Joshua Frankel: Plan of the City

[bystander]

"One of the best matches of visuals to music I’ve seen." — Anne Midgette, Washington Post

Plan of the City is a new animated film, conceived and directed by Joshua Frankel, about the architecture of New York City blasting off into outer space and resettling on Mars. The film's visuals are an animated collage combining live action footage, animated elements, illustrations and treated photographs, including photos taken by the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity made available to the public domain by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Plan of the City was created in collaboration with composer Judd Greenstein and NOW Ensemble, an acclaimed "indie classical" chamber ensemble; the ensemble, including Greenstein, feature prominently in the film as live actors set inside the animated framework.

The audio of the film consists solely of Greenstein's Change, performed by NOW Ensemble; Change and Plan of the City were created in parallel, each expressing its own artistic intention while simultaneously serving its "sibling".

The film was presented with the music performed live, timed to the film, at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City in May, 2011. It also exists as its own stand-alone entity, utilizing NOW Ensemble's recent studio recording of Change (out on New Amsterdam Records).

Plan of the City has been made possible by a generous grant from the New York State Council on the Arts.

[rstevenson]

That was wonderful! Thank you for posting it. My finger was poised over the mute key, but instead I was spell-bound by the music. Excellent all around, though the guitarist seemed to lie down on the job a lot.

It reminded me of the old science fiction series by James Blish, four novels and short stories from the 50s collectively re-published in the 90s as "Cities in Flight".

Rob

[bystander]

I know what you mean about the music. I was ready to just exit the page and got diverted by an incoming email. Read my email while the music was still playing in the background. Heard enough to think "Wow, this is really good!" Switched back to Vimeo and full screen, finished watching the video in its entirety. The video was good, but the music was fantastic. Probably wouldn't have watched all of the video without the music.

Yes, the guitar player did seem to lay down on the job a lot while the flautist just stared off into space. Why does only the bass player have a groupie?

Be sure to check out more of the NOW Ensemble and their album Awake.

[orin stepanek]

My first impression was balderdash; even though it was entertaining. I was wondering why the lady in red stayed behind.

[Ann]

A friend of mine had just sent me a link with this vimeo, and I had just listened to it, when I saw it posted here. What a coincidence.

I, too, liked the music. I had a slightly irreverent thought, though. I was reminded of The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, where the fuel that drives the spaceship is something called Infinite Improbability Drive (or something). In this vimeo, the infinitie improbability drive is the mesmerizing music. It is the music that sends the small rocket flying, and then all those iconic buildings follow suit. They, too, are sent flying by the music, as if they were following the Pied Piper of Hamelin.

Ready, aim, sing, as Tom Lehrer sang in one of his songs. Ready, aim, play your instruments, and you can go to Mars.

Ann

[owlice]

Ready, aim, play your instruments, and you can go to Mars.

I recall a performance of the Beethoven Ninth in which that seemed exactly the conductor's thought. The man was definitely on another planet, which would have been fine if he hadn't been attempting to conduct people on Earth. Unfortunately, he traveled alone that evening, though the musicians had expected to make the journey he was undertaking with him. He apparently thought he knew the score well enough to conduct without it in front of him; he was mistaken. The basses were cued when the second violins were wanted, the timpani when the winds needed an entrance, the soprani instead of the celli. The big fugue in the last movement needed a steadier hand, or at least a steadier beat, than was provided, and cues rather than miscues, and at one point, I stopped entirely because there were three different tempi going on among the assembled masses, and none of them was the conductor's, who seemed oblivious. I have somewhere (perhaps under the leg of an uneven table) a recording of the performance; some long time after the concert, I thought, "Surely it was not such a mess as I remember!" and listened to the recording, or as much of it as I could stand, anyway. The urge to run the conductor through with a baton rose in me again; the performance was as I'd remembered (alas).

But I digress. I like the NOW Ensemble; I missed them when they were here a couple of weeks ago, though, darn it!

[Star*Hopper]

"One of the best matches of visuals to music I’ve seen." — Anne Midgette, Washington Post

Anne, you really need to get out more.

[owlice]

"One of the best matches of visuals to music I’ve seen." — Anne Midgette, Washington Post

Anne, you really need to get out more.

There are legions of classical music fans who would agree with you most vigorously!