Man with a Movie Camera (album)
Encyclopedia
Man with a Movie Camera is a 2003 soundtrack
album by The Cinematic Orchestra
, released on 26 May, 2003 on Ninja Tune
. The album contains re-workings and thematic reprises of some of the music from their previous album, Every Day, including the tracks "Man with a Movie Camera", and an instrumental version of "All Things to All Men" entitled "All Things".
The album comprises the soundtrack to a re-released version of the then ground-breaking 1929 silent
documentary film
, Man with a Movie Camera
from Russia
n director Dziga Vertov
. The Cinematic Orchestra were commissioned to record the score
to play as the opening event in Porto
, Portugal
's year as European Capital of Culture
in 2001.
The first live performance took place in the Coliseu do Porto
theatre in May 2000 as part of that year's Porto Film Festival
, and was met with a standing ovation from the audience of more than 3,500 people. The songs have since been performed at film festivals all over the world.
In November 2002, the band, along with a string section and percussionist Milo Fell, recorded the album over a 2-day period at Whitfield Street Recording Studio in London.
A DVD of the same name was given a limited release in 2003. It included Vertov's original film allied to The Cinematic Orchestra's soundtrack, and a "making of" documentary as well as some live performances and music videos from the band.
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
album by The Cinematic Orchestra
The Cinematic Orchestra
The Cinematic Orchestra is a British jazz and electronic outfit, created in 1997 by Jason Swinscoe. The band is signed to Ninja Tune independent record label. In addition to Swinscoe, the band includes PC former DJ Food member on turntables, Luke Flowers , Tom Chant , Nick Ramm , Stuart McCallum ...
, released on 26 May, 2003 on Ninja Tune
Ninja Tune
Ninja Tune is a London-based independent record label started by DJs Matt Black and Jonathan More, better known as Coldcut and managed by Peter Quicke. The label has a strong leaning towards mostly Electronic Music...
. The album contains re-workings and thematic reprises of some of the music from their previous album, Every Day, including the tracks "Man with a Movie Camera", and an instrumental version of "All Things to All Men" entitled "All Things".
The album comprises the soundtrack to a re-released version of the then ground-breaking 1929 silent
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
, Man with a Movie Camera
Man with a Movie Camera
Man with a Movie Camera , sometimes called The Man with the Movie Camera, The Man with a Camera, The Man With the Kinocamera, or Living Russia is an experimental 1929 silent documentary film, with no story and no actors, by Russian director Dziga Vertov, edited by his wife Elizaveta...
from Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n director Dziga Vertov
Dziga Vertov
David Abelevich Kaufman , better known by his pseudonym Dziga Vertov , was a Soviet pioneer documentary film, newsreel director and cinema theorist...
. The Cinematic Orchestra were commissioned to record the score
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
to play as the opening event in Porto
Porto
Porto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
's year as European Capital of Culture
European Capital of Culture
The European Capital of Culture is a city designated by theEuropean Union for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong European dimension....
in 2001.
The first live performance took place in the Coliseu do Porto
Coliseu do Porto
The Coliseu do Porto is a theatre in Porto, Portugal. It is arguably one of the most relevant landmarks of Porto and a prestigious venue for music and cultural events. Together with Batalha Cinema, the Coliseu is a very good example of Portuguese Streamline Moderne and Art Deco in the city of Porto...
theatre in May 2000 as part of that year's Porto Film Festival
Fantasporto
Fantasporto, also known as Fantas, is an international film festival, annually organized since 1981 in Porto, Portugal. Giving screen space to commercial feature films, auteur films and experimental projects from all over the world, Fantasporto has created enthusiastic audiences, ranging from...
, and was met with a standing ovation from the audience of more than 3,500 people. The songs have since been performed at film festivals all over the world.
In November 2002, the band, along with a string section and percussionist Milo Fell, recorded the album over a 2-day period at Whitfield Street Recording Studio in London.
A DVD of the same name was given a limited release in 2003. It included Vertov's original film allied to The Cinematic Orchestra's soundtrack, and a "making of" documentary as well as some live performances and music videos from the band.
Track listing
- "The Projectionist" – 0:06
- "Melody" – 0:20
- "Dawn" – 4:00
- "The Awakening of a Woman (Burnout)" – 10:20
- "Reel Life (Evolution II)" – 6:57
- "Postlude" – 1:45
- "Evolution (Versao Portuense)" – 5:47
- "Work It! (Man with the Movie Camera)" – 8:05
- "Voyage" – 0:22
- "Odessa" – 2:05
- "Theme de Yoyo" – 2:20
- "The Magician" – 2:26
- "Theme Reprise" – 2:53
- "Yoyo Waltz" – 1:17
- "Drunken Tune" – 4:50
- "The Animated Tripod" – 1:12
- "All Things" – 6:06
Samples and inspiration
- The track "Work It! (Man with a Movie Camera)" bears strong thematic similarities to music composed by Bernard HerrmannBernard HerrmannBernard Herrmann was an American composer noted for his work in motion pictures.An Academy Award-winner , Herrmann is particularly known for his collaborations with director Alfred Hitchcock, most famously Psycho, North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo...
for the film The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), in particular, a scene in which SinbadSinbad the SailorSinbad the Sailor is a fictional sailor from Basrah, living during the Abbasid Caliphate – the hero of a story-cycle of Middle Eastern origin...
arrives in BaghdadBaghdadBaghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
. - "Theme de Yoyo" is a cover version of the Art Ensemble of ChicagoArt Ensemble of ChicagoThe Art Ensemble of Chicago is an avant-garde jazz ensemble that grew out of Chicago's AACM in the late 1960s. The group continues to tour and record through 2006, despite the deaths of two of the founding members....
track from the film and album Les Stances a SophieLes Stances a SophieLes Stances a Sophie is a 1970 soundtrack album by the Art Ensemble of Chicago recorded in Paris for a French film directed by Moshe Mizrahi and first released on the Pathé Marconi label in France and on Nessa Records in the U.S.. It features performances by Lester Bowie, Joseph Jarman, Roscoe...
.
Influence on popular culture
- The song "Awakening of a Woman" appeared on an episode in the second season of anime series Immortal Grand PrixImmortal Grand Prixrefers to two anime series co-produced simultaneously by Cartoon Network and Production I.G. The first is a "microseries" consisting of five 5-minute episodes, and the second is a 26-episode animated series loosely related to the first....
.
External links
- Man with a Movie Camera at the Ninja TuneNinja TuneNinja Tune is a London-based independent record label started by DJs Matt Black and Jonathan More, better known as Coldcut and managed by Peter Quicke. The label has a strong leaning towards mostly Electronic Music...
discography - Ninja Tune official website
- Cinematic Orchestra official website