Ben Model’s blog
-
As each year winds down, I’ve found myself squinting into a magic eight-ball of media and distribution, wondering, “Will next year be the end of DVDs?”. The response has been either “Don’t count on it” or “Reply hazy try again”. This year, with 2017’s push toward streaming, I thought for…
-
Buster Keaton inspires Don Lockwood
As you know, using recognizable music is a big no-no for me (unless it’s specified onscreen). And so, I was puzzled by hearing a certain song from a 1950s MGM musical in my head while playing for Keaton’s The Cameraman the last few shows I did. There is a moment after…
-
For real? A public domain silent in a high quality upload with good music?
THE ITALIAN (1915) was just posted to YouTube the Library of Congress in a new 2K scan of the Library’s best 35mm preservation material and with a brand new (I recorded it last month) piano score by yours truly. The film stars George Beban, and was directed by Reginald Barker…
-
Conducting the Klopstokian Philharmonic
I found myself playing piano for films and I’d hear other instruments in my head during the show. This was the very late 1990s. Had to be, because I started learning the organ a year or so before Lee Erwin passed in 2000, and remember going to his place to…
-
Working with People Who Haven’t Been Dead for 60 Years
“Have you ever scored any new films, like regular movies, not silent ones?” It’s a question I get asked by reporters and people I meet socially. The answer usually surprises people. It’s “Nope.” I do get asked from time to time to score a new silent film, and that’s something…
-
(Screen) Size Matters
Recording scores for DVD releases is hard work…harder than scoring films live at a show is. It is, for me, anyway. There are a few factors that are obvious. Because the score is being recorded the stakes feel higher for me. At a show, if something doesn’t go quite right…
-
Moving Day for Count Orlok
There’s nothing you can do about the laughs that the film Nosferatu (1922) gets with an audience. Or is there? Regardless of the translation from German, the intertitles like “Your wife has a lovely throat” get a laugh from an audience. We already know the Dracula story, and it’s the…
-
ep. 26: reinterpreting 1929 Buster Keaton, playing into a film, anticipating mood transitions
Welcome and intro – reports on recent shows and recordings, and October DVD releases – starting a score at a performance: playing the audience into the film – performance clip: “The Temptress” with Garbo & Moreno, on organ at the LoC – explanation of the podcast’s theme – anticipating mood…
-
ep. 25: performances in Tromsø, mood demos, universality of laughs, fitting hits to music (or not), “Diane” in reel 5
Welcome and intro – “Silent Film Days” in Tromsø, Norway – demonstrating musical moods for 5th graders – the universality of silent comedy – recording of score for One Week for students – making underscoring fit physical actions in an unobtrusive way – performance recording ofexcerpt from score for L&H…
-
ep. 24: Stuart Oderman, playing the numbers in Detroit, Show People, The Crowd, DVD news
Welcome and intro – Stuart Oderman – DVD/Blu ray release of “When Knighthood Was In Flower” – holding back in playing in order to get audience inside a character’s head – performance excerpt from “Show People” – underscoring a moment that extends into a scene with different energy – performance…