On Scoring Stage for the upcoming Jennefer Lynch Film "HISSS"
The Alex Bubenheim Score for HISSS. I spent 2 hours with him
listening to the score against picture and spotting the source cues I
have.
The score? One simple word. Amazing! Get ready for the biggest
surprise. Daring in its execution. Brilliant in its concept. Alex
never composes the obvious,
but opens the door to a power full commercial score. He keeps you at
the edge of your seat. Stronger than Zimmer. A Hollywood Orchestra
meets exotica, choirs and rock!
His themes express subtleties of love, loss and longing. The action
music is biting. The horror moments jolting. The rock kicks ass! And
at 5.1 Or 7.1 surround ? Wow .
I'm privileged to work with him.
MARCUS BARONE (CAA) Music Supervisor for HISSS
Film Music Group
Los Angeles, CA
310 430 9101
Good weed
Letters to the Boston editor, December 25, 2009
By BOSTON PHOENIX LETTERS | December 23, 2009
Thank you for the article A Weed Grows in Boston. As an advocate of marijuana legalization based on my time in California, where the benefits of medical cannabis can be witnessed firsthand seeing the cover story on the Boston Phoenix gave me hope. The fact that there are journalists with the courage to cover controversial stories, as well as the fact that news outlets such as the Phoenix will print them, makes me optimistic about the future. I hope that people will be inspired by your article to do research of their own on subjects as critical as personal health. Thank you once again for your journalistic excellence.
Harry Foster
Boston
Believe in God
I shared Peter Keoughs initial incredulous approach to the new film Oh My God before I saw it, and was slightly put off by the obvious lack of experts in the fields of theology or religious studies. There are certainly no shortage of people living in proverbial Ivory Towers who would be willing to share their scholarship, and equally (I dare say) no shortage of people willing to acquiesce humbly to their authoritative arguments. However, after seeing the film, it became obvious that it was precisely that sort of disconnected theologizing that director Peter Rodger was trying to avoid. It was, in fact, the popular view that was the focus of the film, and was brilliantly portrayed.
The film dealt with peoples beliefs in a skeptical yet very respectful way. (That same sort of respect was decidedly missing from Bill Mahers Religulous, a similarly themed yet differently executed film.)
Mr. Keough also seemed to have an issue with the soundtrack, unfairly panning it as a suffocating wall-to-wall soundtrack that sounds like outtakes from a Pink Floyd album and beatbox music for an aerobics session.
I found Alexander Van Bubenheims arrangements and score to be pointed and appropriate accompaniment for the cultural representations in the film.
Finally, Mr. Keough says that the only thing we learn is [t]hat folks who say theirs is the only God and kill those who dont agree are not so appealing as the monks. Having seen the film, I must strongly disagree. We see how the people of various cultures agree and disagree on many issues and whatever the interpretive belief of the interviewee, there are certain commonalities that can unite, rather than destroy.
Everything that Mr. Keough mentioned in the review could have been written from seeing the trailer alone. There is absolutely nothing in the review that one could point to as a particular critique. Did Mr. Keough even see the film?
Sean McDaniel
Salem
Peter Keough responds: I did see the film, but I did not see the trailer.
"Oh My God - The Music" - Composed and produced by Alexander van Buibenheim
16 tracks that will take you on a unique global journey; "Oh My God - The Music" is the original sound track by Alexander van Bubenheim to the Epic non-fiction feature film, "Oh My God" directed by Peter Rodger. The Album contains three bonus tracks and remixes of the score and is unique as Alexander van Bubenheim traveled with the filmmaker recording sounds, voices and instruments from all over the world that were then incorporated into the score. There are a host of guest performances as well as spoken words from the motion picture from Ringo Starr, Sir Bob Geldof, Hugh Jackman, Jack Thompson and Seal. (Please see Liner notes below) Truly a new approach to filmscore. Well done.
In every corner of the world, there's one question that can never be definitively answered, yet stirs up equal parts passion, curiosity, self-reflection and often wild imagination: "What is God?" Shot over three years, this visual odyssey travels the globe across 23 countries with a revealing lens examining the idea of God through the minds and eyes of individuals from all walks of life.
Oh My God?
Directed by Peter Rodger
Mitropoulos Films 11/09 Documentary
Not Rated
One question has served for centuries as a lure for theologians, religious teachers, and spiritual seekers: "What is God?" In this gorgeously filmed documentary, Peter Rodger takes us around the world to 23 countries to talk to people of all types, colors, and creeds. The result is an open house where Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, native peoples, and even atheists share their views about God. Filmmaker Rodger and composer Alexander van Bubenheim fine tune our senses and our souls to the mysteries of the Divine and the yearnings of the human heart.
The quest begins in the United States with an interview with a born-again Christian owner of a gun shop. A human behavior specialist poses the question raised by all college students: "Did God create human beings or do men and women create God with their own ideas, hopes, and dreams?" A Native American brings us back down to earth with his view that God enables us to reach out to others and help them. Seal, a singer/songwriter is convinced that God is "infinite energy," a view that is gaining in popularity since it is in sync with scientific understandings of the universe. Chatting with poor kids in New Orleans after Katrina, Rodger asks them about the role of the Creator in their lives. In a very different context, the musician and political activist Bob Geldof reveals his negative vibes about God and the religious establishment.
During trips to India, Australia, and Bali, the filmmaker talks to people who are concerned about God and religious warfare, the question of why human beings must suffer, the aboriginal path of singing to God, and the creative dimension of Hinduism on the "island of the Gods." In Tibet, Rodger is confronted by Buddhist spirituality and in Eastern Africa, he encounters the Maasai tribal people and their rituals of animal sacrifices. The filmmaker sums up four ways people seem to think of God: as Creator, as policeman, as giver of eternal life, and as the scapegoat when things go wrong.
Perhaps the most moving segment in the documentary is the visit with a hospitable Jewish rabbi and a Palestinian community leader and peace advocate who embrace and concur with the notion that God is the space between us when we meet with true presence and love. The two most troubling vignettes are one with the close-minded Christian fundamentalist minister who spews hatred for Islam and Muhammad, and another with a Muslim fundamentalist who claims erroneously that the Qur'an states that Jews and Christians are going to hell. He is corrected when Rodger interviews a Muslim scholar who demonstrates Islam's openness to other religions.
This documentary is a spiritual adventure where you can have a close encounter with faith, devotion, suffering, the natural world, community, inner peace, sacrifice, and service of others. Celebrities appear throughout the film including Hugh Jackman, Ringo Starr, David Copperfield, Jack Thompson, and others. The one person who stands out from the rest is the singer/songwriter Seal who admits that on his spiritual journey, "I have chosen to see God in people." This is the key to unlocking the future and to opening the doors of our hearts and minds and souls to others. It takes us beyond religion, beyond walls, beyond terrorism, beyond hatred, and beyond exclusivism to a unity that is exultant!
Das Experiment
(Unreleased; 2001/2009)
Rating: 75%
The experiment had to be cut short after just six days for fear of casualties and irreversible trauma, and the fallout of the programme prompted Mario Giordano to fictionalise events as Black Box, later adapted into Das Experiment (2001) by director Oliver Hirschbiegel. Hirschbiegelwho went on to fuel the worlds most palpable Rickroll with Downfall in 2004chose composer Alexander Van Bubenheim to write a score as liquid as its subject material; capable of segueing from mood to mood to mood and occasionally exploding into mayhem. With the film restored for hi-def and released on Blu-Ray this week, you can now get to hear said score in all its euphoric/nerve-shredding glory. It will wobble your bass, believe me.
At an average of a minute a piece, the twenty-seven cues delivered for the film are more like character introductions than movements. Theyre mnemonic and complete little slivers, though, and its no coincidence that most of them mirror the headstate of protagonist Tarek, the lapsed journo to whom the whole project sounds like a gas (as well as a chance to earn some serious Pulitzer). His initial mischief in wanting to kick up a row shines through in pieces like Tarek Beat and Cellblock, all piano antics and fiction synths, a hint of Shaft to the drums. These are counterweighted nicely by the Dream idents, which add layers of homesickness to his character (shortly before his admittance to the programme, he hooked up with sexy crash victim Dora, and now clings to her image while behind bars to escape from the tension and horseplay). Romantic Cello through to Dream 2 provide the necessary lounge and corny jazz to cement this dalliance in his mind, with the perfect glow and cello smooch wrapping you in thick hypnosis.
However, by Dream 3 things have become somewhat prickly. Tareks persistent swipes at the more affable guards are slowly polarizing the experiment, with a team leader eventually emerging in the form of sweaty Berus: the meek flight attendant with dark tendencies. Here, Bubenheim takes the fragile Dream soundscape and lets it spit ferocious drums, reality kicking in via analogue jungle and snarling, woofer-ripping bass. We are all apes, after all, and twenty men locked in a cage wont take long to go all out Donkey Kong. GefahrGerman for dangerthen brings evil white noise to the table, building to the kind of horrific band-saws that wouldnt go amiss on a Type vinyl; the songs a proverbial express elevator to Hell. Things are fast becoming deeply uncomfortable: you can feel the snap of compressed air in the plastic cells, the electromagnets thwacking as bolts slide home. Bubenheim renders Tareks sense of helplessness and remorse through the Dark Piano requiem and monk hum of Dark Choir, reaching his peak with the horns of Knast. By this point, the guards are completely untouchable: all inmates are gagged and lashed in duct tape, and the claustrophobic Tarek has been stuffed in a safe, cramped and hallucinating nightvision dreams while the guards debate rape outside.
To say the film has become topical in the wake of the Torture Lite allegations is an understatementan American remake is already on the cards, and you can see why the distributors waited for Change We Can Believe In until clearing the hi-def release. Hirschbiegels film is an incredibly visceral one (Ill be extremely surprised if next years Elijah Wood/Steven Soderbergh imagining goes as far as this version does), but to say Bubenheims score matches the visuals for impact might be stretching it slightly. True, he does do his best to stir up a wide rainbow of extremespersonally I most enjoyed the cheerful funk and humour of Test, so innocuous at the start of all the heavy stuffbut a little developing of some of the more potent cuts might have seen the score getting a physical. As it is, the only tangible extract from the Das Experiment OST is Linkin Parks One Step Closer, blasted in Tareks apartment while hes weighing up the chance to participate. Theres not much I can say about that one that hasnt been said beforeexcept maybe Dont worry, 2001. Itll all come out in the wash. By contrast, Bubenheims work is a much more subconscious, unsettling gathering which genuinely stirs up emotion, giving you some idea of the horror those students went through in 71. If the compositions here still arent lively enough for you, then simply wait till 2010 for the Hollywood remake. In my crystal ball, I see a lotta Linkin Park.
:: myspace.com/avbmusic
"All pompös...die Augen staunen im Planetarium über DIE MACHT DER STERNE" Die Welt
"Die Illusion ist perfekt....Die neue Spitzentechnik im Planetarium macht diese Sternenreise...zum einzigartigen Erlebnis"
Hamburger Abendblatt
"Die einstündige Show setzt Maßstäbe" Landeszeitung Lüneburg
DIE MACHT DER STERNE - VON DER HIMMELSSCHEIBE ZUM SONNENSTURM
WELTPREMIERE AM 28. JANUAR 2009
Seit Jahrtausenden blicken Menschen gebannt und fragend in den Himmel. Dort oben im Raum der Gestirne suchen wir nach Antworten auf die Fragen nach unserer Herkunft und Zukunft. Wie bestimmen die Sterne das Geschehen auf unserer Welt? Welche Vorstellungen davon gab es in der Frühzeit der Menschheit, und was wissen wir heute darüber?
Reisen Sie durch Zeit und Raum, begegnen Sie rätselhaften Kultstätten unserer Ahnen. Folgen Sie Archäologen und Astronomen, und entschlüsseln Sie mit ihnen die berühmte "Himmelsscheibe von Nebra", die wohl älteste konkrete Darstellung des gestirnten Himmels. Erfahren Sie dabei mehr über die Zyklen von Sonne, Mond und Sternen, die damals wie heute unser Leben prägen, und erkennen Sie, wie sich die Weltmodelle im Laufe der Jahrtausende verfeinerten.
Atemberaubend schnell haben sich unser Wissen und unsere Modellvorstellungen des Kosmos weiterentwickelt, seitdem wir Menschen begannen, die Gestirne mit technischen Hilfsmitteln und schließlich mit Fernrohren zu verfolgen. Staunen Sie, welch ungeahnter Macht der Sonne und der Sterne die Astronomen von heute dabei auf die Spur gekommen sind. Erleben Sie in den Weiten unserer Milchstraße, wie dies den Lebensweg der Sterne und die Geschichte des Kosmos vorantreibt.
Als Reiseführer bzw. Sprecher begleitet Sie die bekannte Stimme von Gert Heidenreich bei dieser Expedition vom "geschmiedeten Himmel" der Bronzezeit bis zu den Beobachtungen der Gestirne im Weltraumzeitalter
Die Musik stammt aus der bewährten Feder des in Los Angeles lebenden deutschen Komponisten Alexander van Bubenheim (u.a. Das Experiment), der bereits die Musik zu den Sternenreisen Unendliche Weiten, Sternen der Pharaonen und Der Stern von Bethlehem beigetragen hatte.
Bereits im Vorfeld war das Interesse an dieser Inszenierung groß nicht nur in Deutschland, sondern international, freut sich Thomas Kraupe, Ein gutes Zeichen dafür, dass wir in Deutschland sowohl das wissenschaftliche Know how, als
auch die Fähigkeit haben, die Faszination für den Blick in den Himmel, der unsMenschen schon seit der Bronzezeit über alle kulturellen Grenzen hinweg eint, mit modernster Technik einer breiten Öffentlichkeit zu vermitteln.
DIE MACHT DER STERNE ist eine Produktion des Planetarium Hamburg und entstand in Kooperation mit dem
Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte in Halle, Sachsen-Anhalt.
DIE MACHT DER STERNE ist die erste von drei großen Sternenreisen, mit denen das Planetarium Hamburg das
Internationale Jahr der Astronomie 2009 feiert. Infos unter http://www.planetarium-
hamburg.de/sterne/astronomiejahr/
Hamburg, 16. November 2004 - Ägypten, Land der Rätsel - majestä-tische Überreste einer uralten und hochentwickelten Kultur, die auch auf die Menschen von heute eine ungeheure Faszination ausübt. Anfang Dezember startet im Planetarium Hamburg mit "Sterne der Pharaonen - Götter, Gräber und Gestirne am Nil" eine Entdeckungs-reise in die ägyptische Vergangenheit. Sterne der Pharaonen ver-bindet die klassischen Mittel des Planetariums - den naturgetreuen Sternenhimmel - mit Flügen durch Gänge der Pyramiden und in die Grabkammern und Tempel längst versunkener Zeiten mittels der 3-D-Computertechnik des "Digistar 3"-Systems.
"Für die alten Ägypter waren die Sterne Teil des großen Kreises aus Leben, Sterben und Wiedergeburt", sagt Planetariumsdirektor Thomas Kraupe, "Sterne der Pharaonen verbindet Mythen, Kunst und Archäologie mit Astronomie - wohl noch nie kam man auf so lebendi-ge Art und Weise der Welt der Pharaonen und ihrer religiös gepräg-ten Astronomie so nah."
Die Original-Produktion "Stars of the Pharaohs" ist in mehr-jähriger Arbeit des Teams der Evans & Sutherland Digital Theater Division entstanden. Das Team aus Salt Lake City verbrachte mehrere Monate zusammen mit Archäologen und Astronomen in Ägypten, um Bauwerke mit Spezialkameras zu photographieren und zu ver-messen. So konnten per Computer die spektakulärsten Tempel in ihrer ursprünglichen Farbigkeit wiedererschaffen werden. Das eindrucksvolle Ergebnis feierte vor wenigen Monaten in Chicago seine Premiere.
Im Hamburger Planetarium ist eine längere Fassung zu sehen: Unter der Regie und Co-Autorenschaft von Thomas Kraupe wurde die Neufassung gegenüber dem Original um fast zehn Minuten auf 45 Minu-ten verlängert. "Unsere Fassung für die Europa-Premiere in Hamburg ist keine bloße Übersetzung, sondern beinhaltet einige völlig neue Szenen - insbesondere durch den Einsatz unseres atemberaubend schönen Sternen-himmels", - erläutert Thomas Kraupe, Direktor des Planetariums.
Die markante Stimme von Weltenbummler Hardy Krüger begleitet die Planetariumsbesucher auf der Reise ins Reich der Pharaonen: Sie beschreibt die Rolle der Pharaonen und ihr astro-nomisches Wissen. Die Tour macht verständlich, wie die Ägypter die Sterne verwendet haben, um Zeit und Kalender festzulegen und ihre Monumente aus-zurichten. Außerdem erklärt die Show, wie sich der Sternenhimmel vor 5.000 Jahren von unserem heutigen Himmel unterscheidet.
Die passenden Klangwelten hat dazu der in Hollywood lebende und international preisgekrönte deutsche Komponist Alexander van Bubenheim (u.a. 2001: "Das Experiment") in enger Zusammenarbeit mit Thomas Kraupe in seinem Studio unweit von Los Angeles geschaffen.
Ab 9. Dezember wird sich auch das Helms-Museum, Hamburger Museum für Archäologie und Geschichte, dem Thema widmen. Es zeigt die Sonderausstellung unter dem Titel "Krieg und Frieden im alten Ägypten - der Pharao siegt immer". In Kooperation mit dem Planetarium Hamburg erhalten Besucher des Museums und der Show "Sterne der Pharaonen - Götter, Gräber und Gestirne am Nil" bei Vorlage der Eintrittskarten eine jeweilige Ermäßigung von 2,50 Euro (gilt nicht für bereits ermäßigte Karten).
"Sterne der Pharaonen - Götter, Gräber und Gestirne am Nil" ab dem 02. Dezember 2004 im Planetarium Hamburg, Eintritt Euro 7,00, ermäßigt Euro 4,50. Karten sind an der Abendkasse, online unter www.planetarium-hamburg.de oder telefonisch unter 040/428 86 52 10 erhältlich.
Die Macht der Sterne
Mittwoch, 30. Dezember 2009 um 12:00 Uhr
Planetarium, Hamburg
Beschreibung
Als Reiseführer bzw. Sprecher begleitet Sie die bekannte Stimme von Gert Heidenreich bei dieser Expedition vom "geschmiedeten Himmel" der Bronzezeit bis zu den Beobachtungen der Gestirne im Weltraumzeitalter. Die Musik stammt aus der bewährten Feder des in Los Angeles lebenden deutschen Komponisten Alexander van Bubenheim (u.a. Das Experiment), der bereits die Musik zu den Sternenreisen Unendliche Weiten, Sternen der Pharaonen und Der Stern von Bethlehem beigetragen hatte.
Bereits im Vorfeld war das Interesse an dieser Inszenierung groß nicht nur in Deutschland, sondern international, freut sich Thomas Kraupe, Ein gutes Zeichen dafür, dass wir in Deutschland sowohl das wissenschaftliche Know how, als auch die Fähigkeit haben, die Faszination für den Blick in den Himmel, der uns Menschen schon seit der Bronzezeit über alle kulturellen Grenzen hinweg eint, mit modernster Technik einer breiten Öffentlichkeit zu vermitteln.
DIE MACHT DER STERNE ist eine Produktion des Planetarium Hamburg und entstand in Kooperation mit dem Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte in Halle, Sachsen-Anhalt.
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