REM’S GREEN ON SCREEN

MICHAEL STIPE tells why he's documented REM onto video

MICHAEL STIPE's long-running love affair with celluloid goes public this month with the video-only release of Tourfilm, a feature length movie of REM’s 'Green' tour.

Shot almost exclusively on 16mm and Super 8 film, it was edited by five different people, including Stipe. who took charge of three or four songs each. It will be released under the auspices of C-00 (pronounced s~hundred). the non-profit film company set up two years ago by the REM singer and his friend Jim McKay.

C-00’s first projects were promo videos, such as Henry Rollins' "What Am I Doing Here" and Chickasaw Mudd Puppies' "McIntosh", (whose debut LP Stipe produced). The company has since released two longer independent films, Ligbthearted Nation and Just Hold Still.

"I’ve always loved working with 16 millimetre film and Super 8," says Stipe whose images provide some of the backdrops for REM's live performances. "One thing I really like to do is pull stills from 16mm moving image film and blow them up to a large size. Because the format is much smaller than 35MM - the size that most people are used to - when you blow it up, you get this whole new look.'

Many of the promos on REMs Succumbs video - featuring tracks from Murmur to Lifes Rich Pageant - were collaborations between Stipe and Athens, Georgia, artist James Herbert. And his obsession with documenting the people, places and things in his life is now realised on film as much as it is in his lyrics.

"Did you see The Year Of Living Dangerously? There was this character in it - I think his name is Billy - who keeps all these filing cabinets with files on everyone he knows in them. I really identify with that character. I don't really listen to much music these days, but I do listen to a lot of film soundtracks."

"Most people aren't aware of Michael’s film work," says McKay, who's worked on film projects with Stipe since the early '80s. His style is very analogous to his artistic style, both graphically and musically. I’ve often worked with him in the darkroom and just been amazed at what he’ll come up with, using footage that seems unworkable. Within the next few years, I think that we'll be seeing some films by Michael that have nothing to do with music videos or REM."