Blog posting written by Erica Moriarty, Documentary Studies ’16, FLEFF Intern, Houston, Texas

No color. No sound. No movie?

How about we add in a live orchestra… Sounding a little better?

And have the event at the home of silent films… You interested yet?

Did I mention the film is showing at one of the best festivals to hit this side of the Finger Lakes?

In the upcoming week, FLEFF is bringing back some of the Ithacan silent film culture of the 1920s with October. In the 1920s, the natural beauty of Ithaca inspired silent filmmakers to create works of art often in the form of the cliffhanger serial. Although October does not take place anywhere near Ithaca, the town’s history is easily seen in the form of the silent film.

The classic Russian film premiered in 1928 under the direction of Sergei Eisenstein and Grigori Aleksandrov. October celebrates with dramatization the 1917 October Russian Revolution. To add to the drama, the Cloud Chamber Orchestra will accompany the film with live music.

Perhaps, there will be no color, but there will definitely be sound and a movie you do not want to miss. So what do you say? Put on your Sunday best and join FLEFF Sunday, April 7^th at Cinemapolis for October featuring the Cloud Chamber Orchestra.

Which other films are you interested in seeing this year? 

Blog posting by Isabel Galupo, Cinema and Photography '14, FLEFF Intern, Towson, MD

Tonight, Robby Aceto visited the intern staff to discuss his role at FLEFF 2012.

Aceto is an internationally recognized "color" guitarist. He explained that the term "color guitarist" allows him to signal that he uses his instrument in unexpected, non-traditional ways.

He explained, "there's an expectation of what you hear from a guitar, especially an electric guitar...it's used in very narrow ways...[but] the capabilities of the instrument are really much broader than that."

This year will mark his fourth year performing at FLEFF. 

Aceto will be performing on the closing night of the festival at Cinemapolis, the local independent art cinema and long-time FLEFF partner.

He will be scoring the silent film "Nanook of the North," which is considered the first feature-length documentary film. 2012 marks the 90th anniversary of the release of the film. 

Scoring silent films is a crucial part of film history. Before synchronous sound technology was developed, it was very typical for orchestras to accompany the screening of silent films in theaters. 

In explaining the integrity of scoring silent films in modern times, Aceto also stressed the importance of active audience attendance and participation in these performances:

"Being there, you have an effect on the outcome." 

Many interns inquired about the process and technique behind improvisational film scoring. Some of his tips included: 

"Embrace the accidents that occur."

Ask yourself: "What did the filmmaker want? If he was here now, what would he think?"

"You've got to embrace the silence, as well as the noise." 

And, above all, "You've got to make it happen." 

The one thing that struck me the most about Aceto's presentation is the almost cautionary statement he made as soon as he stood up before us:

"I'm not an academic. I'm a person who is always doing things." 

The nature of Aceto's improvisational work for FLEFF is doing. He does not glue himself in front of his television watching and re-watching films, completing hours and hours of preliminary research before he performs. He sees, experiences, and feels the film, and then translates those raw emotions into uncensored musical language. 

In today's society, are we encouraged to process information by doing as Robby Aceto does? 

How does FLEFF create a safe space for artists and academics alike to explore ideas through action, through doing? 

Blog posting written by Chloe Wilson, Television-Radio ’14, FLEFF Intern, Ashland, Massachusetts.

Back for his fourth year, Robby Aceto is at FLEFF once again!

I got the chance to listen to Acteo speak about his work.  This year, he'll be performing live music to accompany the silent, 90-year-old documentary film Nanook of the North (he's part of an improvisational trio, how cool is that?).

Here are some choice quotes from Aceto's talk, ranging from live music to film festivals itself to contributing to the microtopia of FLEFF.  Hopefully this helps you become a part of the moment, FLEFFers!

"A big part of FLEFF has always been the pairing of live music with silent film.  Why do we do that?  It's a tradition that's just as much a part of film history as anything."

"There's a tendency to feel superior to people who created things hundreds of years ago... These guys were making films and they were making it up as they go along. They didn't have a lexicon of technology to choose from.  They had to figure out as they went along how they were gonna do this.  In a way, they had to work and think more creatively than a filmmaker does now.  I think that, as an improviser, that really speaks to me."

"First time at FLEFF, I was hired to be a guitar player for an ensemble that was playing a commissioned work.  There was some spoken word and it was a great experience, it was great fun, and then Patty said 'We want to do something again.' So get involved in as many things as you can.  It's a crapshoot, being a musician, but it's worth it."

"Not making a sound is just as much action as making a sound."

That last quote was my personal favorite; it held a lot of weight to me.  It really reminded me about how the difference that each person can make, no matter if it's intentional or not.  Every person's action (or lack of action) contributes to something, whether we notice it directly or not.

Aceto played some of his clips for us, and I can't wait to hear more!  Aceto calls himself a "color guitarist," but his music has clearly been influenced by his previous collaborations with musicians who specialize in other instruments.  You can check out some of his work here.

Lean back, pop on some headphones, close your eyes, and listen to Aceto's work.  Do you have a favorite piece?  Are you looking forward to hearing him perform at FLEFF?

^{Blog posting written by Brian McCormick, Film, Photo and Visuals Arts '12, FLEFF Intern, Wilbraham, MA}

I had a great conversation with musician Chris White the other day about his upcoming performance at FLEFF, playing the cello for a live musical score of the silent film Storm Over Asia.

This is happening Sunday, April 17th, 7pm at Cinemapolis -- a one time event!

Accompanying White in the performance will be fellow musicians Robby Aceto and Peter Dodge.

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White isn't new to FLEFF -- he has been performing for the silent films for the past few years. With years of experience playing classical and non-classical cello, White is very open to and excited about musical improvisation. Here's what he had to say about what he's done and his upcoming FLEFF performance.

Q: Can you talk about your history as a cellist and where you're at now?

A: "I studied cello in western New Hampshire, and also in France and Spain, and then I did a masters in cello performance at Ithaca College. While I was growing up learning cello, I was also playing the guitar self-taught on the side, just improving on the guitar. At a certain point I decided to start trying to improv on the cello and to jazz and stuff like that. When I lived in Spain I'd play flamenco with singer-songwriters and all kinds of fun stuff.

I also founded and am director of a cello festival for cellists who are interested in non-classical uses of the cello. That's an annual event , and the 17th annual is going to happen at Ithaca College on June 10th - 12th. That puts me in touch with people around the world who are doing innovative things with the cello, all different kinds of styles, rock, pop, and world music, and all kinds of cool stuff."

Q: How did you get involved with FLEFF and performing for silent films?

A: "About six years ago, Patty Zimmerman asked me if I'd consider playing along with the The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, and I said "Sure, I'll give it a try." I played with my electric cello and some electronic effects, and I had a really fun time and got good feedback from others.

It's been like that pretty much every year where I've been doing at least one silent film. It was a few years ago I started to do it with other musicians as well. I'm doing this one with Peter Dodge and *Robby Aceto, and that sort of opened up a whole other new area of collaboration and improvisation."

[ * Read the interview by Kelsey with Robby Aceto here! ]

Q: What are you looking forward to?

A: "It's been a very fulfilling experience playing in FLEFF, playing in a theater -- we've been playing in Cinemapolis -- and I'm looking forward to playing in the new Cinemapolis, the past two times we were in the old Cinemapolis. The people that did the sound, and the lighting were really good and helped create a really nice ambience there.

Just playing for a live audience where we're kind of watching the film with everybody else. We've gotten feedback like, "The music was great, I just got lost in the film, and sometimes I forgot that there was live music playing." That was kind of cool because that would be our goal, for people to really feel like the music worked that well with the movie that they just took it all in.

I think for this year we're really looking forward to the new space, and I just really like working with the FLEFF team and I feel really well treated by everybody. We're excited."

Q: How do you prepare for this kind of performance?

A: "We definitely get together and rehearse. The first time we got together, for this year, we just watched the film and as we watched it we'd stop and talk about this scene or that scene or the feeling that we'd like to have there.

One of our approaches is to take turns being the person that would sort of lead a certain scene or feeling so that the others could come in as they wish and join that. The different people generating the music that would make it so that it's more variant rather than just jumping in all at once. We'll try to have just one person playing or two and three and try to change it up that way, too."

Q: What does the cello bring to creating the appropriate film ambience of the silent film?

A: "The cello has a lot of warmth and texture and into the human voice like range, I think that speaks to a lot of people that way, the sound of the cello. Because its a bow instrument, and the bow gives a lot of life to the sound and vibrancy that also works. It makes it so that I can stand out and hold a note as long as I want, and I can also change that as I go.

With the bow you can do effects that sound like distortion, and there's just a wide palette of sounds to choose from just from the use of the bow. There's spiccato if I'm plucking at it, it can feel like a base and driving sound, a percussive rhythm that way. I can use some electronic things like the looper which allows me to layer different notes on top of each other or a series of a notes. Robby, the guitarist, also uses  looping so we can kind of create a bigger ambience of sound that way and build upon that to sound like we're a much bigger group sometimes."

Q: How is performing for a silent film different from other things you have done?

A: "It's more free for me because it's wide open and the parts of the film inspire us in different ways. It's very different from jazz or classical or most of the other types of improvisation I've done because it's so open and unscripted. The script is kind of like the movie, we're kind of creating the score as we go.

We do watch the movie and then play together with the movie to anticipate the changes in the different moods and feelings we want to convey. It will be sort of like playing and improvising to poetry maybe or art where you can do what you want, but you're still trying to fit into the mood of what you're watching. It's pretty cool, it's very different."

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Don't miss this once in a lifetime performance!

With Chris White, Robby Aceto, and Peter Dodge playing LIVE, come see Storm Over Asia, 7PM on Sunday, April 17th at Cinemapolis!