Premio Mercurio d’Argento 2024 – Music for the Image

WORKSHOPS

CINEARTEMUSICA – THE HISTORY OF FILM MUSIC [APERICINEMA]

Wednesday, August 21 – 20:30h – Plaza Betti, Marina di Massa

Special screening with the authors Massimo Privitera & Marco Testoni

 

Massimo Privitera and Marco Testoni are the authors of Cineartemusica, the history of film music from silent films to the present day. A didactic documentary, screened exclusively for the Mercurio d’Argento, accompanied by the narrative voice of the authors themselves, composed of film sequences and fundamental musical themes that have marked the history of music for images and formed the basis of a new musical language that has entered the collective imagination of the modern world.

 

An amazing journey that begins in the marquees and Nickelodeons of the first silent films -where the use of music was conceived to cover up the noise of the projector-, passing through Scott Bradley’s micromusicalism in MGM cartoons and then through all the musical milestones and the main composers that characterized the advent of sound as a musical art form both cultured and popular. Charlie Chaplin, symphonism, jazz and rock, the musical, Bernard Herrmann, the western, Henry Mancini and sophisticated comedy, John Williams, Ennio Morricone, Hans Zimmer, the various schools (American, Italian, French, Oriental). And finally, the more contemporary expressions suggested by the new styles, electronics and digital: minimalism, ambient music, post-rock, sound design.

 

MUSIC FOR MOVIES AND VIDEO GAMES – Functionality and Contact Points [TALLER]

Thursday, August 22nd – 15:30h to 17:00h – Plenary Hall of Massa City Hall

With the composer, musician and singer Irene Bello

 

In recent years, music for video games has seen its role within the industry grow exponentially, reaching a turnover comparable to that of the film industry. In games, music is a dynamic element, a fundamental tool that enhances total immersion by playing a significant role in shaping the player’s experience.

 

During this workshop we will analyze the main skills required of a musician who wants to work in this sector, the role of the composer within a development team, parallels and discordances between writing music for film and writing music for video games, and the main compositional techniques for gaming, paying special attention to their psychological and technical functionality in the subsequent implementation phase.

 

FROM DREAM TO REALITY – History of an adventure in the world of applied music [TALLER]

Thursday, August 22nd – 17:05h to 18:30h – Plenary Hall of Massa City Hall

With composer and conductor Fabrizio Mancinelli

 

Starting from a historical analysis of film music (and cinema tout court), and the evolution of the social function that the opera house once had, the traits that have passed from one art form to the other and how the language has evolved and changed over time will be addressed. Special attention will be given to Fabrizio Mancinelli’s career, highlighting his collaboration with one of his greatest idols, Richard M. Sherman, composer, along with his late brother Robert B. Sherman, of iconic soundtracks for Walt Disney such as “Mary Poppins,” “The Sword in the Stone,” “Brass Knobs and Broomsticks,” “The Jungle Book” and “The Aristocats.”

 

AT THE SPEED OF SILENT MOVIES [TALLER]

Friday, August 23 – 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. – Plenary Hall of Massa City Hall

With the composer Rossella Spinosa

 

What really happened between 1985 and 1927? What did the discovery of cinema mean and what was the emotional implication of the seventh art? And what role did music play in all this? We will talk about this and much more, but above all we will talk about writing music for today’s silent films, about rediscovering the exciting directors, the expressionist directors, the surrealist directors, the magical directors, with today’s music…. A true rediscovery of the great discovery that allowed us to receive the Gift of Cinema.

 

SYNTHESIZERS AND DAW (DIGITAL AUDIO WORKSTATIONS) IN THE CREATION OF MOVIE SOUNDTRACKS [TALLER]

Friday, August 23rd – 17:05h to 18:30h – Plenary Hall of Massa Town Hall

With the composer Fabio Liberatori

 

The entry of electronics in the creation and conception of soundtracks with the advent of electronic instruments and synthesizers, and the management of systems with sequencers and DAWs.