NEW Zealand musician and composer Leon Radojkovic has long been impressed by the way live orchestral accompaniment can add to the enjoyment of silent films. So a few years ago he decided to explore taking the process a step further.
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Why not take a film from the sound era and replace the soundtrack with live elements – actors delivering the dialogue, musicians playing the music, and a technician producing the sound effects?
So Radojkovic, with the support of company Jumpboard Productions, put together a live sound staging of a 1962 horror film, Carnival of Souls, that was a hit at the 2011 Auckland Arts Festival, and subsequently played at theatres in New Zealand, Australia, and Germany, under the banner Live Live Cinema.
The popularity of that combination of film and live theatre led Radojkovic and his team to create a second Live Live Cinema staging, Dementia 13, which premiered in Auckland last October before going to London for performances at the famed Barbican Theatre, along with Carnival of Souls.
Dementia 13 is about to cross the Tasman for its Australian premiere at Newcastle’s Civic Theatre on February 22 and 23.
Like Carnival of Souls, Dementia 13 is a low-budget 1960s horror film, which has the distinction of being the first feature film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who went on to make classics including The Godfather, The Conversation, The Godfather II and Apocalypse Now.
Dementia 13 certainly doesn’t fall into the classic category.
Producer Roger Corman wanted to cash in on the popularity of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho and he was so impressed by a draft story put together by Coppola in one night, about an axe murderer slaying members of an Irish family who are arguing about a wealth inheritance, that he gave him the go-ahead to make the film. Its budget was just $24,500 and Coppola shot it in a few days.
Radojkovic said the 1963 film, like Carnival of Souls, had what was needed for a Live Live Cinema staging.
‘‘The films have to have something special about them, but they can’t be too good. There have to be aspects you can improve on,’’ he explained.
‘‘Both Carnival of Souls and Dementia 13 are stunning visually, with black and white photography that has a darkness to match the subjects.
‘‘They also have great settings, Dementia in an Irish castle and Carnival in a large pavilion on the edge of a lake. The acting, though, is not so good.’’
The live presentation allows the audience to see the quality photography, while watching live performers below: seven musicians, led by Radojkovic on keyboards and performing a score he has written; four actors who play multiple characters in delivering the voices; and a sound technician who can be seen through a perspex wall in a booth on one side of the stage delivering all the sound effects.
The team is directed by Oliver Driver, one of New Zealand’s most acclaimed theatre directors.
The film runs about 75 minutes, with Radojkovic saying the reasonably short length contributed to making the show a ‘‘fun night at the movies’’.
The show’s sound designer and technician, Gareth Van Niekerk, is labelled by the producers as ‘‘the most indispensable member of the team’’.
He creates more than 100 sound cues during the show, with the perspex wall of his booth allowing the audience to see the objects he uses, among them cups, saucers, pieces of wood, an axe and knives. The floor of his booth also has different walking surfaces so that he can create the sounds of people walking in different areas in and around the castle.
Will there be a third Live Live Cinema show?
Leon Radojkovic said a film is under consideration, a more high profile one than the first two.
There are limits to what films can be used.
A film has to be out of copyright and in the public domain for recorded voices, music and sound effects to be replaced by live sound.
There also aren’t many low-cost films of the type needed that have sufficient quality or suitable subjects for an audience-pleasing live presentation.
And getting hold of prints of films can be a problem. The Live Live Cinema team had to search worldwide for suitable copies of Carnival of Souls and Dementia 13.
Radojkovic, who is 27, is renowned in New Zealand for his arrangements and band performances of film music, especially the scores of Danny Elfman.
He has been the leader of a band called Dr Colossus since his high school years.
‘‘The band name was originally a bad joke, but it has stuck and we still have many of the original musicians among its members.’’
Live Live Cinema: Dementia 13 can be seen at the Civic Theatre on Saturday, February 22, at 8pm, and Sunday, February 23, at 2pm and 7pm. Tickets: $25 to $45. Bookings: Civic Ticketek, 49291977; civicprecinctnewcastle.com.au.
