Episode 64 Show Notes: The Fierce Urgency of Silent Film Music
On this episode, Ben and Kerr talk specifically about the importance of spontaneity in providing musical accompaniment to performances of silent film
Laurel & Hardy shorts (restored) in the Adirondacks
- Strand Theater, Schroon Lake, New York (Official Facebook link)
- A great place for classic film
- Silent films were not full of pie fights
- How Jon Mirsalis found long-missing portions of the film
- live performance excerpt: “The Battle of the Century” (1927) starring Laurel and Hardy at the Strand Theater, July 2024
- Playing the slowed-down tit-for-tat sequence before the mayhem breaks out
- Expectations of Leroy Shields music – Adding beats to accommodate Stan’s thought process
- Scoring the pie fight – maintain tempo with occasional key changes
- Kerr wonders who originated the “attack the peacemaker gag”
Keaton in Plattsburgh NY
- “Steamboat Bill, Jr.” (1928) at the Strand Center for the Arts in Plattsburgh, NY
- In coordination with Piano By Nature
- Ben’s music reflects Buster’s determination
- live performance excerpt: from “Steamboat Bill, Jr.”
- Wurlitzer Opus 970 from 1924
- Ben and Kerr discuss how a given music excerpt often may not align with the genre in an obvious way
- The music carries the character and the obstacles more than the genre or even the action
- Lee Erwin and Gaylord Carter
- Ben discusses Buster Keaton’s special moments which may or may not be meant for laughter
Ben at the TCM Classic Film Festival
- Ben plays the 15th TCM Classic Film Festival in April 2024 for the 6th time
- TCM accepted Ben’s suggestion to show Paths to Paradise with Raymond Griffith and to open with the Edward Everett Horton short Dad’s Choice
- Co-introduced with Leonard Martin
- Ben accompanied a Koko the Clown cartoon, in a restoration funded by Seth McFarlane, introduced by Jacqueline Stewart
- Undercrank Productions logo made its screen debut at TCM!
Undercrank Productions news
- Accidentally Preserved Volume 5 is out now, curated and scored by Jon Mirsalis
- Released on July 30 – The Craving (1918), directed by and starring Francis Ford (John Ford’s older brother), co-produced Kathryn Fuller Seeley, with additional shorts and a video essay
- Stabilization and digitally restored by Thad Komorowski from an Eye Filmmuseum print
- The Bat is digitally restored by Thad Komorowski and graded by Chris Crouse and will be ready for release in Fall of 2024
- The Bat-signal appears!
Ozu at MoMA
- A Story of Floating Weeds directed by Yasujiro Ozu at MoMA shown in April 2024, introduced by Joan Jonas
- Silent film survived in Japan past 1930 due to the art of the Benshi
- Discussion of the use of voices with silent films in its history
- Ben scores repeated shots of static objects between scenes – to use them as a moment for reflection, rather than pushing forward to the next scene
- live performance excerpt: “A Story of Floating Weeds” – MoMA, April 2024
- Ben discusses being open to new things, such as a presenter’s comments or analysis to influence the approach to scoring; Kerr and Ben talk about the improvisatory nature of music for silent film
- Ben talks about scoring a repeated motion of sweeping fishing poles that makes the movement feel like a dance
Raymond Griffith: The Silk Hat Comedian wins a personal choice award from Phillipe Garnier, one of the Blu-ray/DVD Award jurors at the Cinema Ritrovato festival.