Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 12, 1991                   TAG: 9104120573
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Chris Gladden
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

MUSIC VIDEOS' INFLUENCE IS HERE TO STAY

Video directors pack a dazzling array of images, sophisticated visual style and technical virtuosity into a scant few minutes.

The video influence is being increasingly felt on movie screens as video directors graduate to feature-length films.

Music has become a movie selling point and segments of feature films sometimes play like a video to accommodate the pop tunes the films spin off. At its best, this influence can be visually stimulating, but at its worst is an intrusive example of style over substance.

Regardless, it's here to stay as young video makers become young feature makers.

Those curious about the form should drop in on the Hollins College campus on Tuesday. David Greenwald, a film and video producer, writer, director and editor will discuss music videos and his 30-minute film, "The Well," a drama in Yiddish that aired on public television.

Greenwald has worked on music videos featuring such artists as Branford Marsalis, Carole King, the Neville Brothers, Miles Davis, Eddie Money, Buster Poindexter, Carly Simon and the Beastie Boys.

His music specials include "Carole King: Coming Home" for the Disney Channel; "The Mariah Carey Showcase" for CBS; "Hall and Oates: Rock and Roll International" for Home Box Office; and "Spike and Co: Do It A Capella" hosted by Spike Lee for PBS.

Greenwald will speak on the producer's perspective on musical videos at 2:40 p.m. in Babcock Auditorium. That evening at 8, "The Well" will be screened and Greenwald will discuss it. Both events are free.

Shakespeare is on a roll hereabouts. Last year it was Kenneth Branagh's excellent "Henry V" at the Grandin. This year it's Mel Gibson's "Hamlet" at Tanglewood Mall Cinema and Mill Mountain Theatre's lively "A Midsummer Night's Dream" on stage.

Now, the Southwest Virginia Opera is bringing on a double dose of Shakespeare. The organization is sponsoring a screening of "Othello," the 1965 version starring Laurence Olivier as the jealous Moor, April 29 at the Grandin. Showtime is at 7:30 p.m. and tickets are $3. The screening is a result of the positive reaction to the SVO's screening of "Amadeus" in January.

The Southwest Virginia Opera will bring "Otello," Verdi's operatic version of the tragedy, to the stage May 16, 18 and 20.