Emma Logan

L'homme orchestre & Les Affiches en goguette (2014) 5'00"

What is there to say about Georges Méliès’ work that his films don’t say perfectly themselves? His films expanded the limits of filmmaking in the early 1900s in a way that left audiences speechless. While today’s audiences have grown accustomed to grand visual effects, Méliès’ effects were truly unexplainable to his contemporaries and seemed only possible by sheer magic. L’homme orchestre is a wonderful example of that magic. Méliès duplicates himself before your very eyes to create a “one-man band”. I wanted to create a musical texture that emulated that experience, each instrument of the ensemble builds on top of the other with small phrases that change ever so slightly over time. The music shifts seamlessly at the end of L’homme orchestre into Les affiches en goguette, or “the hilarious posters", which is a much more bombastic film with the same goofy and whimsical quality that many Méliès’ films possess. The music here is light-hearted and unassuming, and shifts back and forth between the two worlds in a playful manner. It has been a joy creating music that I hope serves the intent of Georges Méliès’ work and I hope these films leave you with a smile on your face.