14-20 November 2016

L'Alternativa Activities

Workshop: The Projector as a Sound Machine

L'Alternativa Activities - Workshop: The Projector as a Sound Machine

Experiments with 16 mm optical sound

This experimental workshop, organised in collaboration with Crater-Lab, will explore the possibilities of creating sound by working directly on 16 mm film and customising projectors. Optical sound is created when the images on the film are read as if they were sound recordings. As the film moves past the sound head on the projector, the light fluctuations produced by the images on the film are read as electric signals that produce sound. There is a whole world of interesting and creative ways of experimenting with optical sound.

In this workshop we will create sound through a range of optical and physical means, working directly on film by scratching or adding images to the soundtrack. We will make contact prints of existing sounds on high-contrast raw stock to develop in the lab and we will use light sensors that create sound when they come into contact with the light beam from the projector. Finally we will mix all these sounds together to come up with new effects in a group screening.

This workshop will be given by Elena Pardo and Manuel Trujillo, founders of the Laboratorio Experimental de Cine (LEC), a Mexico City–based association that produces, curates and promotes experimental filmmaking.

INFORMATION

  • Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 November, 10 am–2 pm and 3 pm–5 pm
  • Place: Crater-Lab
  • Price: €65 (including materials and equipment)
  • No prior knowledge required
  • Sign up in advance: [email protected]

This activity ties in with the Expanded Cinema parallel section.

In collaboration with