Brian Brodeur edits un-released footage for Zappa Plays Zappa tour

Working closely with Joe Travers (the Zappa Family Trust ‘vaultmeister’) and Dweezil Zappa, Brian Brodeur completed editing of never-before-seen footage of Frank Zappa for use during the 2007-08 Zappa Plays Zappa concert tour. During the tour, Dweezil Zappa leads a band, which includes Joe Travers on drums, through a diverse catalog of Zappa music. During several song performances, the ZPZ band performs with video of Frank Zappa playing along in perfect syncronization.

Video sync is accomplished thru use of a click-track, monitored by Joe Travers on-stage, and computer playback of the NTSC footage. Songs featured include Montana, Zomby Woof, Black Napkins, Dumb All Over and Muffin Man to name a few. Along with well known footage, Brodeur worked with unseen camera angles of the well-known KCET footage from the early 70s which features George Duke, Ruth Underwood and Chester Thompson. The vintage film and video of Frank Zappa feature several of Frank’s guitar solos as well as vocal performances – all of which provide the illusion of Frank performing live with the ZPZ band.

Reviews have been very positive – especially from long-time fans. In his tour blog, Dweezil wrote: “It’s really exciting to be able to play more songs onstage with Frank on video this year. The audience reactions have been amazing.” Also, referring to the Baltimore show, DZ wrote, “Once we finished Peaches we segued into Montana, featuring Frank on video. The audience was thrilled to see him on this auspicious day.”

Fan reaction has been similar. A fan from the Paris show wrote, “The videos with Frank were so cool and moving too, my god, this solo from Muffin Man is just amazing! Gave me goose bumps!” A fan from the Boston show wrote, “ The video of Frank playing along was a spectacular new technology twist and worked flawlessly giving us a very unique opportunity to experience the master and the apprentice expressing the true merging of the generations.”

In preparation for the ZPZ editing sessions, Brodeur provided assisted in setting up a complete Final Cut Pro editing suite at the famed Utility Muffin Research Kitchen studio within the Zappa house in the Hollywood Hills. Once the suite was ready, footage was digitized from DigiBeta and audio was provided from Zappa’s famed UMRK recording studio – which was one floor above the editing suite.

For a digital photos of the UMRK studio, live performances or NewYorkDVD’s Brian Brodeur, please contact Chris Pfaff at 201-218-0262 or chris@chrispfafftechmedia.com

NewYorkDVD has announced that it completed development of the late composer and guitarist Frank Zappa’s “Dub Room Special” DVD, which is distributed by Eagle Rock Entertainment.

The DVD, which has been released both in NTSC and PAL formats, features rare performances from Zappa’s 1974 and 1981 touring bands, the claymation art of Bruce Bickford, as well as video clips of Zappa in the “dub room”.

Long awaited on DVD, the “Dub Room Special”‚ was previously only available on VHS and Beta through mail order. The DVD features PCM stereo audio, motion menus, and a complete official Frank Zappa discography, as well as a “Valley Girl Documentary”‚ that features Zappa’s daughter, Moon Unit.

“Dub Room Special” offers perhaps the best visual record of any Zappa performances. The 1974 performance, originally released as “A Token of His Extreme”, was recorded at Los Angeles PBS affiliate KCET-TV, and features George Duke (keyboards), Chester Thompson (drums), Napoleon Murphy Brock (woodwinds/vocals), and Ruth Underwood (mallet percussion) joining Zappa for renditions of “Montana”, “Florentine Pogen”, “Inca Roads” and others. The performance showcases Zappa’s trademark sense of humor and the remarkable complexity and avant-garde flavor of his compositions.

The 1981 performance, from Zappa’s annual New York Halloween concert, features guitar legend Steve Vai with the band. Bruce Bickford’s stop-motion claymation (also featured throughout Baby Snakes, a 2003 Zappa DVD release) is featured, as well as various bits from Italian “journalist” Massimo Bassoli.

The “Dub Room Special”‚ DVD marks NewYorkDVD’s initial collaboration with Gizmo Studios. NewYorkDVD founder and president Brian Brodeur worked with Gizmo’s multimedia team to complete production in the fall of 2005.

“The ‘Dub Room Special’ is a treasure for Zappa fans and for DVD aficionados alike. We worked closely with the Zappa family on this project, and the results should convey the value of DVD in reawakening archival music video and film performances”, said Brodeur. “The audio quality is tremendous, and the two performances, combined with the extras, offer a remarkable presentation of the Zappa experience: brilliant, unconventional, and unparalleled.”

About NewYorkDVD
NewYorkDVD’s principal, Brian Brodeur, has been producing music and multimedia for more than 15 years. He has created award-winning DVDs for the corporate, entertainment and instructional markets, including discs for Pfizer, Columbia/Tristar, KINO International, and Fender Guitars. Mr. Brodeur is an expert in all stages of DVD production; from audio/video compression to creative interactive design and stable DVD functionality programming that enhances the user experience. He is a sought-after DVD consultant for leading vendors, including VCA Fusion and Sonic Solutions.

NewYorkDVD’s extensive capabilities include expert-level encoding and authoring with Sonic Solutions systems, Final Cut Pro, comprehensive graphic design and motion menu development, surround sound mixing, multi-language translation/subtitling, DVD packaging, Adobe Flash development, and full-scale production and post-production services. NewYorkDVD provides competitively priced disc replication services, in small or large quantities, and offers comprehensive warehousing/fulfillment and e-commerce distribution solutions. For more information, visit the Web site at www.NewYorkDVD.com.

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EDITOR’s NOTE: For a color photograph of screenshots from “The Dub Room‚ DVD or NewYorkDVD’s Brian Brodeur, or shots of NewYorkDVD production suites, please contact Chris Pfaff at 201-218-0262 or chris@chrispfafftechmedia.com

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