What: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Where: Cinecenta, Student Union Building at the University of Victoria
When: Wednesday, Feb. 14, 7:15 p.m.
Tickets: $7.75 ($5.75 for students, seniors and children)
Film scores are full of musical intricacies that escape most of us. Would a casual observer notice the 50-string monochord with adaptable bridges on Howard Shore鈥檚 soundtrack to The Lord of the Rings? Not likely. But it鈥檚 there, and for a good reason.
Thomas Shields, who composes live soundtracks as accompaniment for silent films at the University of Victoria鈥檚 Cinecenta theatre, is one who would notice. He has assembled a bank of synthesizers, sequencers, drum machines and other instruments for his upcoming performance, an original score for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, a 1920 silent film from German director Robert Wiene.
Shields started with the premise that no sound is too strange or too small for inclusion. He even constructed some instruments for his 75-minute score, including a 鈥渉unk of wood鈥� to which several interesting objects are attached.
鈥淚t鈥檚 got some contact microphones in it and a whole bunch of things that make crazy sounds,鈥� he said. 鈥淎 door stopper, a Slinkee, a thumb piano.鈥�
Shields will have the invention with him when he performs at a screening of the film at Cinecenta on Wednesday.
When it鈥檚 struck, the sound his 鈥渉unk of wood鈥� creates goes through a pitchshifter, which enables Shields to increase or decrease the pitch of the audio by three octaves. The resulting sound then goes into a device that triggers a series of electro-mechanical motors, creating a complex loop of music.
鈥淚 have good knowledge of the movie, so I know exactly what鈥檚 coming up,鈥� Shields said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of improvisation, but I always know what mood I鈥檓 going for and what I鈥檓 going to do at a certain part. It鈥檚 just how I execute that which varies.鈥�
The film, about an insane hypnotist who convinces a man to commit murder, is widely regarded as the world鈥檚 first horror movie, and its glorious set decoration has inspired legions of filmmakers. With a cult following in expressionist cinema circles, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari has become fodder worldwide for several score treatments similar to the one Shields is doing.
The practice is not new to Shields. Over the past decade and a half, the co-founder of local electronic duo Righteous Rainbows of Togetherness has written and performed original scores for silent films Metropolis, Nosferatu, Battleship Potemkin and The Passion of Joan of Arc, among others.
He tackled The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari a few years ago, but with a four-person ensemble. He鈥檒l go at it alone on Wednesday, which is not nearly the daunting task it was years ago, when he was forced to lug all sorts of bulky gear into Cinecenta.
The advent of digital technology has eased the burden, both in terms of the amount of gear Shields uses and the availability of silent films suitable for scoring. 鈥淲hen I first started out, there was a choice of about four silent movies available. We had to find film prints and the prints would show up with scenes missing. The film would break. Now, everything鈥檚 available 鈥� it鈥檚 just a question of sifting through them and finding ones that would be a good fit.鈥�
That 鈥済ood fit鈥� has been limited to silent films that are dark and moody, but Shields hopes to one day be able to accompany movies by Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin.
鈥淚 still haven鈥檛 figured out how to do jolly and lighthearted yet. I鈥檝e mucked about with a couple like that, but it just wasn鈥檛 really gelling. It鈥檚 not the movies, it鈥檚 me. I guess I have a limited emotional palette to deal with.鈥�
