Ben Model’s blog
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Not all of my home video projects are initiated by me. I’ve co-produced and released Blu-rays and DVDs for projects who were the brainchild of fellow film accompanists Jon C. Mirsalis and Andrew Earle Simpson, historian-educator-author Kathryn Fuller-Seeley, and my friends at the Library of Congress. I’m pleased to let…
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Interview with Ben Model about his “Laughter Restored” presentation
On Saturday May 18th I will be giving a presentation entitled “Laughter Restored: Discovering Rare Gems of Silent Film” at the Jacob Burns Film Center’s Restored and Rediscovered Festival. This will be a first for me, as I’ve not given this presentation before. I’ll be talking about how I became…
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A (Wednes)day in the Life, in 60 Seconds
I’m posting this in May 2024, and I realize that it’s entirely possible that if you’ve found this post later in the year or some time in 2025, most of the embedded videos may be blank. For now, a brief story about how some TikTok videos I made after teaching…
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Episode 63 show notes: The Silent Film Music Podcast
Episode 63 Show Notes: Scoring Decisions and Transitions Ben continues exploring the various techniques and shadings of the matter of scoring the action going on inside a character’s head in silent film. Ben discusses his busy schedule this spring, which kept him away from some of the long-term schedules (Accidentally…
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ep. 63: Scoring Decisions and Transitions
In this episode: Ben recaps his month’s activities in March 2024, talks about the subtleties of underscoring dramatic moments when a main character thinks through an important decision, a creative way to invent main themes for a program of 7 animated shorts, accompanying a 1914 “Italian Diva” melodrama, and picking…
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An Ozu Scoring Clue from Joan Jonas
Last week, I had another one of those film accompanist experiences where a spoken introduction helped shape the way I played for the film. There is currently a major gallery exhibition at the MoMA honoring the work of artist Joan Jonas. In conjunction with this exhibition, the film department has…
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Episode 62 show notes: The Silent Film Music Podcast
Episode 62 Show Notes: “Round-up of January 2024 shows, and more” Theme & Introductions Introduction Live Performances of Improvised Scores The Importance of Experiencing Silent Films presented with Live Music Silent Film Comedian Marcel Perez Intermission – Home Video activities From Kino-Lorber Vitagraph Comedies From Classic Flix: Silent Our Gang…
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ep. 62: accompanying a Mary Pickford film on campus, Marcel Perez at the Silent Clowns, Monta Bell at MoMA, and more
In this episode: Ben accompanies Tom Mix in “Sky High” at the Library of Congress, adapting for organ some themes he originally composed for piano; Ben and Kerr discuss the importance of seeing silents with live music, and how a film may play one way when watched alone and completely…
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Episode 61 show notes: The Silent Film Music Podcast
Episode 61 Show Notes: “Improvising Themes for Re-Use and Development” Theme & Introductions Ben and Kerr discuss the dearth of holiday movies from the Silent Era Ben talks about recording the new Podcast Theme on a grand piano at MOMA. Playing for THE BIG PARADE at the Elmont Memorial Library,…
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ep. 61: Improvising Themes for Re-Use and Development
In this episode: Ben shares his experiences accompanying the silent era blockbuster “The Big Parade”, the rare Italian film “A’ Santanotte”, Laurel & Hardy shorts, and others; he and Kerr discuss the practices of creating leitmotifs on the fly during a show, and then repeating them later in the film’s…