MOVIE/MUSIC (1998 – present)

MOVIE/MUSIC is an ongoing collaboration between Bill Parsons and Chuck Samuels.

In 1998, Chuck began creating a series short film/videos in response to Bill’s musical compositions, originating with those performed by Bill’s New Music ensemble Mosaic. As MOVIE/MUSIC has developed, Bill and Chuck have been working both independently and in close collaboration, creating this ongoing cycle of music/film/video pieces which has developed an impetus of its own: each piece evoking an almost inappropriate nostalgia.

Bill’s music, which often seems like a film score without a film, and Chuck’s film/videos, which may be seen as films in search of a score, come together in a kind of dubious affiliation. Although image and sound seem to function in harmony, each video contains clues of the discord between of audio and video, quietly revealing the work’s inherent dissonance. All ten videos that currently comprise MOVIE/MUSIC can be described as lyrical, contemplative and experimental in nature.

Solo projections/performances:

2017 Celebrating the voice, projection of the video Translating Grace accompanied by a performance by Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan, ArrayMusic Studio, Toronto

2015 MOVIE/MUSIC, outdoor projection as part of winter activities organized by DAÏMÕN, Gatineau

2014 Chuck’s Home Movies & MOVIE/MUSIC (with a live performance by Bill Parsons and Blair Mackay), DAÏMÕN, Gatineau (projections presented by Available Light Screening Collective)

2012 Memory Believes & MOVIE/MUSIC, Occurences – Espace d’art et d’essai contemporain, Montréal (with a live performance by Bill Parsons and Blair Mackay at the opening)

2005 Translating Grace, Rosedale United Church, Video projection with live music by Evergreen Club Contemporary Gamelan and Sanctuary, Toronto

1999 Moving Images, Projection of 7 videos with live music by Mosaic, Music Gallery, Toronto

Festival presentations:

1999 Dock Innocence, projection (with a live singer and dancer), Moving Pictures Festival of Dance on Film &  Video, Toronto
Desert Drive, Video, Antimatter Festival of Underground Short Film & Video, Victoria

Technical notes:
Most of the raw footage for MOVIE/MUSIC was shot on black and white super 8 film which was converted to video, while the rest was shot directly on video. Early pieces were produced on analog video editing equipment while later pieces were edited on a computer, then transferred back to a digital video from which other format masters (VHS, SVHS, Betacam SP, DVD, digital files etc.) can be made. The ten pieces that currently comprise MOVIE/MUSIC range from 6 to 17 minutes in length. They can be presented on a monitor or, preferably, as projections. They could also be shown without the recorded sound, but accompanied live by Bill’s new music ensemble or by a smaller contingent of musicians

Please contact Bill Parsons and/or Chuck Samuels.