PROFILE: Dale "Rage" Resteghini, director

Considering the man uses "Rage" as his nickname, it shouldn't be a surprise to hear that Dale Resteghini is one driven and determined director.  Over just a few years he has directed over 300 videos — starting out with low budget heavy metal videos and then expanding to nearly every genre. All the hard work is translating into a big 2007 — especially in the rap world — with the huge hit Mims "This Is Why I'm Hot," Yung Berg "Sexy Lady" and the just-released Soulja Boy "Crank Dat" video.

name: Dale "Rage" Resteghini
company: Raging Nation Films
job/title: director

first video: Hatebreed "Perseverance." So perfectly appropriate, right? That was in February 2003 for Universal, commissioned by Jeff Panzer.

strangest video: Strange is not a word I'd use to describe anything that has ever happened on any of my shoots. It’s usually more like "dangerous." It was like two or three years ago on the Fear Factory shoot for "Cyberwaste" in Perth, Australia. It's called The Edge Of The World, since it’s the most remote city on Earth. I had to fly 24 hours from NJ to L.A. to Sydney to Brisbane to Melbourne and then finally Perth. When I got there, the band took me to the location and lets just say I might as well have found a warehouse in Brooklyn! After enduring the worst flight in history I was not going to settle for "that." So I ended up driving around with a local self-proclaimed hooligan and we found an abandoned government owned power plant. Amazing! Thing is, we had no way of getting permits, so... well, so what! What followed was a scene out of Oceans 11 or something: Chopping through 3 sets of gates and replacing their locks with our own and then sneaking in over 400 fans on the beach in the middle of a 104 degree day with PA's rotating as police scouts. We had no money for lights, so we had to maximize the sunlight. After two hours of shooting the band from every possible angle and getting as many killer in your face metal shots, the Perth police force crashed in causing absolute chaos. My wife Kim and I grabbed our film and made a run for the escape route. I ended up fracturing my wrist and ripping the skin from my shin bone — causing a very bloody mess — and spent the next 24 hours on the run from the police who were hot on our trail before we bolted town with Korn, Static-X and Fear Factory. Oh, one element I almost forgot to mention: We paid a local helicopter pilot $200 so my DP and I could go up in his chopper to get an opening shot of the power plant exterior. I literally had to hold him by his belt while he was holding an Arri435! --> watch Fear Factory "Cyberwaste"

what's next: In the spirit of my favorite saying "Let the sleepers sleep and the haters hate" — which I came up with that on my first flick   with Redman back in '97 — there's a lot going on!

Got some big news looming, which I can't talk about yet, but you'll hear about soon enough! Personally, my producing partner/wife/backbone Kim and I just got a home in NY. We've got a few acres of land and she's trying to stop me from building a mini sound stage!

One of my music video goals is to become the only member of the 100/100 club. With 250 rock and metal videos under my belt, I've definitely got that covered. 56 hip hop videos and counting. Just need 44 more and I'm in the 100/100 club! All this in just 4 and 1/2 years.

SHOT: DJ Envy & Red Cafe - Edwin DeCena, director

Edwin DeCena directs DJ Envy and Red Cafe on the Brooklyn set of "Things You Do." Supports the duo's forthcoming album The Coop.

artist: DJ Envy and Red Cafe
song: "Things You Do"
label: Koch
director(s): Edwin DeCena
production co: Pure Productions

NEWS: Refused TV Signs Josh Graham

Refused TV has announced the signing of director Josh Graham for music videos. He remains with A Common Thread for commercials.

Graham is both a motion graphics designer and a live action director. And, he's guitarist for indie band Red Sparowes. Directing credits include videos for The Dillinger Escape Plan, Isis, Saves The Day and Underoath. Visit his website Suspended In Light for more info.

NEWS: Tim Royes Passes Away

It is with sadness that I relay the news that the music video community lost director/editor Tim Royes. His former rep, Laure Scott, shares the following:

"The beautiful Tim Royes passed away in a tragic accident in NYC last weekend. He was loved from New York to Los Angeles and his home in London. He was with The A & R Group for a few years before he went on to RSA and then Academy. He was a long time editor and friend of Sam Bayer. Tim had the gift to make people around him laugh!  He will be missed so much."

Tim Royes won Best Editing In A Music Video at the 2005 MTV VMAs for Green Day "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams." Royes also edited several other videos that Sam Bayer directed for Green Day, including "American Idiot" and "Holiday." He also directed videos for Sugababes, Richard Ashcroft, Faith No More and many other  acts. His directing work can be seen at academyfilms.com.

SHOT: Motion City Soundtrack - Jay Martin, director

artist: Motion City Soundtrack
song: "This Is For Real"   
label: Epitaph
director(s): Jay Martin
production co: DNA

SHOT: Scary Kids Scaring Kids - Jay Martin, director

artist: Scary Kids Scaring Kids
song: "Faces"
label: Immortal/Epic
director(s): Jay Martin
production co: DNA

SHOT: Vanessa Carlton - Marc Klasfeld, director

She hasn't gone hip-hop, but Vanessa Carlton's next album — Heroes & Thieves, due  October 27 — is her first for Irv Gotti's The Inc (aka Murder Inc, the home of Ja Rule).

artist: Vanessa Carlton  
song: "Nolita Fairytale"   
label: The Inc/Universal Motown
director(s): Marc Klasfeld 
production co: Rockhard Films
rep: Robin Frank Management

SHOT: Keke Palmer - Syndrome, directors

artist: Keke Palmer
song: "Footworkin"
label: Atlantic
director(s): Syndrome
production co: Robot Films
rep: Robin Frank Management

BOOKED: Sea Wolf - Cat Solen, director

To support the debut full length Leaves In The River due out September 25...

artist: Sea Wolf
song: "Winter Windows"
label: Dangerbird
director(s): Cat Solen
production co: Partizan

NEW RELEASE: The Fray "All At Once"

Warning: This is long and rambling and not really about The Fray.

If you are of a certain age (thirtysomething) and  background (middle class, suburban), you probably know every single frame of the classic "band on the road" videos for Motley Crue "Home Sweet Home" and Bon Jovi "Wanted Dead Or Alive." Both videos are good ones to cite when it comes time to debate whether a band is best served by an artistic, highly conceptual clip or a more basic, performance-driven. The former works very well for bands that derive a portion of their cache by being associated with the avant garde — think Radiohead, Bjork or most indie rock bands — but it also runs the risk of overwhelming an act hasn't yet developed or communicated an identity. For instance, will anyone remember Justice and the song "D.A.N.C.E." as anything more than The T-Shirt video? And if all they remember is the video, who does that benefit most? The director or the band? Consider the paradox of Spike Jonze and Wax if you want an answer.

The "band on the road" video has been a staple for rock bands for a long time and for good reason: It reinforces the archetype of the "rock star as conquering warrior." Say what you will about Motley Jovi, but their personae were formed by these sorts of videos which made them look big and important and popular and powerful. You could even go back to D.A. Pennebaker's classic Bob Dylan film Don't Look Back —  essentially a feature-length take on the BOTR concept — which played a huge role in ensuring that the public would be privy to Dylan's personality and power.

This all leads to the new video "All At Once" for The Fray, which is of the BOTR variety. It's a good one. While  The Fray are best know for the pretty perfect video that Mark Pellington directed for "How To Save A Life," we've never seen them as anything other than a sensitive, perhaps even dour collective. "All At Once" changes that. It  exposes previously unseen and more light-hearted aspects of the band's personality and makes them seem larger than life. And, it doesn't waste any time or energy in trying to appeal to somebody outside of their target audience. There's a good chance that a potential fan will come away from the video thinking: 1) They seem like fun guys to hang with; 2) Wow, they're playing to some big fucking crowds that seem to totally adore them; and 3) Holy shit, everything looks amazing and important in slo-mo.  --> watch "All At Once" below

The Fray "All At Once" (Epic)
Rod Blackhurst, director/producer/editor | Filament Productions, production co | Kelly Magelky, DP (color footage) | Rod Blackhurst, DP (b&w footage)