June 9th, 2018 • 7:30 p.m.
Burbank, California Famous Players Orchestra presents “A Summer Evening of Silent Comedies”
Featuring:
Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle in “Love” (1919)
Buster Keaton in “Cops” (1922)
Larry Semon and Stan Laurel in “Frauds and Frenzies” (1918)
Charles Chaplin in “Kid Auto Races” (1914)
Films screened in 35mm with hand-cranked projection by Joe Rinaudo. Featuring a period score performed live by The Famous Players Orchestra under the direction of Scott Lasky. Program introduced by film historian, Stan Taffel.
Famous Players Orchestra is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission is dedicated to performing and recording the historic film music used by movie theater orchestras during the silent era. Please visit our website at www.fporchestra.org. Thank you for your support!
A Trip to the Moon is one of many innovative films by the French illusionist and film director George Méliès who inspired several milestones in cinematography:
♦ Special effects and science fiction in film ♦ Google’sfirst-ever virtual reality Google Doodle, “Back to the Moon” ♦ Professor Rinaudo’s passion for 35mm silent films
Méliès pioneered numerous technical and narrative film techniques in the early days of cinema, primarily in the use of special effects and creation of some of the earliest films of the science fiction genre. More about George Méliès on Wikepedia.
In case you missed the Doodle (which replaced the Google logo on its home page) watch it here. It’s quite entertaining. Even more amazing is the VR experience where you can move around the room or the scene. Here’s how:
If you watch it on a phone or tablet you can move the scene around by moving the device around. On a monitor, click on the upper left circle (arrow 1), then click and move the cursor over the scene (arrow 2). Go full screen if you want an immersive experience. You will be able to move around the scene—top, left, behind, up and down! (Joe can’t do that with his hand-crank projector.)
HOW MELIES DID IT
Here’s a fascinating page about Google’s tribute to George Méliès, how the Google Doodle was created with many fantastic video examples, and an in-depth story about the illusionist and filmmaker. Here’s an excellent documentary on YouTube narrated by Mark Oughton and showing many of his most impressive scenes.
ORIGINAL 1902 FILM
Have you seen the original 1902 film? It’s on YouTube with fitting music. Notice how crystal clear the film is.
If you want to see the film in all its sharpness and black-and-white glory, hand-cranked at the perfect speed for each scene, attend a showing by Professor Rinaudo who owns a pristine print. Speaking of which…
A Trip to the Moon launches Joe’s passion for 35mm (still silent, of course)
Joe Rinaudo, who had been collecting 16mm silent films since his teenage years, had just finished restoring his 1909 Powers Cameragraph Model 6 Motion Picture Machine, when he was asked by his friend, mentor, and fellow film collector David Shepard (read Joe’s tribute) to hand-crank two shows at the Silent Movie Theater in Los Angeles, with Bob Mitchell playing the music for the film. This would be for the 100th anniversary of George Melies’ A Trip To The Moon. In turn, David presented Joe with a gift: a pristine print of the film. That was Joe’s very first 35mm silent film, inspiring his passion for collecting, restoring, advising, lecturing, and hand-cranking silent films in the 35mm format…and creating the Silent Cinema Society whose mission is to Preserve Silent Cinema Art and Technology.
“My friends, I address you all tonight as you truly are; wizards, mermaids, travelers, adventurers, magicians… Come and dream with me.”
On Friday afternoon the Turner Classic Movies Film Festival in conjunction with The Academy of Motion Pictures presented Harold Lloyd: New Dimensions in Sight And Sound. The program was a part of the 2018 Turner Classic Movies Film Festival and was only open to pass-holders who were delighted by the new sights and sounds of the great silent movie comedian. The new sights were a collection of Lloyd’s Home movies and 3D photographs and the new sounds came from an old source…a 1917 American Fotoplayer.
Throughout the program the music was supplied by Joe Rinaudo performing on the Fotoplayer which is a piano-organ hybrid used in theaters in the silent movie era. The Fotoplayer was donated and restored by Mr. Rinaudo several years ago and is used by the Academy for movie programming and demonstrations. The Academy’s Fotoplayer is one of very few that are available for public view.
The highlight of the program was Rinaudo performing on the Fotoplayer while the movies Jazzed Honeymoon and Never Weaken were hand-cranked on a 1909 Power’s Cameragraph Projector by Mr. Rinaudo’s assistant Gary Gibson.
The program was hosted by Mr. Randy Habercamp of the Academy and Suzanne Lloyd, grand-daughter of the silent comedian.
A Trip to the Moon is one of many innovative films by the French illusionist and film director George Méliès who inspired several milestones in cinematography:
