In 2012 Benoit and the Mandelbrots (a live coding band) rescored in a live performance the classic 1930 pre-war German film Menschen am Sonntag, in Karlsruhe. This performance is one of the few examples of a film soundtrack created with code, in this case Supercollider.
The combination of 1930 black and white german film with modern algorithmic synthesis techniques create a unique audio visual composition, creating a dream like texture and subtly hinting the theme of nostalgia; evoking profound emotions to the listener. The sound track for the most of the film, is composed of long evolving electronic drones and unreal sound effects that contrast the aesthetic of the film but mirrors its mood. The film translates to The Men of Sunday and its a classic romantic comedy featuring the Berlin summer and its lake culture. The evolving dream like drones fit perfectly to the narrative of the story and it successfully represent the pleasantness of the summer. Such sounds progress slowly in time, changing its timbre instead of its tones across a long range of frames. The video was retimed to match the sound so even unconsciously the effect of sound can be perceived in the image. This film its a portal back in time to pre-war times and its utopic nature. Berlin is not corrupted by the fires of fascism and men can enjoy a warm Sunday. Even though video is retimed to sound, the soundtrack fits so well with the film because it portrays the dream land that Berlin would be without the war. The hypnotic qualities of the music hint nostalgia because of its dreamlike aesthetic, a distant fogy memory floating in the aether of a pre war world.
It’s rare when a film sound track is composed through an improvised performance instead of pre-composition, and in this case code gives it an incredible versatile source of sound design. This approach inspired me to use improvised live coding to compose some scenes in the short film I’m working on. Electronic music in general could be categorised as not very expressive due to it’s robotic perfectionist nature. By performing myself instead of just programming the music, the sound will endow a more expressive voice communicating better the themes of the film.