The folly of foley

In the spirit of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Cinematic Titanic, the Portland chapter of Filmusik brings an old favorite back from the bowels of public domain to the Hollywood Theatre with Filmusik: Gamera vs. Guiron.

In front of the screen and during the film, a team of voice actors, chamber musicians and foley artists provide a fresh soundscape to add a new dimension to the existing piece. The result is 82 minutes of wacky new sound effects, crazy voice-overs and well-written recreations of the original soundtrack by some of Portland’s finest musicians and performers.

Filmusik is a nationwide group that traces its roots back to the heyday of silent film, when the musicians were equally as important to the success of the film as the celluloid itself. Half of the musicians employed at the time were utilized by the motion picture industry to provide the score to the pieces either at the various playhouses, or on the film itself once sound recording was introduced.

Filmusik aims to take old films—now safe in the public domain and free of license issues—and retool the soundtrack to modernize it, or just make it better. The Portland chapter has already tackled such obscure classics as Death Rides a Horse, Kansas City Confidential, Missile to the Moon, Plan 9 from Outer Space and The Superman Orchestra, where they showed old Superman serials and performed a new score. With their newest endeavor, they’ve added the Willamette Radio Workshop to expand the live show and include sound effects and voice tracks.

The movie the troop now tackles is Gamera vs. Guiron, a touching tale of love and turtles. When two aliens with Midwestern accents hypnotize and kidnap a pair of prepubescent kids, the only one that can save them from the “space babes” and their knife-headed monster, Guiron, is Gamera, the jet-powered super turtle. Gamera and Guiron embark on an epic battle to free the children and return them to their home planet.

Leading the Filmusik ensemble is composer and conductor Scott J. Orday. Orday received the 2008 John Kenneth Cole Composition Award, and was the recipient of grants and awards from the American Composer’s Forum, the American Music Center, the Oregon Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, University of Puget Sound and University of Oregon.

Assisting in the composition is Portland artist Sugar Short Wave, a multi-instrumentalist who has performed throughout America and Europe. Taking the reins of the vocal and foley matters is the Willamette Radio Workshop, which has tackled War of the Worlds, Murder of Crows, Fall of the City and St. James Infirmary Blues just to name a few.

While talking over cheesy movies isn’t a new feat by any means, Filmusik’s concept of completely removing the original soundtrack and replacing every element down to the sound effects—making the film reminiscent of those from the silent film era—is a fresh retooling which brings new life to old films that desperately need it.

Rather than lowbrow commenting throughout a film, Filmusik combines elements of silent film and old-time radio productions to give a classical feel to a modern concept.