Cornerhouse

Bristol Silents present John (JJ) Garden’s new semi-improvised score to accompany this special screening of 1925 pioneering film The Lost World. John is Scissor Sisters’ musical director and keyboard player and will be providing a live sound track to this innovative, stop-motion dinosaur film. Featuring ground- breaking animation techniques from Willis O’Brien, just prior to his work on King Kong, this silent classic is a dramatic and enchanting retelling of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s story.

Of the new score John says, “The sound of the score references classic sci-fi movies of the 1970s and 80s, yet still retains the flexibility of the 1920s accompanist who would improvise their score to the picture. I will be improvising the score like in the old days, but using modern technology to hopefully achieve a sound that echoes my boyhood memories of seeing this classic silent movie. I probably didn’t differentiate between a silent movie from 1925 and something contemporary like Star Wars or Bladerunner back then, so in my head I am re-imagining the score as if the film was released sometime between 1975 and 1980, with an appropriately synth-heavy sound to it. I hope that it enhances the movie and reminds people what a great achievement it was for cinema and the future of sci-fi and fantasy movies in particular”.

Booking

£7.50 full/£5.50 concs

More Info

Cast: Lewis Stone, Lloyd Hughes, Wallace Beery, Bessie Love
Country: US
Year: 1925