The Persistence of Vision in Projected Film vs. Projected Video With all the advances and advantages there are in digital video, there is one element of cinema it has yet to replicate. It’s a subtle, literally invisible one, and I… Read More »Don’t Blink Or You’ll Miss It
Hi! Earlier today I imported my podcast from another site to my main one, and now you are getting emails about each episode. It’s a bug with my site, and I’m sorry this is happening. Feel free to delete these.… Read More »I’m so sorry about the multiple podcast emails…
I’m very interested in how music was and wasn’t used in sound films made 1929-36. The TCM Classic Film Festival’s screening of Merrily We Go To Hell that I attended provided a fascinating example of a sort of scoring that… Read More »When a 1932 Film Score Isn’t A Film Score
On April 13, 2019 at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, Kevin Brownlow was presented with the 2nd Robert Osborne Award. Last year’s recipient was Martin Scorcese. The ceremony was held on the Saturday night of the 10th annual TCM Classic… Read More »Where is the Hollywood Series?
Some shows I do are B.Y.O.O. — Bring Your Own Organ. Perhaps I should say “bring my own organ”, as it’s usually my idea to bring a portable Wurlitzer to your theater. Who thinks of that? Usually, the request is… Read More »Bringing the Movie Palace Sound To A Theater Near You
This was my second time doing the red carpet event on opening night of the TCM Classic Film Festival. Why was a silent film accompanist invited to walk down the red carpet? Who knows? It was part of the invite… Read More »Called On The (Red) Carpet
There is a warning that appears at the beginning of many Scott Joplin piano rags. I remember seeing this in high school when I was learning a lot of the pieces. It is a note from the composer himself, admonishing… Read More »When A Loveseat Is Not a Sofa
Some years ago, I made a project of deconstructing Buster Keaton’s The Goat (1921) in a series of undercranking studies that I posted to YouTube. In one of the segments, I’d pointed out a moment where an elision of time… Read More »Beating Someone To the Punch With an Edit
Ernie Kovacs must have had an inkling that his viewership on the half-hour comedy-variety show he did late mornings on NBC in 1955-1956 would include children. Why else would a puppet show have been a staple of the program’s regular… Read More »Kovacs and Kapusta Puppets by Larry Berthelson
Recording a New Piano Soundtrack for The Bride’s Play starring Marion Davies, Aided by a Live Show Experience The hardest part of creating a silent film score for DVD/Blu-ray release is that you’re composing-improvising-performing the score in a vacuum. You’re… Read More »Scoring a Silent Film in a Vacuum