The Documentary :
Already in the
first seconds, the expert realizes
what it is about here: the whole
DVD is styled from the beginning
until the end. Original colors
were used and logos were created
in the retro-look, which accord
exactly the year 1970, so that
you realize immediately that it
was worked with a lot of love
to the detail.
The documentary starts at the
end of Elvis' movie career and
he returned to live entertainment.
This section is decorated with
rare unpublished pictures and
Super 8 material. You are given
detailed information on the time
frame and the events, which lead
to that comeback and you also
get numerous facts, some by Elvis
himself, who tells here his own
life story. How the producers
realized this, shall not be told
here, because we do not want to
spoil the dvd by offering the
details of some of the surprises
on the website. |
This documentary sees itself as 'THE
FIRST CHAPTER…OR THE BEGINNING' of the
events that lead to the original 'That's
The Way It Is' and is the first DVD-documentary
having the topic 'Elvis and Las Vegas'
as focus.
The best on this documentary is
surely the unpublished material
of Elvis 1969 from the legendary
first Las Vegas comeback-engagement.
A few minutes from this time frame
were shown a few years ago in
the movie 'Return To Splendour'
in low quality. But in consideration
of the rareness of the material
this was at that time already
a sensation to see Elvis on stage
live in 1969. The 69' material
on this DVD is in impressive,
unique quality and it is not the
same material like on the above-named
production.
Concert Footage
Las Vegas, Nevada - August 1970 |
The footage which was shot in August
1970 on Super8 by Jean-Marc Gargiulo
is probably the most complete
concert of that time. Due to the
fact that the Super8 format was
only available as 3 minutes reels,
often times there only exists
short pieces of a concert as short
clips. However, here the viewer
gets the impression of attending
a complete concert. The recordings
were made shortly after the departure
of the MGM Film crew so you don't
see any recordings used in 'That's
The Way It Is'. Without the pressure
of the film-makers, a totally
detached Elvis gives here a clutching
and sweeping concert. |
Original Screenshot taken from the
DVD Elvis - Adrenaline '70 |
Original Screenshots
taken from the DVD: Elvis - Adrenaline
'70 |
We should especially emphasize that you don't see Elvis
like in professional movie shootings,
which show Elvis stupidly unexceptional
in a long shot, here you see the complete
stage. Due to the total restoration and
the digital transfer you really have the
opportunity to see every band member precisely
and clearly. Even the expert will recognize
details of the showroom he has never seen
before while carefully watching this rare
footage. For the first time you will get
an impression of the events on stage and
can admire the lighting's play of color. |
Bonus Features:
The Creation of Dreams - The
Making Of
|
On 'Elvis: Behind The Image - The
Book' there was for the first
time a trailer documenting the
production. An extra-special at
our website offers a further,
more intensive insight at the
work at the book. This extras
interested the fans very much
so that the producers team decided
to dedicate a little insight into
the DVD production work - The
Creation Of Dreams, where you
can watch the makers amongst other
things, in the Bavari Film Studios.
This 'Making Of' makes the Adrenaline
DVD complete, because let's be
honest - we fans always want to
have a great product. |
|
And because we always
have to miss these bonus features
on the official DVDs from the
film companies, fans are happy
about finding such unexpected
bonus clips. |
A
Comment on the Soundtrack:
All of the amateur recordings
of this film material were recorded
in 1970 without sound. Cameras
with sound were not available
to the general public before the
end of 1974/ beginning of 1975.
It also not possible to add original
Elvis music to the film material
because of the legal situation.
Even if you would be allowed to
add it, this possibility would
not be the right solution for
most of the recordings. This results
from the fact that a reel had
a capacity of 3 minutes. The person
filming wanted to capture as much
impressions as possible of the
concert, so he or she filmed as
much sequences as possible, which,
however, only last a few seconds,
due to the running time of the
reel. If you tried to add music
in lip synchronisation the resulting
material would sound like a broken
LP. Apart from that, y you could
only use a small amount of the
amateurish recorded live appearances
for a so called 'overdubbing'.
Even if the person filmed 3 or
4 reels per concert at that time,
you would have to cut the concert
of one hour down to 9 or rather
12 minutes what brings us back
to the 'effect of the broken LP.
If you eclipse the lip synchronisation,
you could use Elvis songs as background
music but then Elvis' moves totally
wouldn't fit the music. It would
all seem out of tempo and pretty
strange to the fans and would
make the pleasure smaller.
You have to see Super8 recordings
as what they actually are:
They enable us to experience Elvis
in situations of different years,
which wouldn't be available for
us otherwise, because from the
official side it was failed to
make movie documents for the posterity.
To cite only one example : if
amateurs didn't film any footage
of Elvis in 1975 we wouldn't even
be able to see the star 'live'
in the according year.
We did not want to expect of the
fan to watch a silent movie, so
Bud Glass Productions decided
for a different way. Instead of
using barely fitting karaoke tracks
or some kind of elevator music,
like its common in cheap productions,
the team used especially for this
DVD composed songs, recorded in
a studio by real musicians. For
the first time ever you can find
such a high quality music on a
Elvis-collectors-DVD, which underlines
the recordings stylishly and enjoyably.
During this production the 'Drum-Roll'
of Ronnie Tutt from 'That's The
Way It Is' was the musical guideline.
Abutted at this musical theme
the complete DVD and also the
menu was designed. Whereas at
the actual concert shots on Super
8 there was chosen complete different
high quality music, which doesn't
sound like typical Elvis music.
Here an atmosphere should be created,
which gives the viewer the opportunity,
to lean back and relax a little
and get caught and amazed by the
visual. |
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