Movies

“A Trip to the Moon” is now available on YouTube

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This morning I saw that my video of Georges Méliès’ Le Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon) is no longer blocked on YouTube. Its status now says “Visibility restrictions are lifted until the dispute is resolved.” That means it could disappear again.

Again, the is the complete version, with a celebration at the end, and the accompaniment is my original, improvised music. I did a better job this time than in my earlier public performances.
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A silent film copyright troll strikes 4

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Yesterday I uploaded a video of the famous 1902 silent film, A Trip to the Moon or La Voyage dans la Lune by Georges Méliès, with my original accompaniment, to YouTube. Today I got a notice that it’s blocked because somebody called “CPR Agency for MK2” claims to own the movie. This is obvious nonsense. I’ve disputed the claim and hope the video will be available before long.
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The General on YouTube

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After figuring out (I hope) what was wrong with the music I provided for Buster Keaton’s 1926 film The General at the Plaistow Library, I did the music over and recorded a new version for YouTube. That means there are no audience sounds, but in this case that’s an advantage. Besides, the music was recorded directly to a computer, so it has better sound quality than the recording I made at the library.

I’ve already discussed the movie here and my approach to accompanying it here, so I’ll just say that I hope you enjoy it.
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A silent movie failure

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I failed terribly last night when showing The General. I don’t know what I did wrong.

As I’ve said before and told the audience before the showing, The General is a complex movie. It’s a comedy, but it’s also a war movie. A train collapses into a gorge. Soldiers die on screen. I expect people to laugh at the funny parts. I don’t expect them to laugh at the deaths. I tried to underscore the mood of each scene, as I always do. It didn’t work.
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Coming to Plaistow July 22: The General

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It’s just two weeks till my next live silent movie show at the Plaistow Library: The General, made by and starring Buster Keaton. I know most of you aren’t local, but if you can spread the word among silent movie fans, it will help. This is the first time I’ll be presenting an evening show, and getting eight sign-ups so early is encouraging.
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