James Herbert (director)

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James Herbert (b. 1938) is an American director most known for directing a series of classic music videos for the band R.E.M.. He has also made over forty short films, including John Five (1992) and Jumbo Aqua (2001), and directed four independent features: Scars (1997), Speedy Boys (1998), Rabbit Pix (2005) and Abandoned House (2007). Some of his short films have been collected on the video compilation Figures (1990).

Herbert was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He studied with the abstract expressionist painter Clyfford Still and the experimental filmmaker Stan Brakhage. Herbert was R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe's art professor when he studied at the University of Georgia (which is also where Stipe met his future bandmates). Stipe greatly admired Herbert's films, and in addition to having him helm R.E.M.'s earliest music videos, he later cited Herbert as a significant influence on him individually and artistically. [1]

[edit] Music video filmography

  • "Wolves, Lower" (live), R.E.M. (1982)
  • "Carnival", Limbo District (1983; 12-minute film featuring four songs: "Those Devil Eyes", "A la maison", "Rhythm Forward", and "Daydreaming" [2] [3])
  • "Left of Reckoning", R.E.M. (1984; 20-minute short film)
  • "Pretty Persuasion", R.E.M. (1984; segment from "Left of Reckoning", excerpted as a standalone promo for play on MTV and music programmes)
  • "Green Grow the Rushes", R.E.M. (1985)
  • "Driver 8", R.E.M. (1985; co-directed with Michael Stipe)
  • "Life and How to Live It", R.E.M. (1985; editor(ial advisor) Jackie Slayton is often credited as co-director)
  • "Feeling Gravity's Pull", R.E.M. (1985; editor(ial advisor) Jackie Slayton is often credited as co-director)
  • "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)", R.E.M. (1986)
  • "Turn You Inside-Out", R.E.M. (1989)
  • "Low", R.E.M. (1992)
  • "Revolution Earth", The B-52's (1992)
  • "Fish and Boots" (1995; interstitial footage between music videos on R.E.M.'s video compilation Parallel, excerpted from R.E.M. 1995 tour films)

[edit] Bibliography

  • James Herbert: "Stills" Santa Fe, NM: Twin Palms, 1992. ISBN 0944092195
  • "Body Language" (interview conducted by Stephen Gallagher) in: "Filmmaker" (February 1999), pp. 59, 109

[edit] External links