Derives - Film music

During my studies at Strasbourg Conservatory, there was an important interaction between the Conservatory and Festival Musica (and I am sure it is still the case.) I performed in the festival in 2000, 2001 and 2002, to play the music of Pascal Dusapin, Thierry De Mey (a Maximalist! program,) and Javier Torres Maldonado.
In Fall 2003, Ivan Fedele proposed me to take part to an exciting project: a collaboration with film makers around the topic "the building of the new Conservatory." The Cité de la Musique was in construction, and Marie-Claude Ségard, director of the Conservatory, had the idea of this collaborative art work. The result has been "En Chantier", a collection of 16 short films produced by the Festival Musica, the Conservatoire National de Région de Strasbourg, and the École Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs de Strasbourg.

Production

I worked on the short film Dérives, directed and realized by Sophie de Quatrebarbes, Élise Launay and Adeline Meilliez. Early in the process, I decided to avoid recording additional instruments, because of the schedule, and given the fact that there was no budget to pay performers. Finally, the actual steps of the production have been:

  • Recording sounds from the construction site with a DAT recorder.
  • Making sketches for the music.
  • Recording instruments: Eb clarinet, percussion, and ballon scratching. I played all the instruments, and the recording session was one hour long. I used my sketches, and improvised over them.
  • Sound design: I used personal spectral tools programmed in Max/MSP/Jitter.
  • Editing and syncing to the film, using Apple Soundtrack on my laptop.

The first projection took place on October 29th, 2004 in Strasbourg, Palais des Fêtes.
I learnt a lot through this project, and I look forward to working on other works involving moving pictures. Today, the Cité de la Musique has been built: look at the map, and you may be able to recognize places from the film.

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