Red Hook Cine Soiree - August 6, 2011

Another summer afternoon, and another Red Hook Cine Soiree.

The films and filmmakers were Cet Air La by Marie Losier, Summer Reading, pt 1 (When We Were Witches) by Jeanne Liotta, Eros c'est Lamour by Bradley Eros and Tim Geraghty, Portrait #2: Trojan by Vanessa Renwick, and a special screening of Entr'acte by Rene Clair, Francis Picabia, and Erik Satie with live soundtrack by Joel Schlemowitz's Krupnik Orchestra.

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The "live soundtrack by Joel Schlemowitz's Krupnik Orchestra" consisted of instruments handed out to the audience to provide a live score.  A highly improvised undertaking, albeit with some conducting to indicate various cues in the film.  It's not the first time that an audience was given out instruments to make music for a film score: I recall a wonderful evening at Issue Project Room with The Parasitic Fantasy Band, which included one piece where Sam Hamilton handed out hand-percussion instruments, bells, and chimes to the audience members as part of the "live ephemeral expanded cinema and ecstatic 16mm/8mm film and sound performances."  The experience was a low tech version of "surround sound" -- the tinkling sounds emanating from everywhere around the room.

Of course the auditory results of little hand-percussion instruments are much different than what you get from our orchestra's array of instruments: a trombone, a french horn, a bugle, crash cymbals, a banjo, melodicas, flutes, drums, and various other highly noisy things.  A little video excerpt of the musical mayhem is posted below.

And later on, as the afternoon thunderstorms arrived, drinks at Sunny's.

Filmmaker websites:
Jeanne Liotta - www.jeanneliotta.net
Marie Losier - www.marielosier.net
Oregon Department of Kick Ass : Vanessa Renwick, Filmmaker - www.odoka.org
Joel Schlemowitz - www.joelschlemowitz.com

Cheers!