HIStory Tour Discussion - Should it be released? [Merged]

[AtlasAir]

Re: Should HIStory Tour be released to cinemas?

What do you think MJ would say if he was reading this thread (or other similar threads)? I don't think he would feel like he's in community dedicated to him and his work. That's all I'm saying. There's been too much threads lately about how can we make his work better and what should be released to public and what should be hidden from their eyes. Are some of you ashamed of Michael? Reading this, it seems like it.

Ugh. Look, a real fan of a entertainer should be THE person to be critical of someone's work, rather just some passerby.
Not just blindly loving everything they have ever done just because.
A fan can NOT like an album/song/tour for reasons and still be a die hard fan.

 

[HIStory]

Re: Should HIStory Tour be released to cinemas?

My answers are yes and yes.

I think that it is selfish that just because your answer is no that you think it shouldn't be released for others to enjoy it.

Some of you have this image of Michael in your heads that he was just vocalist. It's not just HIStory Tour. He lip synched a lot in other occasions too. Why hide that? It was his decision. He did that consciously because he thought that it would benefit the show, he wanted to give the public the best show possible. And now you are judging him for doing that. I said it, if I were him, I would do it differently. But he did it his way. And now we should hide his performances from the public just because critics would be critical. They were always critical about MJ's work, so it won't be anything new from them.

The fact is that you can't change history. He lip synched. He did it often. It's not something we should be ashamed of or something that should be hidden from the public. He could sing, he proved that many times before and after HIStory Tour. HIStory Tour has so much other entertaining moments to give. It's not just about vocal performance.

Not wanting to showcase a concert that is 98% lip-synced as his main representation as a live artist is not "hiding" it. We just do not want it to be made his main representation as a performer. You act like he never sang live and there aren't other much better tours from that aspect.

And please cut this "selfish" talk already. There is nothing selfish about our stance. Like others explained before, actually it's your stance that is selfish because all you think of is you wanting to see it in the cinemas and not of the bigger picture about how it would effect MJ's artistic reputation.

 

[Galactus123]

Re: Should HIStory Tour be released to cinemas?

One reason why I wouldn't want HIStory Tour released in cinemas is that it will most likely be a concert we have already seen. Branca mentioned a concert in Germany. It has been seen on TV already in HD.

 

[analogue]

Re: Should HIStory Tour be released to cinemas?

One reason why I wouldn't want HIStory Tour released in cinemas is that it will most likely be a concert we have already seen. Branca mentioned a concert in Germany. It has been seen on TV already in HD.

That's another thing. If HIStory tour does get a cinema release, then it will probably be Munich 1997, and that is his worst performance on the HIStory tour

So not only would we be getting his worst tour, we'd be getting his worst performance from his worst tour

 

[Galactus123]

Re: Should HIStory Tour be released to cinemas?

That's another thing. If HIStory tour does get a cinema release, then it will probably be Munich 1997, and that is his worst performance on the HIStory tour

So not only would we be getting his worst tour, we'd be getting his worst performance from his worst tour

I personally don't have problem with his performance in the concert. I think he performs really well but his vocals in WBSS don't sound good. Only dance part he could have done much better is the first moonwalk in Billie jean.

 

[AlwaysThere]

Re: Should HIStory Tour be released to cinemas?

If it's the Munich concert, all hell is surely going to break loose.

 

[Tygger]

Re: Should HIStory Tour be released to cinemas?

TII was successful because it came out right after he died and people wanted to see what he was working on when he died. Lip synching or live was irrelevent.

This Is It was a film made up of rehearsal footage - no one went in expecting to see Michael give his 110%, especially those of us who are familiar with his rehearsal process. (And as AtlasAir said, the public was anxious to see what he would have done.)

Lip-synching in rehearsals is totally fine. Lip-synching during a live performance is not.

Michael lip-synching during rehearsals where he was touted to be 100% healthy was a very real concern for Sony.

As per their leaked emails, Sony monitored reaction to an article about Michael lip-synching through most of TII. The article correctly discussed that in some cases the adlibs were from decades before, timbre was lowered, vocals were slowed down/speed up, etc. Reaction was monitored where the article was posted as well as a European fan forum. Those who read the article and those members on that particular fan forum had no concerns about Michael lip-synching.

Again, no low ratings for where the History tour was broadcast or backlash regarding lip-synching during this concert. More importantly, there are NO email stating what the Estate/Sony projects will be so there is no evidence there will be a release, theatrical or otherwise of the History tour despite what was previously stated on FB falsely.

I am not against the discussion but, it is only a continuation of the other thread where there was a belief it may be released. Now we know for fact that belief was not true.

The Estate/Sony has maybe three years left for four projects if I am remembering correctly. The projects will have to be much more substantial than a theatrical release of a concert many have already seen.

 

[Deleted member 9375]

Re: Should HIStory Tour be released to cinemas?

Surely if a concert is released to cinema's it should display Mike at his absolute peak as a live performer. One of the aspects of Mike's genius was that he COULD sing live, aswell as dance! Are we now relegating Mike to the position of a Britney type pop act? Mike was a musician in the classic sense that he had an extensive vocal range & a unique voice, it wasn't a secondary element but one of his main talents! Listen to clips of him as a child singing Who's Loving You up to Ben on the Triumph Tour, listen to IJCSLY on the Bad Tour or from TII, listen to Billie Jean during the Dangerous Tour or Human Nature. It was essential to his expression as a live performer & it also made much more of a connection with the audience. I appreciate the HIStory Tour for what it was, it's major achievement that he brought it to fruition at all & brought it around the world. But from a performance perspective it was never near his very best & will be critiqued on its performance, both technical & artistical. Critics will use the lip syncing to rip him to shreads, & as usual we'll be the ones left toungue tied that come off looking like we're desperate to make excuses, no matter how legitimate they may be.
I admire certain elements of the HIStory Tour, it's essentially a musical built around spectacle, but it looks awful on the screen. I went to see it in Dublin & loved it as an in-the-moment experience & memory, but I'm not going to simply pretend that it should be the theatrical representation of everything that demonstrates what made him special when it clearly does not!
And Zakk, how on earth can you champion a HIStory concert for theatrical release when you claim that Bad Tour Aintree was shot on film?? You cannot tell me in all honesty that you would prefer to see Munich (a show that's been available for 18 years) over a never before seen Bad Tour film! There is simply no way!

 

[Tony R]

Re: Should HIStory Tour be released to cinemas?

My answers are yes and yes.

I think that it is selfish that just because your answer is no that you think it shouldn't be released for others to enjoy it.

Some of you have this image of Michael in your heads that he was just vocalist. It's not just HIStory Tour. He lip synched a lot in other occasions too. Why hide that? It was his decision. He did that consciously because he thought that it would benefit the show, he wanted to give the public the best show possible. And now you are judging him for doing that. I said it, if I were him, I would do it differently. But he did it his way. And now we should hide his performances from the public just because critics would be critical. They were always critical about MJ's work, so it won't be anything new from them.

The fact is that you can't change history. He lip synched. He did it often. It's not something we should be ashamed of or something that should be hidden from the public. He could sing, he proved that many times before and after HIStory Tour. HIStory Tour has so much other entertaining moments to give. It's not just about vocal performance.

I obviously can't rationally argue with you. If you believe that a singer not singing in a full show is not only acceptable but should be released for all to see.

If I and others who absolutely adore MJ didn't enjoy the show, what makes you think critics will?

Anyway, all this is a moot point, there's no way any show will be released to cinemas. The demand just isn't that high.

But if it were, the decision to release this show would stand up there with decisions such as releasing YRMW as lead single from Invincible and One More Chance as the bonus cut on Number Ones.

 

[Galactus123]

Re: Should HIStory Tour be released to cinemas?

Michael lip-synching during rehearsals where he was touted to be 100% healthy was a very real concern for Sony.

As per their leaked emails, Sony monitored reaction to an article about Michael lip-synching through most of TII. The article correctly discussed that in some cases the adlibs were from decades before, timbre was lowered, vocals were slowed down/speed up, etc. Reaction was monitored where the article was posted as well as a European fan forum. Those who read the article and those members on that particular fan forum had no concerns about Michael lip-synching.

But Michael didn't lip-sync much at the rehearsals. Many songs were dubbed for the movie. Only songs I could think that he really lip-synced are Jam, They Don't Care About Us and Dangerous.

 

[analogue]

Re: Should HIStory Tour be released to cinemas?

Speaking of This Is It, I wonder how much singing Michael was going to do for those concerts. My guess is that it would have been like the Dangerous Tour

 

[Galactus123]

Re: Should HIStory Tour be released to cinemas?

Speaking of This Is It, I wonder how much singing Michael was going to do for those concerts. My guess is that it would have been like the Dangerous Tour

We can't really know but I heard that he was going to sing as much as he could. I'm pretty sure he was going to sing more than on HIStory Tour because lip-syncing would get criticised.

 

[AlwaysThere]

Re: Should HIStory Tour be released to cinemas?

Michael lip-synching during rehearsals where he was touted to be 100% healthy was a very real concern for Sony.

That's because Sony (a) had no idea how Michael Jackson rehearsed, and (b) needed to make a movie.

It's commonly known that Michael did not give his very best during the rehearsal process. This extends back years and years, to at least as early as the Bad tour. (It may even stretch back further, though I can't say as the earliest available footage is from 1987.) During the Dangerous tour rehearsals there were long numbers in which he would say one or two intelligible lines, while the rest was mumbled or not sung at all. It wasn't a matter of being unhealthy or mentally unwell - it was just how he processed. He saved his vocals for the actual show and took rehearsals to ensure that the band/dancers/crew members could function on their own. I'm also positive that later in the rehearsal process, Michael began lip synching the songs that he was planning to for the shows so the band could follow it.

The exact same applies to the This Is It rehearsals. Only Sony couldn't very well release a film in which Michael is pacing the stage during a song and not singing anything - that would look awful considering the circumstances of his death. So they cut in vocals where there weren't any, and even removed live vocals in favor of studio vocals ("Billie Jean" was altered in the final film). Even so, this is entirely forgivable as Michael gave a number of performances that garnered high acclaim from the public - "Human Nature," the second verse/ad libs to "Smooth Criminal," the opening of "The Way You Make Me Feel," "I'll Be There," "I Just Can't Stop Loving You," so on and so forth.

And once again, this is footage of the rehearsal process. Weak/non-existent vocals during that stage are entirely forgivable, especially considering the circumstances. The History tour was a live show put on in front of thousands - any lack of ability/strength will not be overlooked and cannot be forgiven.

I would much rather see a This Is It reissue with new footage in theaters than the History tour. Much more entertaining.

 

[Galactus123]

Re: Should HIStory Tour be released to cinemas?

That's because Sony (a) had no idea how Michael Jackson rehearsed, and (b) needed to make a movie.

It's commonly known that Michael did not give his very best during the rehearsal process. This extends back years and years, to at least as early as the Bad tour. (It may even stretch back further, though I can't say as the earliest available footage is from 1987.) During the Dangerous tour rehearsals there were long numbers in which he would say one or two intelligible lines, while the rest was mumbled or not sung at all. It wasn't a matter of being unhealthy or mentally unwell - it was just how he processed. He saved his vocals for the actual show and took rehearsals to ensure that the band/dancers/crew members could function on their own. I'm also positive that later in the rehearsal process, Michael began lip synching the songs that he was planning to for the shows so the band could follow it.

True. The dubbing was sometimes good because they didn't want to put something like this to cinemas:

 

[Zakk]

Re: Should HIStory Tour be released to cinemas?

^^ from the second verse, 'Smooth Criminal' in THIS IS IT was completely live. But during the Dangerous Tour rehearsal, he sung nothing. Two rehearsals are never the same.

 

[AlwaysThere]

Re: Should HIStory Tour be released to cinemas?

True. The dubbing was sometimes good because they didn't want to put something like this to cinemas:

Definitely. Though the Dangerous tour rehearsals were admittedly much better than the This Is It tour in terms of rehearsal vocals.

 

[Tygger]

Please do not confuse the TII rehearsal with the Dangerous rehearsals or any others. Those rehearsals were filmed for Michael’s personal use; TII was not.

It was shown in the AEG civil trial that TII rehearsals were to be documented on HD film. Such film is rather expensive for someone to use for their personal collection; thus, the footage was always meant to be released in some fashion to the public. Knowing that, it is understandable that Michael is lip-synching and/or singing along during rehearsals to playback that he is aware of oftentimes. Although Michael was not obligated to appear at rehearsals and actually did attend most rehearsals, most of AEG angst came when Michael did missed a handful of them because they needed the rehearsal footage for their use.

If you truly want to see footage of Michael rehearsing as he was known to for his solo tours (as he was taught in the past while with J5), it is the Dangerous tour rehearsal or any other that is not TII.

But Michael didn't lip-sync much at the rehearsals. Many songs were dubbed for the movie. Only songs I could think that he really lip-synced are Jam, They Don't Care About Us and Dangerous.

I disagree. It would be extremely difficult to explain Michael randomly singing a line in Billie Jean that does not appear on the Thriller album during rehearsal and Sony effortlessly being able to account for that after his passing by easily tracking the line on a decades’ old demo. The tracks discussed at length in the article were Earth Song and Billie Jean; not the three songs you mentioned. Michael was lip-synching to much of the previously recorded tracks/demos at rehearsals and in some cases singing along.

That's because Sony (a) had no idea how Michael Jackson rehearsed, and (b) needed to make a movie.

It's commonly known that Michael did not give his very best during the rehearsal process. This extends back years and years, to at least as early as the Bad tour. (It may even stretch back further, though I can't say as the earliest available footage is from 1987.) During the Dangerous tour rehearsals there were long numbers in which he would say one or two intelligible lines, while the rest was mumbled or not sung at all. It wasn't a matter of being unhealthy or mentally unwell - it was just how he processed. He saved his vocals for the actual show and took rehearsals to ensure that the band/dancers/crew members could function on their own. I'm also positive that later in the rehearsal process, Michael began lip synching the songs that he was planning to for the shows so the band could follow it.

The exact same applies to the This Is It rehearsals. Only Sony couldn't very well release a film in which Michael is pacing the stage during a song and not singing anything - that would look awful considering the circumstances of his death. So they cut in vocals where there weren't any, and even removed live vocals in favor of studio vocals ("Billie Jean" was altered in the final film).

I disagree. It is fact that the Jackson brothers never gave 100% during tour rehearsals which includes Michael. As I said above, TII rehearsals were not for Michael’s personal use and should not be confused with previously filmed rehearsals for Michael’s solo tours.

As for Sony's concerns after Michael's passing, they felt Michael singing along incompletely and/or inaudibly would be a sign by some in the public that Michael was not 100% healthy. This was also a concern for AEG as well as they were included in the emails regarding the article mentioned. Strangely enough, it was not Michael's singing or lack thereof that made audiences believe Michael may have been 100% healthy; it was previews of his dancing during TDCAU on CNN and other media outlets. Even the advertisements for TII focused on the spectacle of the show which included his dancing; not his vocals.

 

[Electro]

Re: Should HIStory Tour be released to cinemas?

Your post reminded me of the MTV series "Motown to Your Town" of the BAD tour that they ran on MTV, but also on network TV here in the U.S. And also the "Dangerous Diaries." Both of those are that type of documentary.
Maybe the Estate could work out a deal with MTV and that could be most of the doc right there.

That would be quite great-I know the BAD tour one had me psyched like a crazy woman.

Oh yes, MTVs Dangerous Diaries and Motown To Your Town were great. Also the "BAD Company" Special etc.
Although they only captured a small number of concerts.

The perfect thing for me would be a "Tour Movie" for BAD and Dangerous Tour each.
A compilation of the best song performances from various countries together with interesting bits and pieces of what Michael did between the concerts.
There must be hours over hours of footage setting in hundreds of different TV archives worldwide.
The Dangerous tour movie would even have a dramatic twist towards the end...

But i'll guess it'll never come together like this.

 

[HIStoric]

Please do not confuse the TII rehearsal with the Dangerous rehearsals or any others. Those rehearsals were filmed for Michael’s personal use; TII was not.

It was shown in the AEG civil trial that TII rehearsals were to be documented on HD film. Such film is rather expensive for someone to use for their personal collection; thus, the footage was always meant to be released in some fashion to the public. Knowing that, it is understandable that Michael is lip-synching and/or singing along during rehearsals to playback that he is aware of oftentimes. Although Michael was not obligated to appear at rehearsals and actually did attend most rehearsals, most of AEG angst came when Michael did missed a handful of them because they needed the rehearsal footage for their use.

Curious to read more on this, are there any published court documents? For the record, This Is It was shot digitally and was not shot on film. While I can't say specifically what hard drive prices were in 2009 or what the cost of storing film/tape is (for the older tours), what I do know is that digital content has been getting much cheaper to store over the past 5-10 years and for a tour that was already costing many millions (tens?), while I can imagine it costing a bit I can't imagine it being a MASSIVE cost compared to everything else on this tour...

I still have a feeling that they would've been also for Michael's personal use. We all know that since the mid-1980s, Michael had an obsession with documenting many of his working moments and it would be rather uncharacteristic for Michael to suddenly not want to record the rehearsals of his great comeback. I'm not doubting that AEG didn't want the footage either because they'd certainly like to see progress with Michael along with his tour but going off what I've seen with Michael in the past, it could very likely be for both their use.

As I said though, I'd be very keen to read any court documents on this since I have a particular interest in this field...

 

[Tygger]

Historic, first, AEG owns the TII footage, not the Estate. Sony's leaked emails showed AEG's request that Sony duplicate the footage and store it safely. Sony agreed so long as AEG paid for the costs.

Second, apologies but, the HD comment was not made during the civil trial. When TII was being released, this was the comment made by a source at AEG:

But this may be my favorite AEG revelation: that the rehearsal footage including meetings and auditions and other behind-the-scenes was only shot in the first place because Michael Jackson wanted it for his personal archive. And that when the whole pre-concert production began running wildly over its $25M budget, AEG almost stopped the HD crews from filming the rehearsals to cut costs. “Michael had no concept of budget,” an AEG insider reveals. “So the thought was we might as well fire the HD crew because there was no real plan to use the footage.” Let’s not forget that as soon as AEG executives involved in organizing Michael Jackson’s 50-night schedule of shows at London’s O2 arena learned of the performer’s death, they met at Staples Center in Los Angeles and secured all of the 100 hours of rehearsal footage which Michael Jackson had done there with the intent to turn it into live albums, a movie, and TV special. As Randy Phillips, president and CEO of AEG Live, has ghoulishly boasted to the media, “He was our partner in life and now he’s our partner in death.”
http://deadline.com/2009/10/how-big...son-pic-will-make-250m-in-first-5-days-17402/

Phillips had this to say in Billboard's 11/7/09 article, "That Was That and 'This Is It':"

One particular meeting stands out for Phillips. "The first marketing meeting I had at Sony Pictures, there were about 40 people in this conference room, and what blew my mind was the fact that this little movie, this HD footage of Michael Jackson, was getting the attention of the whole studio."

Third, despite the comment from the AEG source above, the footage was not for Michael's personal use as per the following testimonies found in Ivy's Daily Summaries posted in the AEG civil trial sub-forum. The actual testimonies can be can be found online. I will post only a sampling here as I do not want to derail the thread and there is quite a bit of testimony regarding rehearsals. Many believed that Michael's appearances/absences from rehearsals spoke to to his health at the time.

On the “HIStory” tour, Payne said Jackson rehearsed both with and without his backup dancers.(AP) Rehearsals for "History" tour was very extensive, Payne said. He was involved w/ selecting dancers, ideas for costumes and whatever needed. Payne said MJ rehearsed with the dancers and separately. Dancers would get up to speed in the beginning, MJ was good at giving space 2 learn

Payne was then asked about his one-on-one rehearsals with Jackson at the singer’s home. These were scheduled for 5 days a week.(AP) Payne said they started rehearsing after the press conference, and stopped the day before MJ died. He spoke with MJ every day. MJ told Payne he expected him to be in every show. He wanted Payne to take notes to make sure show was as perfect as possible. "Customarily, we would see each other every day," Payne said. Rehearsal with MJ was scheduled five days a week.

Payne testified that production wanted MJ to be more in attendance with all the cast, rather than just MJ rehearsing by himself at his house. Payne: because there was inconsistency with MJ appearing at the rehearsal, production was concerned they would not meet their goals.

Payne said that in April, May, June, MJ missed 5 rehearsals with the whole group. He said one time Ortega sent MJ home

Bina played clip of "This Is It" from Jun 4 showing the green screen and making of "Drill" and Michael talking about the cool moves, dancing. Payne said the idea was to show the rehearsals and how things came together.

Payne always carries a video camera with him and shot videos of rehearsal. AEG took the footage that Payne shot and never returned to him.

AEG exec Paul Gongaware was then asked whether there was anyone responsible for handling AEG’s interests at rehearsals. Gongaware responded yes, that was Kenny Ortega.

"Michael didn't like to rehearse, it didn't surprise me," Gongaware expressed, saying it was known that MJ didn't go to rehearsals.(ABC7) He said Jackson didn't like to rehearse, that previously Jackson didn't rehearse before the "HIStory" tour either. But when the lights went up, Jackson was "on," he stated.

Gongaware said Ortega wanted to film the audition to use fresh footage on http://michaeljacksonlive.com. The cost for crew to shoot the audition was very high, so Gongaware bought couple of cameras and use his own crew to shoot the rehearsals. He said he wasn't sure what he would use the video for, but thought the website would be a good platform.

Gongaware explained MJ didn't have to attend rehearsals, since it was not part of his deal.

Putnam (AEG's lawyer) also tells jurors that contract between AEG and Jackson didn't require him to show up to rehearsals.

Ortega said he cut up the salad, Michael ate, they talked and Michael said he didn't want to go home, he wanted to watch the rehearsal. Ortega said Michael asked that Travis Payne be on stage and be him, so he could seat with the director and see it.

 

[HIStoric]

Re: Should HIStory Tour be released to cinemas?

^^^Wow! Very informative. Thank you Tygger ^_^

 

[Galactus123]

Please do not confuse the TII rehearsal with the Dangerous rehearsals or any others. Those rehearsals were filmed for Michael’s personal use; TII was not.

It was shown in the AEG civil trial that TII rehearsals were to be documented on HD film. Such film is rather expensive for someone to use for their personal collection; thus, the footage was always meant to be released in some fashion to the public. Knowing that, it is understandable that Michael is lip-synching and/or singing along during rehearsals to playback that he is aware of oftentimes. Although Michael was not obligated to appear at rehearsals and actually did attend most rehearsals, most of AEG angst came when Michael did missed a handful of them because they needed the rehearsal footage for their use.

They filmed the rehersals for the same reason they filmed all the rehearsals from previous tours too in case if they wanted to use them in the future. For example if the tour was great they might have released This Is It Tour Blu-Ray/DVD and it would have making-of documentaries as extra material. They were filmed for that.

I disagree. It would be extremely difficult to explain Michael randomly singing a line in Billie Jean that does not appear on the Thriller album during rehearsal and Sony effortlessly being able to account for that after his passing by easily tracking the line on a decades’ old demo. The tracks discussed at length in the article were Earth Song and Billie Jean; not the three songs you mentioned. Michael was lip-synching to much of the previously recorded tracks/demos at rehearsals and in some cases singing along.

Michael didn't sing demo lines. It was dubbed over with demo. I haven't checked but I'm pretty sure the vocals don't even completely match with Michael's mouth movement.

 

[Tygger]

Re: Should HIStory Tour be released to cinemas?

Galactus123, the rehearsals were not filmed for Michael's use; it was filmed for AEG's use as it is their footage, not the Estate's.

Let us know what you find out regarding dubbing and/or lip-synching.

 

[AlwaysThere]

Re: Should HIStory Tour be released to cinemas?

It was shown in the AEG civil trial that TII rehearsals were to be documented on HD film. Such film is rather expensive for someone to use for their personal collection; thus, the footage was always meant to be released in some fashion to the public. Knowing that, it is understandable that Michael is lip-synching and/or singing along during rehearsals to playback that he is aware of oftentimes. Although Michael was not obligated to appear at rehearsals and actually did attend most rehearsals, most of AEG angst came when Michael did missed a handful of them because they needed the rehearsal footage for their use.

Michael Jackson had no concept of budget as you've clearly proven with one of your later posts. Keep in mind this is a man who was spending more money on a yearly basis than he actually made, as impossible/problematic as that may sound.

It doesn't strike me as improbable that he would request a film crew to document the rehearsal process and never show it to the public. Many of the Bad sessions were recorded by professional film crews and never released to the public (as per Bad25 and Siedah Garrett).

John Branca only suggested that they be used for a bonus feature on the ultimate tour DVD long after the film crew had begun.

Galactus123, the rehearsals were not filmed for Michael's use; it was filmed for AEG's use as it is their footage, not the Estate's.

AEG was paying for the film crew, though Michael (as various people who have spoken to him have said) fully intended to keep the footage for himself. AEG only attempted to shut it down when the budget inflated. Did they know of this? Who knows. Point is though, this footage was never meant to be seen.

 

[Virre]

Re: Should HIStory Tour be released to cinemas?

Then why did he ask why there were so many cameras there?

 

[AlwaysThere]

Re: Should HIStory Tour be released to cinemas?

Then why did he ask why there were so many cameras there?

When did he ask that?

This entire conversation has taken a left turn as it is, lol. Let's get back on track folks!

The History tour. Yeah, don't put that in theaters.

 

[Zakk]

Re: Should HIStory Tour be released to cinemas?

Michael had high def cams there up until the end, they just had some standard def cams for the jumbo tron... do hate it when it switches quality in a few song's though

 

[Tygger]

Re: Should HIStory Tour be released to cinemas?

AlwaysThere, no. The civil trial proved that what was said by the AEG source quoted above was their own propaganda.

Michael's contract with AEG stated increases in budget had to be approved by Michael's signature or at the very least his POA. Tohme signed for some expenditures and eventually AEG simply overspent without any written signatures from Michael or Tohme approving the expenditures. You may also not be aware that Michael only signed for 31 shows not 50. No, Tohme did not sign for Michael to do 50 shows either.

Michael did not request a film crew because he could not afford it. He relied on Payne as Payne testified. AEG supplied the film crew and had that crew film rehearsals in HD for the reasons I posted above as per court testimonies. AEG's intention was to air the footage in some capacity to the public as posted above. Branca did not make any suggestions to AEG as to how to use their own footage.

 

[Galactus123]

Re: Should HIStory Tour be released to cinemas?

Galactus123, the rehearsals were not filmed for Michael's use; it was filmed for AEG's use as it is their footage, not the Estate's.

I didn't say that it was for Michael's personal use. The rehearsals were filmed so they could use the footage later maybe for the This Is It concert Blu-Ray/DVD. If the concerts would have been great then they would have wanted to release one of them. It is smart to film behind the scenes stuff so you can make a documentary.

Like they made HIStory Tour documentary:

 

[Tygger]

Re: Should HIStory Tour be released to cinemas?

^^That is what is being discussed.

For the example you gave of the History tour, who owned the footage? Michael?

For TII, Michael did not own the footage and it was not for his personal use. AEG always intended to use the footage for public viewing for an undetermined length; thus, rehearsals and more (such as meetings and interviews with personnel) were filmed in expensive HD film.