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Page
1: DVD/CD order &
review  Page 2: Andrew MacNaughtan
interview  Page
3: MacNaughtan pt. II
Page
4: Howard Ungerleider, Jim Ellis & fan accounts
of Rio

The Measure of a Moment

If you told Andrew MacNaughtan that
having a handful of photos published in Rush's
Power
Windows tourbook would lead to him being
their official photographer, touring with the
band as their Personal Assistant, direct videos
and ultimately film a documentary, it would have
been a dream come true. Lucky for MacNaughtan,
that dream was realized. 1989's Presto
album introduced his stunning portraits to the
Rush community and for the tour he slid into the
role of assistant to the band (which would
continue through the Roll
the Bones tour). He continues to photograph
Rush and has gone on to direct over 50 music
videos, and has worked on album art for over 100
releases. His photographic credits include Sarah
McLachlan, Dizzy Gillespie, the Barenaked
Ladies, Godsmack, Alanis Morissette and more. He
has been nominated and won awards for his
photography and video direction including a Juno
Award (the Canadian equivalent to the Grammy)
and the VideoFACT Director of the Year Award at
the MuchMusic Video Awards. For more information
on his work, visit www.andrewmacnaughtan.com
and his Photographing Rush series,
high-res photos and more at www.andrewmacnaughtan.net.

MacNaughtan is no stranger to Rush fans
and his most recent work, an almost hour-long
documentary on the band's trip to Rio, has been
a ten-year dream for the photographer. I spoke
with Andrew by phone on September 26, 2003 as he
traveled around Toronto, drove to meetings and
dodged crazy drivers. The discussion focused
around his work on the highly-anticipated
documentary, getting cheeky with the band, his
still photography work, a 30th anniversary
project, as well as the magical Rio
experience.

©Photos by Andrew
MacNaughtan

Bp: Whose idea was it to film a
documentary for the DVD release? Did the you
approach the band or did they approach
you?

AM: I've wanted to do a
documentary with the band for many years and I
think the guys were initially rather resistant
to it and not because they couldn't be bothered,
but more because they just really believe that
there really wasn't much of a story to tell for
a documentary. They couldn't understand
why…."Well, Andrew, we're not very interesting
people," they'd say. For example, I wanted to go
in and do a documentary of them making the Vapor
Trails album. So it'd be me in there with my
camera filming Alex and Geddy working on some
songs, Neil working out lyrics - and they said
"Well, Andrew, that's not very interesting. The
process that we go through to create and write
albums is not all that camera friendly to be
honest." And to a certain extent I think they
have a point. So I think they just shied away
from it because it's not really what Rush is all
about. They're not eye candy for pictures.
They're regular guys going about what they do in
a very sort of business-like manner and it's not
like there are hot chicks running around
backstage or at the studio or doing lines of
blow, y'know, that's not what Rush is about.
They just felt that it wasn't the right thing
for them to do. Then this whole Brazil trip came
up and really all of us at the same time just
sort of said "y'know maybe it'd be worth getting
Andrew to film this and maybe he can create a
little story out of it." It is a pretty unique
trip for the band. It's very unusual. They'd
never played Brazil and that's an interesting
story. So that's how it really came about for
the most part.

Bp: Did you come up with a concept
of what you wanted to shoot prior to filming and
what you wanted the documentary to accomplish?
Or did you just let the footage decide the game
plan?

AM: There really was no game plan
in place. They were really relying on me to try
and…as the photographer, as a director of music
videos I'm coming in with an eye and perhaps
creative ways I can film this piece, but there
really was no story line in place at all and it
was up to me to do that. I did make notes and I
knew that I wanted to get very specific things.
For instance I knew I wanted to do soundchecks,
I knew I wanted to do pick-up shots of each of
the cities we were in. I also wanted to put
abstract imagery to music. So I did have some
criteria, but basically the goal for me was to
just shoot absolutely everything I possibly
could - which is what I did. Literally my video
camera was going the entire time, about 18-hour
days. It was non-stop. In certain cities I hired
a B-camera and even a C-camera so I had things
to cut with. So basically the goal was to shoot
everything possible - try and create a couple of
scenarios that would at least keep it
interesting and unusual. Another example, I knew
that I wanted to film one of the guys in their
hotel rooms. I don't know doing what, but
something that was natural and real and what
they do when they're in this hotel room. Simple.
I got a great segment in there with Alex having
breakfast and of course he's hysterical.
Unfortunately most of it ended up on the cutting
room floor because there was just too much
stuff. So I had some criteria, but for the most
part it really was to shoot absolutely
everything and then cut it up and sift through
it. And literally I came back with close to
180-hours of footage. I had about 40-45 hours
myself just with my camera, plus these two other
cameras as well. So we literally had a crazy
amount of footage and the hardest part of this
whole thing was I had to sit down with my editor
and actually try to assemble some kind of a
format and that was really, really challenging.
And it took a couple of months just to try
things and to see what made sense and what kind
of story I could build. We tried a variety of
different things - we tried to make it all about
humor, we tried to make it all about arty
moments and let shots linger and be very long
and be sort of artful and airy and just put
ambient music behind them. We decided in the end
after experimenting for a couple of months to
just do it chronologically and I think it's
turned out very well. It all just clicked and
made sense that the best way to go was to just
let it unfold as the days actually unfolded over
the course of this one week in Brazil.

Bp: Will all of the scenes that
hit the cutting room floor ever see the light of
day on a future release at all?

AM: Well, you never know. Who
knows. Another example is, Alex having breakfast
- it's actually hysterical, but again after a
point in a documentary you sort of think, "Well,
we've seen enough of this let's move on," and I
know the die hard fans would love to see all of
it, and quite frankly it's all hysterical and
it's funny, but with the goal of trying to do
something that is within a short, sort of snappy
piece, it was necessary to cut some of that. I
filmed Neil twice during his warm-up in his drum
room - that goes on for a good twenty minutes,
him just practicing and warming-up, but after a
minute of that or even two minutes of that, I
mean not to me, but the average person they go,
"Well, we've seen enough of that let's move on."
So yes, that footage does exist and it is
absolutely incredible and yes, maybe one day it
will show up, but for this documentary we needed
to sort of pull it back a bit and give it a nice
balance throughout.

Bp: I can imagine that would be
extremely difficult with so much footage to
balance between the 'very interesting to the
die-hard fan' and the 'bordering on boring for
the casual fan' - it must have been a very
difficult balance to achieve throughout the
piece.

AM: Yes, it was very difficult. My
initial edit was too long. First of all, quite
frankly I was expecting to only have a little
fifteen minute documentary. Just a really
wonderful little fifteen minute clip and I think
that's all the band ever expected as well, just
a little bonus thing. But we came away with so
much great footage and stuff to me that I
thought the fans would find really interesting -
the stuff that I always thought was interesting
and now it's about 55 minutes or so. It really
surprised me that I had enough, well, I told you
how many hours of tape I had but still a lot of
it was pick-up stuff of them walking and stupid
things like that - that stuff is not very
interesting. But it was very difficult to sift
through that footage and try and figure out what
was pertinent and what would be interesting to
fans and what was just boring and dumb. It was
very difficult to get that balance. The first
cut that I had was definitely getting way too
long and I had way too much stuff of Neil
warming-up for instance. It started to drag on
too long and it was starting to make the whole
snappy piece slow down too much. It was a tough
job trying to weigh out the positives and
minuses of various shots. At first I was cutting
it as a fan and then I realized, it just makes
it too slow and too boring, it needed to be more
snappy and interesting.

[click images to enlarge]

Bp: I read that you
conducted post-tour interviews for the
documentary. Were these free form sessions or
more structured Q&A?

AM: I definitely had the questions
that I knew I wanted to ask. What was critical
about those interviews with the three guys was
that in the back of my mind I knew I needed some
kind of foundation for the entire documentary. I
needed the cement that tied it all together. In
other words I'm always cutting back to them
speaking in this interview setting so it has
some semblance to route the entire clip. So I
did have criteria of what I needed them to talk
about. For instance, I showed up at Alex's door
one morning before the big press day and I
filmed him sitting in bed sitting next to his
wife who was still in bed as she's cracking
jokes about him and I needed to have Alex
explain who this person was. So I had him set it
up in the interview segment, just talk a little
bit about Charlene and that she showed up and
was on tour with him in Brazil, so it helps the
viewer understand who this person is laying next
to him. I think it would be too weird if all of
a sudden we hear this voice, we see her for a
moment, and the viewer thinks "Who is this
woman? Is this Alex's chick that he picked up
last night in Sao Paulo or something?" So there
were things that I really needed the guys to
talk about that would help explain things that
occurred within the documentary.

Bp: So we're going to be treated
to a very intimate look at the band, something
that we really haven't seen before. Off-stage
and family interaction is something we've never
seen on a proper Rush release.

AM: You're right. And I wouldn't
even normally go there. I mean I have footage of
Neil with his new wife and stuff with Ged's
wife, but I didn't use that stuff because I knew
that would be inappropriate - it's not something
I'd want to do. However in Alex's situation and
in this particular scene in the documentary
specifically, it was so funny and he was
literally feeding off of his wife who was
equally as funny. That just made it a really
special moment that I wanted to show the fan
that side of Alex. And he was fine with it and
so was his wife. We're only talking about a
split second that we see her, we hear her but we
don't actually see her that much. It's just a
really fun moment and it's very
funny.

Bp: When I talked to Howard about
the show itself he described the atmosphere as
"electric and exciting." What was your reaction
to the show in Rio? Although I guess we'll see
that come through in the documentary as
well…

AM: Well, Neil goes extensively
into it about how overwhelming it was. For me it
was extremely overwhelming, I could not believe
how many people were there and how these fans
were so appreciative of finally being able to
see Rush. It amazed me. Most of the people I
would say couldn't speak English but they were
singing every single line of every song. They
were even humming during "YYZ." They were going
[Andrew hums the melody]. They were doing that
to the instrumental, "YYZ." It sent shivers. It
was unbelievable. They were singing every single
song - it was so powerful. It's funny because I
was just doing a couple of interviews yesterday
for this charity fundraiser I was doing for the
Photographing Rush pictures that I sold for
charity. A guy asked me what sort of sparked the
initial idea for wanting to do the signed prints
for charity and it was this trip to Brazil that
really opened my eyes and made me realize how
fortunate and blessed, for lack of better word,
I have been. And a lot of that has been largely
due to my affiliation with Rush and the
incredible things I've been able to experience
because of this band and I just felt so lucky
that I was able to witness such a historical
event as those three shows in Brazil and to
witness something that was so powerful and it
was really a great thing. I was so glad I was
there with my camera being able to capture this
and I hope that my documentary conveys how the
band felt about being in Brazil. I know from a
technical point of view it was a nightmare for
the band both in Sao Paulo and in Rio. There was
a torrential downpour in Sao Paulo, the
[largest] show of their career, apart from of
course the SARS Benefit, but it rained and not
only was it pouring in on the stage and Neil's
drum kit, but every time he hit his cymbals
water would splash in his face. Then he'd play
his mini-marimba with all his samples and he'd
be doing his drum solo and every sixth note
would finally come out - so basically the whole
electronic side of his kit was shorting out. For
him it was really, really difficult, but at the
same time in hindsight he says it was one of the
most exciting nights of his
career.

[click images to enlarge]

Bp: The spirit of the
crowd helped him rise above the technical
problems?

AM: Absolutely and Rio as well was
technically for them very difficult. Not only
were they filming the show and recording the
sound for that show, but the crew was still
setting up the gear at 9:30 at night.

Bp: That was due to the long trip
and they went on without a soundcheck
correct?

AM: Exactly.

Bp: That must have been
nerve-wracking on the night they're
filming.

AM: Well, I think it was more
nerve-wracking for the people who were operating
the cameras and recording the sound more so than
it was for the band. They just finished doing
60+ shows so they knew they could play well and
they knew that their crew would be able to give
them good monitors right away in their ears.
They were more concerned though for the film
crew and the recording crew that didn't have the
soundcheck. But it came off without a glitch for
the most part and it was really a great
thing.

Bp: I know the original plan to
record in CT near the end of the tour but I'm
thinking that if the filming had been done there
that we wouldn't have a finished project that
was nearly as special as this set. The fans and
the crowd would have, not to sound derogatory,
but they would have been 'just another North
American crowd.' I think the fact that the
Brazilian experience was so special to everyone
involved that the fans will be treated to a
better DVD as a result.

AM: Absolutely. I knew there were
plans to shoot there originally and for me I'm
so glad it wasn't because I would never have had
the opportunity to film this documentary which
I've dreamed about for about 10 years. I'm so
glad that the CT shoot fell through and that
they decided "Well, it's way more ambitious and
probably technically a total nightmare, but
let's try to do it in Brazil." And I'm so glad
they did because it is a remarkable DVD. I
haven't seen the entire show on DVD yet, I've
seen some clips and some rough cuts of it and
it's pretty incredible. Alex spent weeks mixing
the sound, he even had to go back at one point
and re-mix various segments of it because he
wasn't happy with it - which is one of the
reasons for the delay. But he is so excited
about it because he really spent literally
several months on this so it's absolutely
spectacular. He's really proud of it. The
documentary alone took me five months to get the
cut to where I felt, "Oh my god, I've got a
great story here." In fact, Neil and I talked
last night and he said that he sat down and
watched everything from beginning to end and
he's so thrilled, he's so happy with it. He said
"Everyone really pulled off such a good job."
He's thrilled with the documentary and said
"It's a really great story. It's interesting and
it holds your attention." He was shocked. As I
said at the beginning of the interview, the band
thinks they're boring, that there's no story to
tell, but he was really shocked and he said,
"It's a great documentary, it's a great DVD and
the fans are going to love it."

Bp: We're lucky that a fan from
way back was in charge of the
documentary.

AM: It helps being a fan and
loving the band's music. Obviously things are
different for me with my relationship with the
guys now. In some ways it sort of sucks, I mean,
I get excited when I see them on opening night
and I'm really excited for them and really proud
of them, but it's different now because it's a
friendship/working relationship. It's just
different, but I know that I had [the fan]
advantage going into filming as I knew what the
fan would want to see, what would make a good
story and I felt that was a really huge
benefit.

[click images to enlarge]

Bp: Did you shoot still photos
during the Rio show at all or were you focused
solely on the documentary?

AM: The documentary was my number
one priority. I took pictures from one set-up
and I shot the photo that is on the front cover
of the DVD - the live picture.

Bp: From "One Little
Victory."

AM: Yes. That series of photos I
shot with the idea in mind of, 'I better get
shots of this. I think this could potentially be
a great cover.' So I shot it vertically with the
idea in mind of the shape of a DVD. I sent the
roll to Hugh Syme and we talked about some ideas
and I said, "I shot these photos specifically
for your consideration for the front cover." I
guess from there he sort of rolled with that and
came up the dragon idea and just took it to the
next level. I think it's very funny and very
brilliant - it's a wonderful cover.

Bp: It certainly is and it helps
to bring out the humorous side of the band as
well. Did Hugh work with Norm Stangl [of Spin
Productions. Norm created the dragon visuals for
the Vapor Trails tour] to come up with the
dragon for the cover?

AM: I think he got the initial
elements from Norm, but Hugh is the one that
added all of the fruits and that stuff. He
created all of that himself.

Bp: It's a striking image and it
also marks the first time that the band has
actually appeared on the front cover of an
album.

AM: Wow. I've never thought of
that - that's a really great observation. I've
never thought of that - very cool.

Bp: You've photographed the band a
lot, what were you trying to get filming in Rio
that was different from your still work with the
band?

AM: Because I was there with a
very specific goal in mind, to document
absolutely everything, I think I was a little
cheekier with where I would shove my camera, for
instance, in their faces. It was really exciting
because it allowed me to film stuff that quite
frankly I probably would not have given the time
of day to bother shooting because it would make
a stupid still picture. But in moving pictures
it made sense. In other words filming Geddy
opening his dressing room case and breaking his
nail on the case and then swearing about how
much he hates the cases after all these years -
in still photography that would not make a great
picture, but in moving pictures it was a
wonderful moment. It's funny and it's
real.

Bp: Did that make the
documentary?

AM: Absolutely. There are a few
things in there that I think are pretty damn
funny and might surprise a few viewers. There's
a moment when Geddy is not very pleased with me
and basically telling me to "fuck off." It's a
great moment and we left it in because we
thought it was funny. And he laughed about it
too. In the past Neil would never let me go in
and take pictures of him warming up because
again I think he felt, at that time, it was an
invasion of his privacy. That's his private time
when he would be able to rehearse and get into
the right headspace before he would go on stage.
I think he would find that invasive. However,
because I was there for a very specific goal, he
knew I needed to make a story and try to get a
story and of course he would have full rights of
striking something if he was not happy with it
and it was just too revealing. I think it
allowed me to get things that I would not
normally be able to get without pissing the guys
off.

Page
3: more with Andrew

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