Ben Model’s blog
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Today I made one last trip to my local post office, bringing the last batch of backer copies to the USPS. In late March 2022, I launched a Kickstarter for a new Blu-ray/DVD project, Raymond Griffith: The Silk Hat Comedian. The project funded in a few hours, finishing up with…
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Buster Keaton kinescope from 1950
A rare kinescope of an early television talk show was posted recently. The reason a friend sent me the link, I’m quite sure, is that this 15-minute program manages cover two very important things for me: silent film accompaniment and Buster Keaton. The year was 1950, and Buster appears on…
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Flu epidemic silent film from 1919
In February, I was a a guest speaker-accompanist at Antonia Lant’s silent film course at NYU’s Cinema Studies program. One of the films I played for was a 1919 two-reel educational film made in England called Dr. Wise on Influenza. Dr. Wise on Influenza (1919) is an unusual film, as…
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Episode 57 show notes: The Silent Film Music Podcast
Episode 57 Show Notes: Recording silent film scores for Tom Mix and Rin Tin Tin Recording scores for streaming and home video is different from a live performance Recording accompaniments for Tom Mix films Tom Mix in Sky High (1922) Discussion of how few Mix films survive, and how few…
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ep. 57: Recording silent film scores for Tom Mix and Rin Tin Tin
In this episode: Ben and Kerr discyss about Ben’s process for creating and recording silent film scores for home-video releases, and how it differs from scoring a silent in performance. Ben talks about composing by using the start-stop possibilities of recording in place of traditional notation, as well as using…
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Episode 56 show notes: The Silent Film Music Podcast
Episode 56 Show Notes: Music for unconventional silent films and other purposes Replacing the podcast’s Theme Song: The Unknown: Ernie Kovacs and Haydn (not) Keeping the Combatants clear in Wings Recent and upcoming silent film shows: Sign up for Ben’s emails here.
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ep. 56: Back to scoring silent feature films
In this episode: Ben and Kerr talk about the current theme music for the podcast and its impending replacement; Ben talks about playing for a recent screening of the newly restored Chaney film “The Unknown” and how he musically meets the issues of possible inadvertent laughter in this and other…
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Episode 55 show notes: The Silent Film Music Podcast
Episode 55 Show Notes: Music for unconventional silent films and other purposes Accompaniments for documentaries, post-silent era films, and underscoring television. The Wizardry of Wireless with a score by Ben Discussing The Pottery Maker (1926) directed by Robert Flaherty (Nanook of the North); and A Visit to the Home of…
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ep. 55: Music for unconventional silent films and other purposes
In this episode: Ben talks about scoring silent films that lack a traditional narrative – films made for educational purposes – and creating music that is more “visual” than what is usually done for silents; films discussed are the 1922 “Making of a Bronze Statue” and the 1970 “Spirals” produced…
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ep. 54: playing different theatre or pipe organs at shows in Oct & Nov 2022
In this episode: Ben talks about the fun and challenges of playing a number of different organs at silent film shows during October and November in Ocean Grove NJ, Ursinus College in PA, and at the historic Everett Theatre in Delaware; Ben and Kerr discuss how often to use leitmotivs…