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7000 Series FILM TO MUSIC - 1 (Library ref no. 82)
Movies set to music have always been popular with amateur film makers. Here are a dozen examples transferred from 16mm film to video, using newly-restored prints and electronic dirt-concealment techniques. There is a longer pause between items 6 and 7, to allow an interval to be taken if desired.
THIS TAPE IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF SIDNEY MANASSEH, FACI, IN HONOUR OF HIS OUTSTANDING WORK FOR THE IAC FILM & VIDEO LIBRARY.
| 1. | GALLOPERS Gordon Wakefield and Sidney Manasseh, FACI (Essex)
This is a brilliantly edited example of a simple, but highly visual subject, brought to life by the rhythm of the fast cuts to music. The film is an all-the-fun-of-the-fair frolic featuring roundabout horses and you almost believe that you are seeing them really come to life as the carousel whirls round and round. Many of the shots are as little as two frames long and in this exciting new transfer (in which the join lines of the splices have been electronically concealed) the skill of the film-makers is more clearly seen than ever before. |
Visual |
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| 2. | SKI LIFT Michael Slowe, FACI (London) A beautifully observed study of people using a ski lift and of the machinery itself. The snow-bound scenery is shown in breathtakingly crisp photography which is set to apt musical accompaniment with taut, exciting editing. Ten Best Gold stars 1975; IAC Very Highly Commended, Best Col. 1975 |
Visual |
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| 3. | THE WEEKENDERS Brad Shaw and Ryan Roulette (USA) A fast-moving montage which features the wagons and wagoners who drive off into the big American outdoors for their week-end enjoyment. The film begins with a short animated section to set the scene. PRINT AND COLOUR QUALITY SEEM TO INDICATE THAT THIS WAS A BLOW-UP FROM STANDARD 8mm. IAC Very Highly Commended, Best North American 1974 |
Visual |
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| 4. | ROCK VIDEO John Straiton (Canada) As much an animation film as it is one made to music. This slickly cut entertainment brings stones and pebbles of all shapes, sizes and colours to life. Filmed by a much-acclaimed and much-awarded Toronto film-maker while he was recovering from a serious illness. 'When I found out I was going to survive', he wrote, 'I thought I would let the amateur film world know.' Ten Best Oscar 1988 |
Animation/ |
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| 5. | CRYSTAL STREET BRIDGE Thomas Bell (Massachusetts, USA)
Just a short distance from the hustle and bustle of city life, a girl finds a stark, metal bridge over a railway line. She dances across it to the piano music of Beethoven's Pathétique Sonata (Op.13, No.8 in C minor), performed by John Samual Scott, and for a short while she is able to bring beauty to her urban surroundings. Choreographed and lyrically danced by Lynn Frederiksen, stunningly photographed by Lorne Covington and presented here in its original full Widescreen version (letter-box style). IAC Gold Seal (Open) 1984 |
Visual |
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| 6. | THE MAGIC SEA J. Ron Chapman (Sunderland) A spectacular study of the shore at Marsden Bay, South Shields, which captures the ever-changing moods of the sea. The visual and colour effects were all done in the camera by photographing each scene three times on the same strip of film, first with a red filter, then blue and then green. An amazing multi-coloured visual delight set to striking electronic music. Ten Best 4 stars award 1976; IAC International Award, Best Colour Award, Best Novice Award 1979 |
Visual |
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| 7. | EARTHSHRINKER TO LONDON Don Thompson (Morden, Surrey)
Filmed on a global trip to London which went via New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, the Pacific Islands, Auckland, Sydney and Hong Kong, this is a kind of compressed and syncopated travelogue that uses camera shots rather like one would jot down words in a note-book. These pictures are cut very fast to a jazzy piece of music, giving a frenetic, jerkily animated impression of the journey. Additional sound effects and voices (location recorded) add yet a further dimension to this audio-visual feast. Ten Best Oscar, Best Colour Award 1974 |
Travel/ |
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| 8. | DRIVE MY CAR Michael Slowe, FACI (London) A polished and witty study of man's relationship with the motor car, showing that even the most cherished of specimens eventually finishes up on the 'scrap heap'. The film contains some excellent candid camerawork and is superbly edited to well-chosen music. Ten Best Oscar 1978; IAC Highly Commended. 1978 |
Visual |
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| 9. | FRANKIE AND JOHNNY Coventry Film Production Unit A well-scripted and nicely-performed costume mime to the famous ballad of the same name. It does not set out to imitate the lavish world of a professional musical, but instead takes a wry look at the song and interprets it visually with a pleasing freshness, and, for its time, considerable technical skill. Produced for the group by Richard and Margaret Hodkin. PRINT QUALITY REFLECTS REVERSAL DUPING OF THE PERIOD Ten Best Oscar 1960 |
Musical |
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| 10. | GYMNASTS Dr Wallace M. Shaw (New York, USA) This is a fascinating collage of coloured images of vaulting exercises, painstakingly multi-exposed in the camera without the additional help of laboratory techniques, so that each of the gymnasts (Bob Mongin, Tom Franqui and Jane Konrad) appears to have a series of others trailing behind in perfect synchronisation. IAC International Award 1976 |
Visual |
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| 11. | IKE'S WOMAN : TINA Jerry Biehl (Los Angeles, USA)
Strangely compelling and visually stunning abstract patterns, shapes and images of a singer presented as what we would now call a pop video. Photographed by Steve Ramm, Nick Kotos, Bob Arthur and Mike Griffin; special effects: Mark Sugihara and Paul Turang. LYRICS OF THE SONG CONTAIN MILD SEXUAL INNUENDO AND DOUBLE MEANINGS Ten Best 4 stars 1975; IAC Very Highly Commended, Best North American Award 1975 |
Music |
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| 12. | PISTON POLKA Leslie Gillham, FACI and Sidney Manasseh,
FACI (Essex) An absolutely top-notch finish to the programme. This outstanding film features close-ups of a traction engine brilliantly cut to steam-organ music. Poetry in motion from these two top film-makers who devoted so much of their time not just to the IAC but to all film-makers. Ten Best Oscar 1970; IAC International Award 1970 |
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Total running time 59 mins. DVD
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