Burning Man: Beyond Black Rock
by Damon Brown
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DVD details
Actor: Christopher Allen, David Best, Kelly Best, Molly Best, Ross AsseltineDirector: Damon Brown
Brand: BURNING MAN: BEYOND BLACK ROCK
Producer: Andie Grace
Cinematographer: Rob VanAlkemade
Editor: Damon Brown
Producer: Michael S. Wilson
Producer: William Haskins
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 105 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-08-01
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Lightyear
Product features:
- Held in Black Rock City, Nevada, the annual Burning Man festival celebrates the spirit of communal creativity. In BURNING MAN: BEYOND BLACK ROCK, a filmmaking team spends 18 months interviewing the Burning Man organization's key players in order to get an inside look at what drives this yearly event. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre:?MISCELLANEOUS Rating:?NR Age:?085365475724
DVD Reviews of Burning Man: Beyond Black Rock
DVD Review: learning about Burning man
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a very well done vidoe. It covers the events that happen at Burning Man in the desert. I bought it to see what it is all about. Now that I have seen this DVD I am planning on attending Burning Man in 2007DVD Review: More than just freaks in the desert.
Summary: 3 Stars
The common perception of Burning Man is that a bunch of drunken revelers descend on the Nevada desert, walk on stilts, ride freaky bicycles, put up incomprehensible art and act like they can alter civilization into some sort of anarchist's Utopia.
"Beyond Black Rock" goes a long way toward dispelling that notion. Several of the artists profiled here are thoughtful in their creativity, and you can feel the passion they invest with their annual trek to the playa. The organizational skills shown make you realize that the chaos is highly structured. And the Burning Man philosophy of "Leave No Trace" proves that the organizers are as responsible to the environment as they claim. (The same can not necessarily be said of the attendees, who leave so much behind that it takes a crew several days to strip the area of debris.)
The main drawback of "Beyond Black Rock" is its length. The running time clocks in well over two hours, and I got up a couple of times for breaks. had the editors of the documentary displayed the same kind of organizational skills the Burning Man coordinators did, this DVD might have risen to a fourth star. As is, "Burning Man: Beyond Black Rock" just goes to show you what a little creativity and a good plan can eventually lead you to.
DVD Review: Burning Man for Dummies (in a good way)
Summary: 5 Stars
Just like there is a "For Dummies/for Idiots" book on just about every topic under the sun, the DVD could be subtitled this for those interested in learning more about the Burning Man experience. As a two-time burner who's happily going back to the Playa every chance he gets, this movie is special in that it's great on many levels.
First off, it's an incredible introduction for those who have never heard of or gone to Burning Man. As with all attendees, you realize there are so many people in your life who would enjoy and benefit from at least one trip our to the Playa that you can't help but want to share. Yet all your words, pictures and the website really don't even seem to capture what it is you feel and want to express. The DVD shows that in so many ways. From the personal stories it follow throughout the film to the nuts and bolts of how Black Rock City come into being each year. My best friend and I are using the DVD as a promotional tool for some of our friends who have been on the fence about going for a while.
Which brings me to the second major point of greatness for the film, it's ability to educate and inspire even those who consider themselves veterans of the Playa. Seeing what other people go through to make the event happen can inspire more volunteerism. Hearing the stories of joy, pain and creation is inspiring to making you want to add your own art/theme camp to the city. And then just plain watching the party energizes you to get off your butt and start planning RIGHT NOW (whenever now is) for the next burn. You feel the Playa. You taste the dust.
All in all, Burning Man is a life changing experience that if you're interested enough to check out this DVD, you should attend at least once. I think viewing the DVD will give you that swift kick in the butt to actually do it and arm you with just a bit of knowledge about where it all comes from and what you might expect from your visit to the Playa.
Welcome Home!
DVD Review: No turning back.
Summary: 5 Stars
I rented this film on September 2, 2006. At the time, I knew little about the event, except that at the same moment I was sitting in my living room with my bag of microwave popcorn, 35,000 slightly-nutty people were somewhere out in the dessert setting fire to all sorts of strange objects, the biggest of which was shaped like you and me. I just thought to myself, "What better a day could there be to get more acquainted with the subject?"
From the moment I finished the documentary, there was really no turning back. That very night, I promised myself that I would participate in this unique experience the very next chance I got. I've since showed it to a couple other friends, and they too have fallen under the spell.
As for the documentary itself, it does an excellent job at showing just what goes into making the event happen. I got a real appreciation for the staggering amount of work involved, and the zealot-like devotion it inspires in both its staff and its participants - the line between which is thin and blurred by definition, as eveyone who goes is expected to do something to help create the experience. I found their passion infectious. As they described the impact it had on their lives, how it changed them as people, I was left pondering what kind of fascinating ways might Burning Man one day change me?
Of course, it did not makee me feel "just like I was there." On the contrary, it fully convinced me that even the best film on this subject could never replace the experience itself, and that if I wanted to truly know Burning Man, I had to go. Some might count that as a weakness of the film, but not I. The fact that the film starts with the assumption that you could never translate the true experience of Burning Man onto celluloid is the very thing that makes it brlliant, and accurate.
From the mind-boggling diversity of its participants, to the ephemeral beauty and strangeness of its art, Burning Man is not just an effigy; it's a conflagraton of IDEAS blazing in the Nevada dessert. And after seeing this film, I swear it's one fire into which I fully intend to throw myself!
UPDATE: Aug 2008: At the moment, gearing up for my second year on the playa. Burning Man 2007 was a life-changing experience, and this year looks like it'll be even better. Two years hence, I still give this film credit for introducing me to a whole new world, and teaching me so very much. If you really wanna be a burner, this is a great place to start.
DVD Review: Burning Man - What You Don't Know...
Summary: 5 Stars
I received this DVD as a gift from a "Burner" friend who wanted me to learn about Burning Man...having never been to Burning Man... only hearing the rumors...I was pretty sure I would hate it...I wasn't looking forward to watching a bunch of naked, drunk, people in the desert...not my idea of creative freedom...much to my surprise, I loved it...what an eye-opener...sure there were some naked oddballs, but the sense of community, the artistry, the passion was really captured in this doc...really worth watching...might even make the unsuspecting viewer want to take a trek out to the desert!
Description of Burning Man: Beyond Black Rock
No Description AvailableNo Track Information Available
Media Type: DVD
Artist: BURNING MAN: BEYOND BLACK ROCK
Title: BURNING MAN: BEYOND BLACK ROCK
Street Release Date: 08/01/2006
Genre: DOCUMENTARY
Depending on one's point of view, the event detailed in Burning Man - Beyond Black Rock is either a magnificent, life-transforming experience or an excuse for a bunch of drug-ridden oddballs to broast their dust-coated, scantily- (or un-)clad bodies on a scorching, inhospitable expanse of terrain in the middle of the Nevada nowhere. Given that this two-sided, extra-laden disc is proffered as an "official documentary," no one should be surprised that it embraces the former opinion. As director Damon Brown's film shows us, Burning Man (so named for the giant wooden sculpture that's set on fire on the final night) is not a concert, although there's plenty of music; it's not an exhibit, although there are many, many artists and a dizzying array of their works on hand; and it's not a festival, although a good time appears to be had by almost all. Above all, Burning Man is a phenomenon, as for one week every summer the Black Rock Desert becomes the fifth largest city in the state, home to well over 30,000 folks who create what some call "another reality." None of this happens without a good deal of work. As the film chronicles the preparations for the 2003 event, we see that an enormous amount of technical and logistical details are involved, including laying out the roads and boundaries of the "city," bringing in electrical power, dealing with local regulations (among which is the mandate that with the possible exception of a few footprints, every piece of evidence that Burning Man was ever there must be erased when it's over), and other infrastructural particulars. We meet some of the three thousand employees who labor year-round to keep it going (including founder-director Larry Harvey, who staged the first Burning Man for about 250 people in 1990), as well as a few of the participating artists ("temple builder" David Best designs an enormous structure every single year), and, of course, many of the participants. We visit "theme camps" and art installations, witness various amusements and ingenious contraptions, and listen to folks trying to explain not only what Burning Man is but what it means. Hours of bonus material (outtakes, extended interviews, deleted scenes, etc.) will help you draw your own conclusions. --Sam Graham
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