Oddball Films presents Strange Sinema, a monthly screening of new finds, old gems and offbeat oddities from the collection. Drawing on his archive of over 50,000 16mm film prints Oddball Films director Stephen Parr has complied his 74th program of classic, strange, offbeat and unusual films. This installment, Strange Sinema 74: Strange, Strange Music focuses on avant-garde, electronic music, quirky jazz, ethnographic and other musical novelties and exotica from around the world. This program presents the rare documentary The Dreamer that Remains (1973) featuring American visionary composer, new-music instrument inventor and hobo Harry Partch; Discovering Electronic Music (1983), veteran director Bernard Wilets’ introduction to music synthesizers and computers used to create electronic music; The Pretty Lady and the Electronic Musicians (1972) a quirky fairy tale that takes us to the outer fringes of early music inventions like Leo Theremin’s revolutionary sound instrument, effects like reverb, overdrive and fuzztones and the theory of musique concréte; A Balinese Gong Orchestra (1971) showcases the ancient gamelan music of Indonesia; Tanka (1976), David LeBrun’s hypnotic film composed of Tibetan scroll paintings with a pulsating original score by Ashish Khan; Crash, Bang, Boom (1970), a lesson in percussive sounds for pre-teen hippies; Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom (1953), Ward Kimball’s brilliant Technicolor, mid-century cartoon explores the development of Western musical instruments from caveman to present day; Ego (1970) Italy’s Bruno Bozzetto optical printing and pop art imagery bond with master Franco Godi’s wildly ultra-lounge soundtrack; Crystallization (1975), award-wining filmmaker Carroll Ballard’s (The Black Stallion) abstract film explores the formation of crystals in liquids all set to an innovative electronic sound score. Finally Oakland native and electric guitar pioneer Alvino Rey performs The Whistler and His Dog (1941) with his swing orchestra. This novelty big band show-stopper is replete with barks, woofs, whistles and growls from his sidemen!
Date: Thursday, March 13th, 2014 at 8:00pm
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street San Francisco
Admission: $10.00 Limited Seating RSVP toRSVP@oddballfilm.com or (415) 558-8117
Web: http://oddballfilms.blogspot.com/2014/03/strange-sinema-74-strange-strange-music.html
Featuring:
The Dreamer That Remains (Dir. Stephen Pouliot, Color, 1973)
“Harry Partch is an American visionary. He has built his own musical world out of microtones, hobo speech, elastic octaves and percussion instruments made from hubcaps and nuclear cloud chambers.”– Newsweek
A portrait of Harry Partch, one of the most innovative and influential composers of the 20th century. Partch invented instruments (cloud chamber bowls, cong gongs, the harmonic canon, more), experimented with drama and ritual and created a live ensemble utilizing dozens of his own designed instruments.
Partch influenced virtually every forward thinking composer and experimental musician of the 20th century. A fascinating artist, Partch lectured, performed and rode the rails as a hobo for eight years.
“The work that I have been doing these many years parallels much in the attitudes and actions of primitive man. He found sound-magic in the common materials around him. He then proceeded to make the vehicle, the instrument, as visually beautiful as he could. Finally, he involved the sound-magic and the visual beauty in his everyday words and experiences, his ritual and drama, in order to lend greater meaning to his life. This is my trinity: sound-magic, visual beauty, experience-ritual.”-Harry Partch
Discovering Electronic Music (dir. Bernard Wilets, Color, 1983) An introduction to the synthesizers and computers used to create electronic music, including the legendary Fairlight CMI, one of the first sampling synthesizers used for pop music production. Director Bernard Wilets was a veteran of the educational film industry and particularly known for his “Discovering Music” series.
The Pretty Lady and the Electronic Musicians (Color, 1972)
A modern musical fairy tale that has a contrapuntal grain of truth. In this light-hearted animated film two musicians compete for the same pretty lady by inventing and playing increasingly complex electronic instruments. From time to time the voice of the Grain of Truth interrupts to explain the electronic musical devices and techniques that produce much of the popular music of the 1960s and 70s. Leo Theremin’s revolutionary instrument is shown and explained, avant garde "musique concrete" is demonstrated with tape recorders and the use of amplifiers to affect sound. Other sound concepts like reverb, overdrive, feedback, fuzztones are demonstrated. This audio-orientation features and excerpt from the Hitchcock’s motion picture Spellbound utilizing the Theremin’s eerie sounds.
A Balinese Gong Orchestra (Color, 1971)
A film explaining the famous "Gamelan Gong" that includes the orchestra Tunjuk. Each instrument is described and explained, then the orchestra performs a piece taken from the Ramayana ballet suite (written in the 1950s and based on traditional themes). An eye and ear-opening introduction to this ancient Indonesian music.
Tanka (Color, 1976)
“An Extraordinary Film”-Melinda Wortz, Art News
Tanka means, literally, a thing rolled up. David LeBrun’s film, photographed from Tibetan scroll paintings of the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries, is a cyclical vision of ancient gods and demons, an animated journey through the image world of the Tibetan Book of the Dead.
With a pulsating hypnotic score by Ashish Khan (sarod), Buddy Arnold (saxophone, clarinet, flute), Pranesh Khan (tablas) and Francisco Lupica (percussion).
Crash, Bang, Boom (1970, color)
Watch pre-teen Woodstock wannabees get groovy! Music education films were a
perfect vehicle for schoolroom pop sensibility of the late 60s and early 70s. This
introduction to the world of percussion might have taken the hippie slang “far out” a bit over the edge, thanks to its artfully annoying, anti-jingle theme tune “narration”, but that’s what makes it an Oddball classic.
Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom (Dir. Ward Kimball, Color, 1953)
Academy Award winner in stunning Technicolor- this short was originally released in theaters as part of the “Adventures in Music” educational series. The short features a stuffy owl teacher lecturing his feathered flock on the origins of Western musical instruments. Starting with cave people, whose crude implements could only "toot, whistle, plunk and boom," the owl explains how these beginnings led to the development of the four basic types of Western musical instruments: brass, woodwinds, strings, and percussion. Directed by the brilliant Ward Kimball, this is a classic of mid-century cartoon design and has been ranked one of the top 50 greatest cartoons.
Ego (Color, 1970)
Brilliant animation by Italy’s Bruno Bozzetto (of the cult favorite Mr. Rossiseries)- starts with traditional comic-style animation until the factory-working family man goes to sleep and unleashes his subconscious thoughts sending him into a battleground of situations. Utilizes brilliant animation styles including optical printing and pop art imagery. Featuring ultra-lounge master Franco Godi’s mesmerizing soundtrack. An Oddball favorite!
Crystallization (Color, 1975)
Directed by award-wining filmmaker Carroll Ballard (The Black Stallion) this non-narrative film explores the formation of crystals in liquids through the electron microscope under polarized light all set to an early 70s electronic sound score. Screened at the SF International Film Festival and winner of the Golden Gate Award in 1975.
Alvino Rey, His Guitar and His Orchestra (B+W, 1941)
Oakland native and electric guitar pioneer Alvino Rey performs The Whistler and His Dog (1941) with his swing orchestra. This novelty big band show-stopper is replete with barks, woofs, whistles and growls from his sidemen!
About Oddball Films
Oddball films is the film component of Oddball Film+Video, a stock footage company providing offbeat and unusual film footage for feature films like Milk, documentaries like The Summer of Love, television programs like Mythbusters, clips for Boing Boing and web projects around the world.
Our films are almost exclusively drawn from our collection of over 50,000 16mm prints of animation, commercials, educational films, feature films, movie trailers, medical, industrial military, news out-takes and every genre in between. We’re actively working to present rarely screened genres of cinema as well as avant-garde and ethno-cultural documentaries, which expand the boundaries of cinema. Oddball Films is the largest film archive in Northern California and one of the most unusual private collections in the US. We invite you to join us in our weekly offerings of offbeat cinema.
http://oddballfilms.blogspot.com/2014/03/strange-sinema-74-strange-strange-music.html
Oddball Films presents Tunes and Toons: Animated Adventures in Musicland, a night of charming, stunning and vibrant animation, all about the magical process of making music. Di$ney's Symposium on Popular Songs (1962) takes you through the first half of the 20th century of popular music through a mixture of cell-animation, stop-motion and paper cutouts, in gorgeous color (try not to lose your head when rutabagas start dancing!). The British musicians of theHoffnung Palm Court Orchestra (1965) keep calm and carry on playing, even in the face of calamity. Ward Kimball's Academy Award-winning Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom (1953) is percussively savvy and a gorgeous demonstration of mid-century graphics. Fairy tales get a modern twist when a princess must choose between two musicians working to make a "new sound" in The Pretty Lady and the Electronic Musicians(1972). Gumby gets into a surreal battle of wits with a shape-shifting piano in the zippy Gumby Concerto (1957). George Pal carved hundreds of wooden puppet heads for the Art Deco marvelCavalcade of Music (1934). Plus, a beatnik teases a Calypso Singer (1966), Will "California Raisins" Vinton directs the psychedelic claymation rock concert, Mountain Music (1975), the dazzling Blame it on the Samba (1948) and a surprise pre-show! Whether you're a musician, an animation enthusiast, or just in need of a bit of fun, Oddball's got the tune for you.
Symposium on Popular Songs (Color, 1962)
Hoffnung Palm Court Orchestra (Color, 1965)
No matter what the calamity, from fire to shipwreck and beyond, this blissful trio plays on in sweet, sweet oblivion. A colorful cartoon take on the veddy, veddy British idea of keeping calm and carrying on, from the makers of Oddball fave Birds, Bees and Storks.
Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom (Color, 1953)
Academy Award winner in stunning Technicolor- this short was originally released in theaters as part of the “Adventures in Music” educational series. Directed by the brilliant Ward Kimball, this is a classic of mid-century cartoon design and has been ranked one of the top 50 greatest cartoons.
The Calypso Singer (Color, 1966)
Cavalcade of Music (B+W, 1934)
Gumby Concerto (Color, 1956)
Our films are almost exclusively drawn from our collection of over 50,000 16mm prints of animation, commercials, educational films, feature films, movie trailers, medical, industrial military, news out-takes and every genre in between. We’re actively working to present rarely screened genres of cinema as well as avant-garde and ethno-cultural documentaries, which expand the boundaries of cinema. Oddball Films is the largest film archive in Northern California and one of the most unusual private collections in the US. We invite you to join us in our weekly offerings of offbeat cinema.
Tunes and Toons: Animated Adventures in Musicland - Thur. Jan. 16 - 8PM
Oddball Films presents Tunes and Toons: Animated Adventures in Musicland, a night of charming, stunning and vibrant animation, all about the magical process of making music. Di$ney's Symposium on Popular Songs (1962) takes you through the first half of the 20th century of popular music through a mixture of cell-animation, stop-motion and paper cutouts, in gorgeous color (try not to lose your head when rutabagas start dancing!). The British musicians of theHoffnung Palm Court Orchestra (1965) keep calm and carry on playing, even in the face of calamity. Ward Kimball's Academy Award-winning Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom (1953) is percussively savvy and a gorgeous demonstration of mid-century graphics. Fairy tales get a modern twist when a princess must choose between two musicians working to make a "new sound" in The Pretty Lady and the Electronic Musicians(1972). Gumby gets into a surreal battle of wits with a shape-shifting piano in the zippy Gumby Concerto (1957). George Pal carved hundreds of wooden puppet heads for the Art Deco marvelCavalcade of Music (1934). Plus, a beatnik teases a Calypso Singer (1966), Will "California Raisins" Vinton directs the psychedelic claymation rock concert, Mountain Music (1975), the dazzling Blame it on the Samba (1948) and a surprise pre-show! Whether you're a musician, an animation enthusiast, or just in need of a bit of fun, Oddball's got the tune for you.
Date: Thursday, January 16th, 2014 at 8:00pm
Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street San Francisco
Admission: $10.00 Limited Seating RSVP to RSVP@oddballfilm.com or (415) 558-8117
Web: http://oddballfilms.blogspot.com
Featuring:
Special cartoon featurette made by D*sney features songs written by the Sherman Brothers with music arrangements by Tutti Camarata. Ludwig Von Drake invites the audience into his mansion where he tells all about popular music through the years, introducing several songs illustrated with great stop-motion animation. Nominated for an Academy Award as Best Cartoon Short Subject.
Hoffnung Palm Court Orchestra (Color, 1965)No matter what the calamity, from fire to shipwreck and beyond, this blissful trio plays on in sweet, sweet oblivion. A colorful cartoon take on the veddy, veddy British idea of keeping calm and carrying on, from the makers of Oddball fave Birds, Bees and Storks.
Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom (Color, 1953)Academy Award winner in stunning Technicolor- this short was originally released in theaters as part of the “Adventures in Music” educational series. Directed by the brilliant Ward Kimball, this is a classic of mid-century cartoon design and has been ranked one of the top 50 greatest cartoons.
The Pretty Lady and the Electronic Musicians (Color, 1972)
This curious mix of animation and live action tells the story of electronic music from the development of amplified sounds to full blown synthesizers and multitrack recording equipment, framed as a modern fairy tale. The vintage demonstrations are a real treat for music gearheads. (blacklight basement)
Blame it on the Samba (Color, 1948)
An unforgettable and mesmerizing Technicolor film mix of live action and animation featuring Ethel Smith, the Dinning Sisters and a dizzying array of animated characters. Produced by Walt D*sney.
An unforgettable and mesmerizing Technicolor film mix of live action and animation featuring Ethel Smith, the Dinning Sisters and a dizzying array of animated characters. Produced by Walt D*sney.
The Calypso Singer (Color, 1966)
Paul Glickman’s animated version of legendary hipster Stan Freberg's parody of Harry Belafonte's top ten hit “Day-O” (The Banana Boat Song). Here a beatnik bongo player berates a Calypso singer for his high decibel delivery. Freeberg was famous for his early rock and roll parodies and went on to win over 20 Clio awards in the field of advertising for his wacky takes on pop culture. Hilariously weird.
Cavalcade of Music (B+W, 1934)
The creative force behind some of the most inventive monsters in Fantasy film, Hungarian exile George Pal began his career pioneering a method of stop-motion used in his series of Puppetoons, earning him seven consecutive Oscar nominations. In one of his earliest Puppetoons, Cavalcade of Music, Pal creates an epic spectacle of music and dance all with carved wooden puppets. From the chic Art Deco bandstand, to an entire puppet jazz orchestra, to a puppet can-can, this film overwhelms with its imagination and scope.
Mountain Music (Color, 1975)
Truly bizarre claymation hippie music concert out in the sticks from Will "California Raisins" Vinton, the legendary creator of claymation. A pastoral nature scene slowly gives way to heavy rock freakout, with volcanic results!
Gumby Concerto (Color, 1956)
A surreal stop-motion masterpiece! Art Clokey's little green buddy must deal with doppelgangers, multiplying pianos and other bizarre shenanigans to entertain a pair of anthropomorphic musical notes that look like they were made out of hard-boiled eggs.
About Oddball Films
Oddball films is the film component of Oddball Film+Video, a stock footage company providing offbeat and unusual film footage for feature films like Milk, documentaries like The Summer of Love, television programs like Mythbusters, clips for Boing Boing and web projects around the world.
