Music Performance / Silent Film
Strode Theatre
Wednesday 10th June
Students studying the BTEC National Diploma in Music Technology at Strode College produce a large scale performance each year that challenges their creativity and develops their technical skills in the use of music software and hardware. This year they are performing a live soundtrack to a silent film.
Made in 1929, Man with a Movie Camera is an extraordinary piece of filmmaking, a montage of urban Russian life showing the people of the city at work and at play, and the machines that keep the city going. It was Vertov’s first full length film and he used all the cinematic techniques at his disposal – dissolves, split screen, slow motion and freeze frames – to produce a work that is exhilarating and intellectually brilliant. The original and semi-improvised soundtrack will be performed live in response to the film’s stunning imagery.
This project involves working with computer software, cutting loops, sequencing music, DJ mixing and synchronising all this with live musicians and the visual images of the film. One of the main challenges for the students has been the seamless nature of the film as there is no story and many of the visual cues are easy to miss. This coupled with playing in the orchestra pit and not in a standard rock band arrangement makes this performance an exiting challenge. The project has also introduced the students to a classic silent film that really paved the way for many modern video editing and filming techniques.
Recorded versions of the finished soundtrack created by the students will be available online after the performances as free MP3 downloads. Details will be posted here soon. There will be two screening of the film, one at 5.30pm and another at 8.00pm. Contact Strode Theatre Box Office to book a ticket on 01458 442846
The Musicians in the photo (left to right)
Marcus Graham , Pete Izzard, Ralph Clarke-Norman, David Antoski, Toby Bellars, Tegan Viner, Adam Chestnutt, Shane Costelloe and John Steer. Millie Ayton and Joe Edwards also play in the group but missed the photo.
