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daz
at 04:56, 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 1
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Initial Reactions and Music in Film/Theatre
Hi to all, this appears to be the start of a very stimulating and thoughtful forum coming out of a most special film.
I got to see Yes on Tuesday evening at the Sydney Film Festival and chief among my loves for the film was the way in which multiple strands of character/class/culture/consciousness etc... could be clearly and lightly held together within any scene. No overt ‘auteur’ship/authorship here! And of course the beautiful way in which the poetry of word and fluidity of the musical expression intertwine make for a very sensuous film experience.
As far as the debate over political realities and how they play into the ending of the film, I think it is important to articulate the metaphor that such a cultural meeting of minds and souls IS possible, that we CAN conceive it and articulate it alongside the more hardened and well worn paradigms for such relations. Of course the ‘reality check’ in the world of the film might be when He and She eventually leave their Cuban oasis and are challenged to reintegrate their relationship within their familiar circles of family, work and society. The great challenge for the spiritual seeker is often one of reengaging with the broader society and expressing the truths of their realization outside the protected walls of the monastery, cave or suburban bedroom…
One particular passion of mine is the various forms in which music exists in theatrical spaces, and I wonder Sally with your particular musical/vocal experiences how you would delineate between film and the musical stage in their ability to express the ideas and passions that interest you? Have there been any recent uses of music in film and/or in theatre that have left you astonished/excited/dismayed/perplexed and/or annoyed??
Wishing continued creativity and thanks once again for a poetic gem of a film.
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sally potter
at 22:08, 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 193
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the sound of music
Thank you for your comments about YES.
It’s a while since I’ve been in Sydney and it’s very good to hear about a screening from your side of the world. Strange and wonderful how a film can travel all by itself. I guess it must nearly be time for me to let go of it….
I think one of the prime differences between music in theatre and on film is the role of the other sounds on the track. In my view (or perhaps my ears) the sounds we hear, from a car door slamming to the soft rustle of fabric, or from the barely audible sound of someone breathing to the whine and roar of an aeroplane passing overhead , are all, in some sense, music. For this reason I work closely on the design of the sound as a whole, and the musical instruments in the final score are part of that audible totality. In the theatre, in a relatively closed acoustic space, sound has different dimensions.
Another difference is the intimacy of the eye of the camera. In a theatrical space there is an in-built detachment created by the physical distance of the audience which allows them to frame the action and never lose awareness of the fact that it is a show. (Which, itself, can be very moving. The audience and the performers are in complicity with the present moment.) The camera, however, can study the detailed nuances of a face. With such proximity music is less about a counterpoint to spectacle than a dialogue with the subtleties of eye-movement.
You’ve asked for an example of a film or show. It’s not recent, but it remains as fresh as a daisy: the score for The Third Man…exemplary, inspiring.
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