"I learned about Buster Keaton while I was studying for film composition, and I just kind of fell in love with him and with silent films," says composer Jackie Myers, who's brining her new project Silent Films Out Loud to the Stateside Paramount Theatre this Saturday.
"You watch a movie now and you think 'there's a team of ten people that created this moment, and it's also a camera trick, and it's also lighting,'" she says. "But you watch his films and you're like, 'it's just him.' It's him that created -- he wrote it, he acted in it, and physically he made it happen."
That love of silent films in general and the films of Keaton in particular led Myers to create Silent Films Out Loud, for which she's tapped four local composers to create new, original scores for four classic Buster Keaton short films.
Each composer -- Justin Sherburn, Bob Hoffnar, Dave Biller, and Myers herself -- selected a Keaton short and created a brand new score which will be played live to accompany the film when it's shown at the Stateside.
In creating this show, Myers had a few goals in mind. "I think it's important that we keep endorsing these larger bands and original compostion. That kind of orchestral arrangement, it's not done as much as it used to be. And then on top of that, exposing them to who Buster Keaton is... and seeing how his footprint has changed the way we make movies today," she says. "And a little bit of exposure for these giants that I'm composing amongst. Dave and Justin and Bob -- their compositions are unique and amazing."
Silent Films Out Loud is this Saturday night at the Stateside Paramount Theatre.
