News

24-03-2009

Outcome The Battle, European competition for composition and sound design

14th of March the third edition of the European Competition The Battle was held.
The work of the 15 nominees was received enthusiastically by the audience. Again it was proved that music and sound can direct the look of the viewer and give meaning to the images.

1st Prize: Babak Kamgar (HKU) for his work on Bricks
2nd Prize: Vincent Twigt and Peter van der Velden (HKU) for their work on Save Me

The jury consisted of Kees Hogenbirk (journalist), Rens Pluym (sound designer The Ambassadors) and Cris Kos (composer Massive Music)
The next text contains the jury report.

Jury report
The effect that film has on us, viewers, is caused for only fifty percent by images. Even though the viewer often thinks that only by watching, one can understand the objectives of the film maker, the major part of the psychological meaning enters our heads via our ears. Sound and music tell more. Five short films have been prepared for adding a soundtrack in this year’s competiton of The Battle.

Anipattern looks like a German expressionistic film from the twenties (of the last century) in the style of Walter Ruttman. This kind of film asks for a modern kind of ‘avant garde’. However, the images offer little more than rhythm. It’s tempting to use the preset button on your synthesizer – which is not done. The jury prefers a real composition.

The film Evol – which indicates LOVE in reverse order – evoked the bulk of entries. It contains a traditional plot, with romance, a waltz and quasi slapstick. This requires hands-on experience in musical sense, and can benefit from an outspoken sound design. But the nominations resemble each other, in their use of the piano in three quarter rhythm.

Lost and Found offers more possibility of interpretation. Is this film an early David Lynch, or more of the Quay Brothers? Is it The Shining or Barba Pappa? The use of only music or thrilling sounds is not sufficient. The entry of Pierre Manchot utilizes the knocking on the hoteldoor in just the right way, but this film remains too burlesque to make a lasting impression.

The biggest challenge however, is being offered by the films in which both sound design and a musical composition can get their right place. This requires a double gift from the artist. Whoever finds a good solution for this challenge, gets bonus points. Sound and music combined – this combinaton helps to clarify the film, whereas a silent montage of frames would be merely a series of loose images. After viewing all the entries, the jury agreed instantly that in two nominations sound and music come together in the best possible way.

Second prize
Save Me, when observed as a silent film, is not very remarkable: it is a chain of repetitive actions at a work station. This is quite depressing, as would be expected. But without driving sounds the story is not very clear. For instance, is the shimmering stand still of the images due to a malfunction in the projection monitor? The first thing the sound artist has to do, is creating an explicatory layer in this design. Whoever manages to introduce a surprising twist within this explanation, posseses a masterful stroke. The second prize is awarded to the creative solution found for Save Me. The sound design in this entry enlights the message. A beautiful electrical crackling sound was invented for the halted images of the office cleaner. On top of that, the sound design enhances the unexpected use of the vacuum cleaner. This turns the short story in one stroke from scary into comical. This soundtrack enriches Save Me. We award Vincent Twigt and Peter van der Velden.

First prize
It is an even more difficult task to give an extra layer of meaning to a non -figurative film. Bricks contains geometrically abstract shapes that cry for rhythm and mechanical sounds: this short film segues from an individual living space, to a completely constructed city part. Where there’s an imported role for the music within the sound design, a real synthesis between the two is reached. The jury unanimously judges that the winner of The Battle has delivered, next to the best sound design, the best musical composition as well. There is no score to be heard during the title of the film, and hardly any cresecendo in the music during the phase of city building in the film. That is a daring choice. Between beginning and end the composition, on the other hand, forms a true unity in instrumentation. With their metal sounds, tight strings of all the acoustic instruments drive on the build-up of the film, making it a multilayered art work. The first prize goes to Babak Kamgar for his enrichment of Bricks.

The jury,
Kees Hogenbirk (Skrien)
Cris Kos (Massive Music)
Rens Pluym (The Ambassadors)

25-02-2009: Nominees The Battle have been selected

The nominees for The Battle 2009 have been selected. From 41 admissions 15 soundtracks will be screened on Saturday March 14th at the Studio K movie theatre in Amsterdam.

The nominees are, in no particular order:

Anipattern

• Chia-Wei Chen (Bournemouth University, Bournemouth, UK)
• Chris Green (Royal College of Music, London, UK)
• Erik van Woudenberg (HKU, Hilversum, The Netherlands)

• Robert Ashbridge (Leeds College of Music, Leeds, UK)
• John Chua Gheng Hong (Royal College of Music, London, UK)
• Nikos Kandarakis (HKU, Hilversum, The Netherlands)

• Babak Kamgar (HKU, Hilversum, The Netherlands)
• Pierre Manchot (Conservatoire Maurice Ravel, Levallois Perret, France)
• Mani Bayat (University of Surrey, Surrey, UK)

• Roberto de Spirito (Leeds College of Music, Leeds, UK)
• Peter van der Velden & Vincent Twigt (HKU, Hilversum, The Netherlands)
• Alexandra Nilsson (Royal College of Music, Stockholm, Sweden)

• Dylan Groot (HKU, Hilversum, The Netherlands)
• Pierre Manchot (Conservatoire Maurice Ravel, Levallois Perret, France)
• Joseph Thwaites (Bournemouth University, Bournemouth, UK)

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