Lawrence University's Neustadter "Scores" Score Fo

[silentfilm]

http://blogs.lawrence.edu/news/2008/12/ ... dte_1.html

Lawrence University's Neustadter "Scores" Score For TCM Silent Movie Restoration
APPLETON, WIS -- Thanks to Garth Neustadter's musical talents, the classic silent film "The White Sister" will be silent no more.

For the second time in a year, the Lawrence University junior has put his composer's pen to work on behalf of Turner Classic Movies, writing a 134-minute musical score for the 1923 movie starring silent screen legend Lillian Gish.

As part of an ongoing restoration of silent films, Warner Brothers has been converting the original "The White Sister" into digital format. When the studio went looking for someone to write a musical score for it -- most silent films were originally shown with live music performed in the theatre -- it turned to newcomer Neustadter rather than the usual carde of composers in Hollywood, where union regulations have made it increasingly expensive to produce film scores.

Neustandter was on TCM's radar screen after earning first-prize honors (second place behind the grand prize winner) in the 2007 Young Film Composers Competition. Sponsored by the cable television network, the 8th annual international competition drew more than 800 participants, each of whom had to score a 90-second clip from the 1924 silent movie "Beau Brummel."

"This is the first score Turner Classic Movies has recorded outside of Hollywood," said Neustadter. "I'm trying to match the quality of sound they're used to getting for these projects."

"The White Sister," the first American movie to be filmed overseas (Italy), was originally scheduled to be the film project for the 2008 TCM composer's competition, but the writer's strike earlier this year put the annual event on hold. Some gentle lobbying by Neustadter with contacts he had made the previous year resulted in an August request asking if he would like to tackle the entire film, not just a short clip.

"I was totally surprised," said Neustadter, who is pursuing a double major in violin and voice performance, not composition. "I never anticipated it would work out the way it did. It turned into a great opportunity."

And a time-consuming one, too. Since early September when he received a copy of the film, Neustadter has been devoting 10 hours a day to the score to meet his end-of-December deadline. He took a reduced class load this fall.

"I knew I would need all the time available to finish this," said Neustadter, 22, of Manitowoc, who conservatively estimates he has logged 1,000 hours on the project.

Before writing a single note, he prepared for the project by reading the book on which the film is based, researched the history of the film's settings and time period, read several books on film scoring, architecture and composition and studied numerous professional orchestral scores.

Neustadter's previous composition experience involved writing 1-2 minutes of music a week. For this project, he was forced to compose 2-3 minutes a day.

"To write more than two hours of music is a daunting task. I couldn't afford to have any bouts of writer's block," said Neustadter, who won two Down Beat magazine awards for composition while in high school. "The difficult part of writing for film is that all the music has to synch with the exact part of the film so that it clicks with every nuance. When you watch these silent films, it's amazing just how silent they really are. You really need the right music to tell the story and pull the film along."

Adding to the overall challenge of the project were several scenes in the film involving musicians. Neustadter had to write what he felt they were playing, including composing an up-tempo waltz in a gypsy style.

"I had to convince the audience that the music they heard is what the musicians on the screen were actually playing," he explained.

"The size and scope of this project would challenge any professional film composer, let alone a heavily engaged college student like Garth," said Fred Sturm, director of jazz studies at Lawrence and an award-winning composer himself, who has served as a mentor to Neustader on the project. "Professionals strive to compose about two minutes of film music per day, and most contemporary feature films typically use about 45 minutes of music. Garth has written almost three times that amount.

Sturm, who taught film scoring for 10 years while at the Eastman School of Music, says Neustadter "is right there with the best young writers I've taught. He's got the talent and discipline to be a superb film composer. Folks are going to be amazed by the beauty and quality of his work."

The restoration team originally wanted only a piano score for the "The White Sister," which, at two hours and 14 minutes, is nearly twice the length of most silent movies, but told Neustadter he could add additional instrumentation if he wanted to. He quickly took them up on their offer, soliciting the musical talents of nearly 20 Lawrence conservatory faculty and students to perform.

"I wanted to do as much with it as I could," said Neustadter. "I felt the film really needed a full orchestral score."

With his deadline fast approaching, Neustadter has been laying down his own violin tracks in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel the past several weeks, sometimes from 1 a.m. to 7 a.m. to accommodate the building's heavy use. He's also been scrambling to schedule more sane-time recording sessions with his collaborating musicians.

He plans to ship off his finished soundtrack by the end of the year and with TCM's blessing, is hoping to present the score on campus in a recital format as a "night at the movies" early next year. The film is tentatively scheduled to air on TCM sometime in February.

"It's been an enormous challenge to tackle this project from start to finish in the time frame I had," said Neustadter. "Along the way, I've learned it's good not to encounter writer's block, that I truly enjoy film score writing, that professional writers employ assistants for good reason and that there are never enough hours in the day."

"I was very fortunate to get to do something on this scale," he added. "As a young composer, it's so tough to find these kinds of opportunities. It's a great start for me."

Posted by Rick Peterson on December 22, 2008 3:40 PM

[WaverBoy]

Great news that THE WHITE SISTER is being restored by WB; I've heard that this is a smashing film, and would love to see it. I hope Garth's stuff is good!

[Gagman 66]

Bruce,

Wow! This is huge news! I have seen the TCM print of THE WHITE SISTER and it looks great! Over a year ago, I predicted on the TCM forum that this would be the next film selected for the Young Film Composers Competition. Then the event was apparently and unexpectedly canceled. Ultimately, I guess that I called it? Wonderful to learn that it is now actually in the works!



Could we really be seeing this early in the coming year, as was previously announced with Chaney's Benjamin Christiansen's THE MOCKERY? Sure hope so? Won't be Febuary as that is Oscar Month. Any word on THE BIG PARADE? Or maybe when BARDELYS THE MAGNIFICENT could premier? And dare we hope, HER WILD OAT or maybe THE COSSACKS?

Incidentally, have you got any good stills from TWS?



Merry Christmas, And A Blessed New Year To one and All!

[silentfilm]

TCM has already announced the March schedule, so it would have to be screened after then...

http://www.nitrateville.com/viewtopic.p ... m+listings

[silentfilm]

http://media.www.lawrentian.com/media/s ... 5356.shtml

Neustadter Composes Score for Classic Silent Movie
By: Carolyn Schultz, Staff Writer
Posted: 1/16/09

Garth Neustadter, a senior double major in violin and voice performance, recently completed an entire orchestral score for the restoration of "The White Sister," a classic silent film from the 1920s.

"The White Sister," originally released in 1923, stars Lillian Gish, a renowned silent movie actress. The film is based on a book by the same title written by F. Marion Crawford.

It tells the story of a young woman whose sister forces her into poverty. The heroine's fiance is a dashing army officer who is captured in an expedition to Africa. The young woman, played by Gish, devotes her life to the memory of her fiance and becomes a nun.

However, her fiance escapes his captors and returns to Italy. For the riveting climax you'll have to watch the re-released movie, complete with new original score.

The film is being converted into digital format as part of an ongoing restoration project by Warner Brothers. Neustadter was chosen to compose the music for the film -- which had only been shown accompanied by live music in a theater -- on behalf of Turner Classic Movies. This is the first score TCM has ever recorded outside of Hollywood.

Neustadter was selected to compose the score after he earned first-prize honors in the 2007 Young Film Composers Competition. For this competition, he had to score a 90-second clip from the silent movie "Beau Brummel."

"The White Sister" project forced him to step up his game, composing, recording and revising 134 minutes of score during Fall Term 2008. Neustadter worked 10-12 hours per day, wrote 2-3 minutes of music each day, and put his other studies in the conservatory on hold.

Neustadter had done little composition before he turned to film scores.
"[Film scores] don't seem as serious as writing concert or classical music," Neustadter said. He enjoyed being "free to break the rules of normal composition."

Reflecting on this recent film project, he said, "It always feels a little bit different, because you're not always completely in control. There are a few situations where actors' feelings on screen were ambiguous and it is up to you, as the composer, to interpret and tell the audience what they might be feeling or how to interpret a scene."

There are scenes in "The White Sister" that called for unique musical interpretations. Neustadter specifically mentioned the scene where the main character takes the veil to become a nun. "This is a special scene," said Neustadter. "It is very ritualistic in that it follows a really strict protocol according to Catholic tradition."

He decided to use Gregorian chants during this scene; mixed with orchestral instruments, the music evokes "a feeling of two different worlds going on at the same time," said Neustadter.

Most challenging to Neustadter were instances in the film when he had to compose source music to match the gypsy folk musicians playing on the screen. It was not easy to synchronize the written music with what was going on in the film. Reflecting on this aspect of composing, Neustadter said, "It was a challenge to do it backwards."

Helping and supporting Neustadter through this project was his mentor, LU Professor Fred Sturm. Sturm has many years of experience with composition and was a resource for Neustadter, one not typically available at the university level to work with students on projects of this caliber one-on-one.

"It was great to ask him anything because he could provide feedback on not only composition, but the whole production and recording process," said Neustadter.

"[The project] forced me to do a lot of writing in a very short amount of time," reflected Neustadter. "It forced me to love it or hate it. Luckily, I loved it."
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© Copyright 2009 The Lawrentian

[Gagman 66]

Bruce,

If this link is stll valid here is a sample of a tune composed for the original release of THE WHITE SISTER in 1923, and preformed live.

Two melodies were actually written specifically for the Lillian Gish classic. One was a Foxtrot by Dionisio Lofredo (dedicated to Miss Gish), which I am sorry to say I do not have. The other was the following Tango called "La Monjita":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xid3GPawxHQ