Author: Ben Model
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On the air with Jenna Flanagan on “Midday NYC”
I was a guest on WNYC’s radio program “Midday NYC” on September 5th, talking about (what else?) silent film accompaniment and my Undercrank Productions DVDs. I’ve gotten to be on this show several times over the past 10-12 years, when Lopate was its host, and the repeat visits have helped me get good at being…
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ep. 29: playing for scene breaks & film breaks, Lee Erwin’s Tootsie Oodles, how’d you get that gig? and more
On this episode, Ben Model recaps his summer silent film shows, discusses musically wrapping up a scene to match the film, talks about what to do musically when the film breaks, traces a 14-year trajectory in a “how’d you get that gig?” story, shares some info on Lee Erwin’s synthesizer-based theatre organ and his novelty…
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Marion Davies Makes an Appearance in Italy
Marion Davies’ 1922 Film Beauty’s Worth Gets a Deluxe Outdoor Screening In the Birthplace of Its Director Robert G. Vignola At the end of this week, on a piazza in the ankle of the boot that is Italy, a crew will assemble a large movie screen, high-end video projector, performance stage, sound system, music stands and…
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ep. 28: scoring Laurel & Hardy, Mostly Lost 7, Lois Weber on organ and more
In this episode I discuss scoring a Laurel & Hardy silent comedy utilizing a tune many fans of theirs know, recording a new score for Lois Weber’s Hypocrites for the new Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers box set for KinoLorber currently screening in select cities, accompanying The Golem at the Morgan Library and Museum, and other insights into the…
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The Blackhawk Films catalogs are available again!
USC Hugh M. Hefner Moving Image Archive and Lobster Films Collaborate to Make Blackhawk Films Catalogs Available to Fans and Scholars Again The monthly arrival of the Blackhawk Films catalog was one of the most highly anticipated mail deliveries for me, growing up, as it was for many classic film fans in the 1970s and…
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The film Mary Pickford didn’t want you to see – now restored by MoMA
Lubitsch-Directed “Rosita” (1923) Is On Screens Again After 95 Years and Worth Seeing I was on the fence about attending MoMA’s re-premiere of Rosita last week, initially. (This was on May 25, 2018) I’d heard it was being presented with its original cue-sheet score, and Pickford herself had perpetuated the legend that the film wasn’t…
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ep. 27: organ sounds from Norway and Idaho, a trip to Hollywood, and using main themes
On this episode, Ben Model takes you above the Arctic Circle to hear a pipe organ accompanying a Swedish silent, to Boise ID to its historic 1927 Egyptian Theatre, and to Hollywood for the TCM Classic Film Festival. Ben discusses choosing a main theme for his score “Show People”, the importance of John Morris’s music…
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Walking the Red Carpet at the TCM Classic Film Festival
How I Learned Why It’s Called a “Step-And-Repeat” by Stepping And Repeating I have posed for photos at events for press before, standing with people way better-known than I am in front of a large hanging sheet of paper or vinyl with festival/event logos on it, referred to as the “step-and-repeat”. Each time, I only…
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Hitchcock’s “Blackmail”: underscoring MacGuffins and Spoilers
Or…What to Expect When You’re Expecting Something from a Hitchcock Movie I accompanied Hitchcock’s Blackmail (1929) on piano a couple days ago at MoMA, and I recalled and repeated the way I usually try to handle the murder scene. I know…I probably should have yelled “spoiler alert” there for you, but you can pretty much…
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Hooray for Hollywood and the 2018 TCM Classic Film Festival
Three Songs You Won’t Hear During My Accompaniment to “Show People” — and Why One of the bugaboos in film accompaniment that my mentor Lee Erwin (1908-2000) had, and one I share, is the use of “song title puns”. In fact, anything that make an audience member’s brain say “Hey! She’s/he’s playing ______!” instead of…