Tag: buster keaton

  • Buster Keaton inspires Don Lockwood

    Buster Keaton inspires Don Lockwood

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    Ben Model
    in , ,

    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 the kiss in the rain,…

  • Working with People Who Haven’t Been Dead for 60 Years

    Working with People Who Haven’t Been Dead for 60 Years

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    by

    Ben Model
    in

    “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 I’ll cover in another post.…

  • was this sequence timed to music? could be…

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    Ben Model

    I’ve found in numerous in Chaplin films that certaiin sequences and routines fit a musical beat and structure, that a bit of business will fit nicely an 8 or 16 bar phrase. It may have been an innate thing with Chaplin, and he may not have intended this at all. First time it popped up…

  • L&H, Keaton and Lloyd Hamilton

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    Ben Model

    Looks like a deleted scene from Playtime, doesn’t it? I’m sitting in the Bauhaus lounge at MoMA. I’m early for my show today, and enjoying the free wifi at MoMA. Have been too danged busy to reflect and post here, but I know people read this blog, so I’ll jot something down, just to stay…

  • October wrap-up, and a look forward into Nov & Dec

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    Ben Model

    I’ve managed to post about every single one of my performances during October 2009. The calendar quarter of Oct-Nov-Dec finds me working full-time as an accompanist, with 18-22 shows each month. I decided at the beginning of October to try and chronicle all the shows, plus give Twitter updates, for those of you who read…

  • Oct 25: Harold Lloyd in “Dr. Jack”

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    Ben Model

    Dr. Jack, along with Keaton’s The Haunted House, was our Halloween offering at the Silent Clowns series. I dressed for the occasion, donning my saddle shoes and straw boater. (BTW, best place to get your own saddle shoes is muffys.com — they make saddle shoes for all the Broadway shows and tours, and they’re reasonably…

  • Oct 17 – “The General” in Lake Champlain area

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    Ben Model

    Oct 16 – Traveled to Essex, NY for a show (on 10/17) of “The General” (DVD projection of the new Kino disc). Could’ve flown to Burlington VT on JetBlue and taken a ferry across Lake Champlain but, let me tell ya folks, Amtrak is the only way to fly. Both the trip up and the…

  • Oct 11 – Silent Clowns: new digs, fun shorts

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    Ben Model

    Sunday Oct 11 was our maiden voyage at the Arclight Theatre. Our audience really loved the new, more intimate space and the films looked great in there. Piano is an old Somebody & Someone upright, which I’d tuned a week or two before and seems to have held. The action is a little loose and…

  • Another happy altscore.com customer

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    Ben Model

    Over the weekend, someone bought and downloaded my piano score MP3 that synchs with the Kino DVD/VHS of Sherlock Jr. with Buster Keaton. I opened my virtual mailbag this morning to find this kind note: I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate your making the “Sherlock Jr.” piano score available. I watched…

  • Steamboat Bill in Culpeper

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    Ben Model

    I know, I know…haven’t posted in a long time. This is gonna be a quickie, ’cause I’m running off to Culpeper and D.C. for a weekend of shows. Steamboat Bill Jr at the LOC Packard Campus theater in Culpeper VA on Sat 7/25 and The Gaucho at the NGA on Sun 7/26. It’s a restored…