Here’s a little bit of history to kick back and watch over the weekend. Back in 2002 a filmmaker named Valida Carroll released Concentric Beats, a documentary about the American Drum & Bass scene. The film does a very good job of dissecting the history of jungle / D&B both in its native UK and here in the US. eecue, who rescued this documentary from the digital dustbin and posted it on his Vimeo account, had this to say about the movie:

Concentric Beats is a documentary film about the US drum’n'bass experience, concentrating mainly on three cities: Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco. Besides featuring club and rave footage, the narrative of the film is carried through by over 70 interviews with some of the main protagonists of the drum’n'bass scene in the US as well as abroad. We listen as DJs, producers, club promoters, record label executives, dub-plate manufacturers, music journalists, and fans all drop knowledge on the history of the US drum’n'bass movement.

Click thru to see the video!

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Everything is a Remix is an expertly crafted video series about the effects of remix culture on modern media and contemporary life. Part 2 in the 4 part series was released yesterday and delves into the remix and appropriation phenomenon that has grown to dominate Hollywood via remakes and adaptations. Example: Out of the top 100 grossing films of the past decade, 74 of them are remakes or sequels. The first two parts of Everything is a Remix are embedded above and the next two parts are scheduled to be released later in 2011. The filmmaker, Kirby Ferguson, is taking donations on his site to help fund the creation of these great videos and I hope you’ll send a little economic encouragement his way if you’re able to do so.

The first two parts are embedded after the jump, so click on the title of this post to view them!
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A short documentary by Matt Mason that delves into the past, present and future of London’s pirate radio scene. This film is installment #6 of Palladium’s Exploration series.

I’ve always been intrigued by the opening title sequences of films and TV shows, so it comes as quite a delight to find a website dedicated to the art form called, appropriately, The Art Of The Title Sequence. The site conducts interviews with the artists who create title sequences and the writers do a great job of going into deep detail about the creative process.

On a related note, The New York Times has a story about a new award category at the SXSW Film Festival for Best Title Sequence along with a brief historical account of the creative evolution of film and TV title sequences.

Stargate Studios has put together a stunning demo reel for visual effects work they did in 2009. I’m a big fan of seeing shot builds in demo reels – it really illustrates how much labor goes into contemporary entertainment, especially when it comes to fomenting an audiences’ suspension of disbelief.

Their demo video of the Weisscam HS-2 High Speed Camera is also especially captivating: