Was any video filmed during the Thriller recording sessions?

rsggamer123

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Watching the new Off The Wall documentary, although it was very good i couldn't help but be disappointed in the lack of studio footage. Obviously MJ didn't record any footage of himself in the studio while recording Off The Wall, unlike with the Bad album, as we got to see on the Bad 25 doc.

So im wondering if anyone knows whether or not any video was filmed during the Thriller recording sessions? If Spike Lee does end up doing a Thriller documentary hopefully we'll see alot of studio footage unlike the Off The Wall doc.
 
The only thing that we know exists undoubtedly is video of Paul McCartney and Michael recording The Girl is Mine - there's audio of Michael speaking of it somewhere on YouTube.

Folks have said over time that there are some session footage of Thriller in existence, but no one knows the extent. Cameramen only started frequenting the studios around the time of the Bad album..
 
The only thing that we know exists undoubtedly is video of Paul McCartney and Michael recording The Girl is Mine - there's audio of Michael speaking of it somewhere on YouTube.

...

I HAVE TO SEE THIS :bugeyed
 
AlwaysThere;4133634 said:
The only thing that we know exists undoubtedly is video of Paul McCartney and Michael recording The Girl is Mine - there's audio of Michael speaking of it somewhere on YouTube.

Folks have said over time that there are some session footage of Thriller in existence, but no one knows the extent. Cameramen only started frequenting the studios around the time of the Bad album..

Even in this case, all the studio footage (that had been captured during the recording sessions) was eventually handed down to MJ after the sessions’ completion.

Generally, amateur studio footage seems to be rather unavailable because of strict rules concerning the professional aspect of those sessions (strict confidential agreements, for example). Also, in the past, an engineer confirmed that no cameras were allowed during the ‘HIStory’ recording sessions.

This makes sense because such footage could have easily led to serious problems (leak of recording material, for example). In other words, it would not have looked safe to have various people roaming & capturing with their devices during those recording sessions.
 
mj_frenzy;4133667 said:
Also, in the past, an engineer confirmed that no cameras were allowed during the ‘HIStory’ recording sessions.

Aren't there video recordings of Michael recording Childhood, that were shown at Sundbergs seminars for a while?
 
Aren't there video recordings of Michael recording Childhood, that were shown at Sundbergs seminars for a while?

Apparently it was a video, but I also recall reading that producer saying that there were no cameras so I don't really know... unless the Childhood recording was a one-off thing that that producer in question wasn't there for.
 
To be honest, the Thriller sessions sound so stressful I doubt they would have had the time to consider messing around filming. They were doing ET at the same time, and were trying top meet a deadline that they knew they wouldn't make. Very unlikely.
 
The audio was extracted from a video. One of Michael's engineers confirmed that they had cameras present during the making of HIStory
Yes, the recording of Childhood was filmed (you see MJ in the booth) and was the finale of Brad Sundberg's seminars until the Estate told him that he cannot show it anymore.

But he also showed other footage from the HIStory sessions. The Andrae Crouch Choir working on their vocals for TDCAU while MJ watches from a distance, for instance. There is also footage from the studio being decorated with Christmas lights and a children's choir coming in for the Christmas song MJ worked on in 1994. How much footage there actually is of MJ recording, like the Childhood video, I don't know. But things were definitely not entirely off-limits. For Dangerous there are also some snippets of footage. Remember the ET report which showed a clip of Michael and Bruce Swedien working on the tracklist for Dangerous (amazing footage)? It could be that this was just taped for the ET report, but it just goes to show that footage does exist.

For Thriller we know, as AlwaysThere says, that The Girl Is Mine session was taped. I don't think I've ever heard about other studio footage existing. I hope it does!
 
.... I guess we will have to wait for a Thriller documentary to find out lol!
 
The audio was extracted from a video. One of Michael's engineers confirmed that they had cameras present during the making of HIStory

That what i want to really see The Making Of HIStory on a DVD.

I would like to see on DVD the Making Of Thriller. Spike might as well going on and do Thriller he has done Off The Wall and BAD.
 
To be honest, the Thriller sessions sound so stressful I doubt they would have had the time to consider messing around filming. They were doing ET at the same time, and were trying top meet a deadline that they knew they wouldn't make. Very unlikely.
Man...i never thought about that. Makes me laugh tho when he said it was fun working on the thriller album
 
To be honest, the Thriller sessions sound so stressful I doubt they would have had the time to consider messing around filming. They were doing ET at the same time, and were trying top meet a deadline that they knew they wouldn't make. Very unlikely.

Look at it like this it took them something like what 6 months to record the album? bringing in a video camera for one day or even a week or something wouldn't detract much at all. I def think there is some footage.
 
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