Thursday, January 8, 2015

HitRECORD on TV with Josh Gordon-Levitt and MILLIONS of Friends!

HI there!
Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

Today, we're looking at a book set that's not exactly a book set even though the format is.  Are you confused?  Eh, sorry bout that though it is said (somewhere in the pages of this set) that if left to walk with our eyes closed and no sense of direction, we'll end up in circles...spiraling round and round.  Perhaps if I just dive right in, we'll get to my point faster.  Ready, set, GO!  Today's book of choice is...



A New Kind of Variety Show with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and a Cast of Thousands
Season 1 Box Set
by
Josh Gordan-Levitt
9780062372031

About the book....
HITRECORD ON TV is a new kind of variety show. Join host Joseph Gordon-Levitt as he directs a global online community of artists to create eight episodes of television—all made collaboratively. Each installment focuses on a different theme and features short films, live performances, music, animation, conversation, and more!

HITRECORD ON TV invites anyone with an internet connection to contribute, create, and develop art and media collectively through hitRECord.org, an online collaborative production company that brings together artists from all over the world to participate in the creative process, bridging cultural divides and false distinctions that separate professional artists from those who simply love to make art.

Through hitRECord.org, 1,295 artists contributed their original artwork to all of HITRECORD ON TV's eight episodes.

This nine-book box set is the official companion to the first season, taking fans deeper inside the show's themes and the making of the series as a whole. It comes with special download codes for all eight episodes and the complete soundtrack album.




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I came.  I read.  I was...confused.
~deep breath~

I first heard about the HitRECord phenom when Volume 1 of their "Tiny Stories" collection came out.  It caught my attention.  I set my gaze upon it.  I was immediately drawn into the curious world that it encompassed within its pages.  Each two page spread was a pictorial explanation with limited words into a concept or idea that happened to cross the contributor's mind.  That's right...contributor meaning not a professional artist (though the renderings are amazing) but everyday people that got together online for a collaborative effort that resulted in pure wonder.  Volume 2 and 3 were just as good.  Now, we have this addition to the print series...

While it is a paper celebration of a LIVE show, I was mostly left with this reaction...



The set is made of 9 collectible books, one for episode and one to tell of the making of it all, and frankly aside from a few memorable passages and pictures, I'm not sure I understood the point.  Admittedly, I have not watched the show...could be the reason for my complete folly with this one and I wear that  blame like a well matched vest, but honestly one more minute within it's confines and I'm afraid it may have tarnished my memory of the other publications.  -sigh-

In short, though I'm not steering you away from this because if you're a fan or online contributor, you'll be all over it, I'm not exactly placing it in your hands either.  I respect the efforts and give a grand nod to the uniqueness of the project but in the end, I ask you to use your judgement.  Make the call.  Meanwhile, I shall choose to live within the pages of the "Tiny Stories" and wait for the next bout of mini-hardbound pages to explore...



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Special thanks to the fab team at Dey St, an imprint of William Morrow Publishers, for the review copy.  (THANKS!)  For more information on this collection, their catalog, the ideas behind HitRECord, or even to join in the next session, be sure to click through the links provided above.  


Until next time...happy reading!


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