresh Music Videos for His 70s Classics
Elton John is holding a contest for filmmakers to create new music videos for some of John’s 70’s classics. The competition is in honor of Elton John’s 50th anniversary with songwriting partner Bernie Taupin. The contest calls for music videos for “Rocket Man,” “Tiny Dancer,” and “Bennie and the Jets,” in collaboration with YouTube. Three winners will be selected by Elton John, Bernie Taupin and a panel of YouTube creators and industry players, each winning a $10,000 prize from YouTube. The contest opens on January 9th, and all entries must be submitted by January 23rd. Find more information here.
-Taylor Wallace