UnSilent Film

it's baaack! UnSilent Film 666

2006-10-16T13:28:00.000-04:00

Just when you thought it was safe...

"UnSilent Film" celebrates its Second Anniversary on Monday October 30th at The Hi-Fi Concert Club, 11729 Detroit Ave., Lakewood, OH (216) 521-8878 at 8pm. with a showing of "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."

The 1920 classic silent horror film (directed by John S. Robertson), is based on the famous story by Robert Louis Stevenson. Starring John Barrymore (grandfather of actress Drew Barrymore) who chews up the scenery in the dual role as the conflicted Dr. Henry Jekyll/Mr. Edward Hyde.

This version received high marks when it was released -- Variety proclaimed it "a fine dignified presentation... the appearance of John Barrymore in any production is an event and there remains for the reviewer only to comment on how excellent is his portrayal of the dual personalities of the unfortunate Dr. Jekyll." The New York Times agreed: "something special and extraordinary... in Mr. Barrymore's flawless performance."

Though many interpretations followed over the years, it is Barrymore's portrayal (much like Max Schreck's in "Nosferatu") that stays lodged in the dreams of the collective unconscious.

"UnSilent Film" -- a series of silent movies preformed with an improvised live score -- will be performed this time by Thieves Like Me, fluxmonkey, tofu, Shawn Holt, Geo Jones and Steven K. Smith.

Feima's playlist from USF 5

2005-11-02T16:31:00.000-05:00

Unsilent Film Deutsch JA! Playlist
--------------------------------------------------
minuswelt - der siebte tag (courtesy maschine9)
rector scanner - vocoder
2raumwohnung - 2 von millionen von sternen
ascii disko - aldimarkt
ascii disko - ne travaillez jamais (yeah it's a french song..it's tiktiktok's fault)
and one - fur immer
combichrist - das der bunker
laibach - achtung!
----film----
combichrist - vater unser
gewaltakustik - psychopath
panzer division - electroshock patient (10,000 volt)
kiew - dcdisk(DD version)
xotox - eisenkiller
noisex - jaegerdance
schachtanlage gegenort - schrammaschinenspiel (courtesy maschine9)
*not super sure though
dioxyde - panzerfaust (courtesy maschine9)
DAF/DOS - mutterficker
wumpscut - krieg
funker vogt - maschine zeit(maschinen-mix)

USF 5 -- Live

2005-10-27T11:10:00.000-04:00

(l-r) thieves like me, dust_head, Steven K. Smith, fluxmonkey

spreading the love...

2005-10-22T14:24:00.000-04:00

recent USF5 items...

Plain Dealer (item 3)

Blogcritics.org

Brewed Fresh Daily

CoolCleveland (second to last listing)

one week...

2005-10-19T23:17:00.000-04:00

until USF 5!

also, it'll be our first anniversary -- "Nosferatu" seems like a long time ago ;)

the show info...

2005-10-05T09:42:00.000-04:00

SynthCleveland will present the 1921 classic silent horror film "The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari" featuring a new live improvised soundtrack on Wednesday, October 26 at 8pm, at Rain Nightclub, 4142 Lorain Avenue in Cleveland.

Directed by Robert Wiene, "Caligari" is considered to be one of the landmark examples of the German Expressionist style (i.e. "Nosferatu", "Faust", "Metropolis"). The film is enigmatic and highly stylized, with a twist ending that M. Night Shyamalan wishes he had used -- madness, love, murder and sonambulists -- all set against a carnival side-show backdrop.

This is the fifth in a series of "UnSilent" films -- old movies with an added improvised live score -- performed this time by SynthCleveland members Steven K. Smith, Thieves Like Me, tofu, dust_head and fluxmonkey.

Spinning before and after the film will be special guest DJ Feima from WCSB's "F2" show.

SynthCleveland is a resource group for area electronic musicians holding meetings and presenting workshops related to electronic music.

Rain Nightclub is located at 4142 Lorain Avenue (216-651-4100). For directions go to: http://tinyurl.com/5cfyr

Admission (21+) is Free.

UnSilent 5: Film Announced

2005-09-26T10:06:00.000-04:00

Get an early start on your halloween weekend with...

The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari (1920)

yep, we'll be rockin' it german expressionist stylee ;)

unsilent + mobile

2005-09-10T15:24:00.000-04:00

this is kind of what we'd like to do... Any takers Cleveland? ;)

from Gizmodo

The Drive-In is going high concept. Maybe this is part of the new vintage movement all you hip kids are obsessed with (or else people are just bored). But here’s the idea: Some folks set up a digital projector outfitted with an FM transmitter and put it inside a car. Every couple of weeks they send out an e-mail to a listserv full of fans with details on the movie that will be showing, the wall it will be projected on, the time and whatnot. You show up, tune to the designated FM station and enjoy a flick, or steam up the windows. The Mobile Movie movement started in Santa Cruz, and is now playing in Berkeley, Oakland, Minneapolis, Dallas, Los Angeles, West Chester, PA., and Tampa City, FL.

UnSilent 5 date announced...

2005-08-31T08:41:00.000-04:00

Mark your calendars now: Wednesday, October 26th at Rain Nightclub (of course).

The film? Announced very soon ;)

i Muy Caliente !

2005-05-05T14:37:00.000-04:00

Indeed, a very hot evening of theremin-on-theremin action took place last night as Santo defeated Frankenstein's "oh-so-go-go-booted" Daughter and her red-shirted (yet sensitive) henchmen...

sample dialog:

Henchmen #2: "I do not like bloody eyes, they give me the goosebumps"

Sadly the camera did not make it out, but there were mucho people having a good time marvelling at the Mexican film industry's finest export. ;)

VIVA EL SANTO!

ExBe Podcast #2

2005-05-03T22:01:00.000-04:00

check out the new ExBe podcast here, (30mb) with the first segment on tomorrow's show.

thanks Brent!

...and if like Brent, you're wondering how we're doing an non-silent film -- we just turn the sound off and use the English subtitles ;)

gearspotting

2005-05-03T10:22:00.000-04:00

here's a quick look at some of the gear that'll be on stage Wednesday

starting with the two new players:

Matt/20goto10: "I am using a Korg MS-10 and a Moog Rogue as well as an Etherwave Theramin that will be ran through the 10. Possibly a roland SPD-S for some percussion."

Patrick/Inovercy says "the (Yamaha) SY77... I did manage to make the most spot on theremin sound I've heard :)"

so already there's the prospect for hot theremin-on-theremin action ;)

I'll be lugging the Borg Cube (D-550, U-220, plus delay/reverb), and the ever-present circuit bent SK-1. New this time out: the Roland GR-300 Guitar Synth and the Korg EA-1 for some of the wrestling sections.

more info on the film....

2005-04-21T14:28:00.000-04:00

here's a copy of the press release that went out...

-----

In the spirit of Cinco de Mayo, SynthCleveland will present the 1971 classic Mexican Wrestling/Horror film "Santo vs. Frankenstein's Daughter" featuring a new live improvised soundtrack on Wednesday, May 4 at 8pm, at Rain Nightclub, 4142 Lorain Avenue in Cleveland.

This is the fourth in a series of "UnSilent" films -- old movies with an added improvised live score -- performed this time by SynthCleveland members dust_head, tofu, fluxmonkey, inovercy, and 20goto10.

Santo (a.k.a. Rodolfo Guzman Huerta), stars as the silver-masked luchador, battling Dr. Freda Frankenstein (Gina Roman), resplendent in go-go boots, as she continues in the family line of work -- making monsters, while also developing a youth serum. Looking to upgrade the formula, she needs the blood of the eternally young Santo and kidnaps Santo's girlfriend Norma (watch out for that bullet-bra!) to be used as bait. Once lured into Dr. Frankenstein's "Straight Outta Batman" lair, Santo must defeat not one, but two monsters -- the half-man, half-ape "Truxon," and fresh off the Doctor's slab, the familiar looking square headed monster called "Ursus."

This film is quintessential Santo -- allowing the smooth wrestling crimefighter (who never takes off his mask on-screen) to work his magic with the ladies and the monsters.

Spinning before and after the film will be special guest DJ Feima from WCSB's "F2" show.

SynthCleveland is a resource group for area electronic musicians holding meetings and presenting workshops related to electronic music.

Rain Nightclub is located at 4142 Lorain Avenue (216-651-4100). Admission (21+) is Free.

UnSilent Film 4: Announced!

2005-04-14T15:08:00.000-04:00

Yes, breaking with what little tradition we have -- a Santo movie! (In Color! With Subtitles!)

Get a start on your Cinco de Mayo celebration one night early, join us on Quatro de Mayo (May 4th for the rest of us) at 8pm for the silver masked Mexican wreslting icon Santo vs. Frankenstein's Daughter (just pretend it's an alternate universe where SuperHost played Santo flicks instead of Rodan vs. Mothra)

more (gear) pix

2005-03-16T10:41:00.000-05:00

here's some more pictures of the gear from the show

Fluxmonkey

Fluxmonkey (wider shot)

tofu's rig

dust_head

Wow...

2005-03-10T23:59:00.000-05:00

...that was fun!

Not only did the turnout exceeded our expectations (especially, on a cold, windy and snowy Wednesday night), but the music improv magic was also in the air.

Special guest DJ Feima started things off right w/ some Maschina tracks, which segued nicely into the beginning of the movie.

Some of the musical highlights included Tim's (Thieves Like Me) delay and microphone combo, capturing cymbal, harmonica and wine glass sounds and treating them with an array of stompboxes and pedals; Steven K. Smith's drumming during the "torture room" sequence, which dynamically propelled the scene; lbd's (fluxmonkey) new noise box with many "piercings" (body contact switches) added the unnerving underpinnings and Shawn's (dust_head) manipulations of filtered white noise on the MS-2000 set the stage for the evening. Meanwhile, I played a choir patch in the absence of Dawn Mitchell, and pounded on the bent SK-1 during the climatic rioting scene at the end of the movie.

Check back for some audio samples later...

Oh, and the popcorn was pretty good too ;)

Unsilent Film 3: Tonight!

2005-03-09T14:57:00.000-05:00

We hope you make it out to the show tonight -- if you come early enough, there may be some popcorn in your future ;)

Expect some circuit bent machines, modular monsters and electronic percussion combining for an intense film experience.

UnSilent press updates

2005-03-03T09:53:00.000-05:00

three bits of press:

Scene (item 3), Cool Cleveland (under "Events") and Free Times (not online) page 22 item 2.

Also, here's a small collection of "The Passion of Joan of Arc" links that describe the plot in far better detail than I could ;)

This review is probably the most comprehensive, while this review is a close second. There's a review from the BBC, as well as a comprehensive listing of all the films from Carl Theodor Dreyer (including the excellent, but non-silent "Vampyr")

UnSilent Film 3: The Passion of Joan of Arc

2005-02-21T15:53:00.000-05:00

SynthCleveland will present the 1928 Carl Theodor Dreyer classic silent film "The Passion Of Joan Of Arc," featuring a new live soundtrack on Wednesday, March 9 at 8pm, at Rain Nightclub, 4142 Lorain Ave. in Cleveland.

This is the third in a series of "UnSilent" films -- silent movies with an improvised live score -- performed by SynthCleveland members the scinema, Steven K. Smith, tofu, dust_head, fluxmonkey and thieves like me.

Spinning before and after the film will be special guest DJ Feima from WCSB.

In describing his work, Danish director Carl Theodor Dreyer said that film should present "truth filtered through an artist's mind, truth liberated from unnecessary detail." Starring Renee Maria Falconetti (in her only film), Dreyer's unconventional camera angles are uncompromising as he seeks the truth in Falconetti’s haunted eyes and relentless close-ups of the characters faces. The effect is so striking that Jean Cocteau remarked that it looked like "an historical document from an era in which the cinema didn't exist".

The screenplay was based on the transcripts of Joan's trial. The legend of a simple country maid from Orleans, dressed as a boy, leading the French troops in their defeat of the British occupation forces. After being captured and brought before a church court, her belief that she had been inspired by heavenly visions led to charges of heresy and led to her being burned at the stake in 1431. Dreyer combined 29 cross-examinations, combined with torture, into one inquisition.

"It may be the finest performance ever recorded on film," wrote Pauline Kael, but it almost didn't survive at all. The original negative was destroyed in a fire and the film was thought lost until a print was accidently found in a closet in a Norwegian mental institution in 1981 and restored in 1985.

Rain Nightclub is located at 4142 Lorain Avenue (216-651-4100).

blurry

2003-10-19T22:33:00.001-04:00