Wes Serafine
Equinox Staff
?
Music and film fused together in a new way this past week at Keene State College. The Redfern Arts Center played host to a very unique screening of Fritz Lang?s silent film classic, ?Metropolis.?
Seeing the restored movie in its entirety is incredible enough for any audience member, but what made this screening unique was the musical accompaniment by The Alloy Orchestra, a musical trio that creates their own original scores for silent classics and performs them during live screenings of the film.
The director of the Redfern Arts Center, Shannon Mayers first met the Alloy Orchestra in 2005 when she was part of a silent film festival in New York, she said. ?It [the silent film era] really was an incredible period of filmmaking,? Mayers said. The film itself is a futuristic tale about a beautiful utopian city in which the wealthy enjoy a life of luxury and comfort.
However, beneath the Metropolis lies the city of the workers who, every day, work themselves nearly to death in order to keep the city functioning. Freder, the son of the city?s architect, discovers the underground city and, with the help of the workers? peaceful leader, Maria, seeks to unite the workers and the people above.
Unfortunately, an evil mad scientist and old enemy of Freder?s father has other plans and replaces Maria with an evil robot who seeks to incite a rebellion and throw both cities into complete chaos. In viewing this film, one can see the moments that inspired multiple films that we continue to enjoy today. ??Metropolis? paved the way for science fiction films,? Mayers said. So much of what Fritz Lang was working with gave ideas to films such as ?Blade Runner,? ?Star Wars,? ?Terminator,? ?Flash Gordon? and even some well-known staples of the comic book universe such as ?Vision,? the robotic member of the Avengers or the name of the city that Superman calls home.
The Alloy Orchestra has scored silent films for 23 years, ?Metropolis? being the first film they ever scored. They choose not to listen to the original film scores when working on one of these projects but rather choose to let the film itself act as their director. To create their unique sound for the film, they utilize everything from conventional instruments to tin cans and horseshoes, essentially anything that suits their needs.
?We improvise to the film, and then we record that improvisation and then we go back and correct it, improve the harmonies and melodies,? Roger Miller, pianist for The Alloy Orchestra, said. ?Coming up with themes is easy but getting it so you can play for two and a half hours seamlessly is the hard part,? Miller said.
The Alloy Orchestra usually spends roughly two months working on a composition for a film. ?Performing comes naturally to me,? Miller said, ?I?m never, ever nervous, it doesn?t matter if it?s 15 people or 20,000, it doesn?t matter to me.? The musical accompaniment by the band fit the dark and incredibly intense tones of the film seamlessly. Keene State College students Katie Barnaby and Rachel Lanza both described the film as ?phenomenal.?
Eddie Harris, a KSC film major said, ?As a film major, in my previous Film History class, I saw the beginning of this film and quite frankly, I hated it. However, with every silent film, the only thing they have to work with is the music and the visual content that the film provides. This film has a very unique visual content, it?s very strong, that?s the way Fritz [Lang] wanted it. It?s not for everyone, but what happened here today, I actually really liked it. It was a big step for the film because the original music for the piece was very dark and desperate. The new music they provided was much, much better.?
Overall, the film and the music came together to form a truly awe inspiring show?a masterpiece of filmmaking combined with a masterpiece of musicianship.
?
Wes Serafine can be contacted at
wserafine@keene-equinox.comWes Serafine
Equinox Staff
?
Music and film fused together in a new way this past week at Keene State College. The Redfern Arts Center played host to a very unique screening of Fritz Lang?s silent film classic, ?Metropolis.?
Seeing the restored movie in its entirety is incredible enough for any audience member, but what made this screening unique was the musical accompaniment by The Alloy Orchestra, a musical trio that creates their own original scores for silent classics and performs them during live screenings of the film.
The director of the Redfern Arts Center, Shannon Mayers first met the Alloy Orchestra in 2005 when she was part of a silent film festival in New York, she said. ?It [the silent film era] really was an incredible period of filmmaking,? Mayers said. The film itself is a futuristic tale about a beautiful utopian city in which the wealthy enjoy a life of luxury and comfort.
However, beneath the Metropolis lies the city of the workers who, every day, work themselves nearly to death in order to keep the city functioning. Freder, the son of the city?s architect, discovers the underground city and, with the help of the workers? peaceful leader, Maria, seeks to unite the workers and the people above.
Unfortunately, an evil mad scientist and old enemy of Freder?s father has other plans and replaces Maria with an evil robot who seeks to incite a rebellion and throw both cities into complete chaos. In viewing this film, one can see the moments that inspired multiple films that we continue to enjoy today. ??Metropolis? paved the way for science fiction films,? Mayers said. So much of what Fritz Lang was working with gave ideas to films such as ?Blade Runner,? ?Star Wars,? ?Terminator,? ?Flash Gordon? and even some well-known staples of the comic book universe such as ?Vision,? the robotic member of the Avengers or the name of the city that Superman calls home.
The Alloy Orchestra has scored silent films for 23 years, ?Metropolis? being the first film they ever scored. They choose not to listen to the original film scores when working on one of these projects but rather choose to let the film itself act as their director. To create their unique sound for the film, they utilize everything from conventional instruments to tin cans and horseshoes, essentially anything that suits their needs.
?We improvise to the film, and then we record that improvisation and then we go back and correct it, improve the harmonies and melodies,? Roger Miller, pianist for The Alloy Orchestra, said. ?Coming up with themes is easy but getting it so you can play for two and a half hours seamlessly is the hard part,? Miller said.
The Alloy Orchestra usually spends roughly two months working on a composition for a film. ?Performing comes naturally to me,? Miller said, ?I?m never, ever nervous, it doesn?t matter if it?s 15 people or 20,000, it doesn?t matter to me.? The musical accompaniment by the band fit the dark and incredibly intense tones of the film seamlessly. Keene State College students Katie Barnaby and Rachel Lanza both described the film as ?phenomenal.?
Eddie Harris, a KSC film major said, ?As a film major, in my previous Film History class, I saw the beginning of this film and quite frankly, I hated it. However, with every silent film, the only thing they have to work with is the music and the visual content that the film provides. This film has a very unique visual content, it?s very strong, that?s the way Fritz [Lang] wanted it. It?s not for everyone, but what happened here today, I actually really liked it. It was a big step for the film because the original music for the piece was very dark and desperate. The new music they provided was much, much better.?
Overall, the film and the music came together to form a truly awe inspiring show?a masterpiece of filmmaking combined with a masterpiece of musicianship.
?
Wes Serafine can be contacted at
wserafine@keene-equinox.com
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