In running a tiny drive-in, I found over time that people were not coming for new releases or even often caring that it was an old movie, they wanted a special movie experience. This got me thinking about how to customize the experience of going to the cinema, horror and outside the genre, even more than just in how I build the cinema and how unique the space is.”
Silents Synched is event cinema concept created by Josh Frank (the owner of Austin, Texas’s Blue Starlite Drive-In) to promote attendance and interest in drive-in theaters. A by-product of drive-in popularity during the pandemic, Silents Synched also aims to pair notable recording artists with classic films. Frank caught up with Film International to discuss his project, which premieres October 4, 2024 with Nosferatu (1922) synched to Radiohead at the Blue Starlite, with availability at other theaters and drive-ins.
I imagine your work in general film programming, i.e., running a drive-in, has inspired your choosing of scores for silent horror and other silent films. Do any specific instances stand out?
My 15 years of programming had a huge impact on the idea for this new event cinema experience.
Specifically because I run a very special kind of indie cinema that is very much based on the idea of experiential cinema, a tiny drive-in. So I found over time that people were not coming for new releases or even often caring that it was an old movie, they wanted a special movie experience, which got me thinking about how to customize the experience of going to the cinema, horror and outside the genre, even more than just in how I build the cinema and how unique the space is. What if I could capture a sort of magical film experience that not only would be perfect for my cinemas but would turn any cinema into a unique one of a kind cinema experience.
You also work widely in journalism, fiction, and screenwriting. How have these projects inspired your interest in scoring early horror? I know you have collaborated with Werner Herzog, whose 1979 version of Nosferatu may have been an inspiration.
Yes thanks for noticing! I don’t usual cross promote my two lives but my history in film, music, and theater arts were a big part of this idea becoming reality. I love lost histories, and pop culture oddities, and putting on a show for people! So as an artist, this really gelled with what I was passionate about and good at! It also helped of course that I know a thing or two about the music business and the world of film making from my books!
I’m sure you have many favorite traditional film scores. How have they inspired your adding of musical accompaniment to silent films?
Love these questions. I’ve always loved scores. I love how music can turn a scene into something where multiple senses unite and almost give like a body high! I used to buy soundtracks when I was in film school. I loved how the music had its own story that weaved through the dialog and action. Still it was surprising to me how natural it was to take these albums and find these perfect pairings to the right movies. After doing the first two I was like, well holy hell, this is something new that I’m really good at with very little effort. Don’t get me wrong, producing these are a lot of work. I spend a lot of time with the movie and the music to figure out how to make them the most effective.
Have you seen any screenings of Nosferatu with musical accompaniment that inspired you? I remember a late-90s goth version on videocassette, with a soundtrack taken from the band Type O Negative. Have you seen this one, and if so, was it inspirational or a reference point?
I have seen a few, but none of that really came to mind when I started messing with this. The real inspiration for this was being invited to black Francis’s live score of The Golem at the San Francisco Silent Film Fest 15 years ago. We were working on a project together and I was his guest. It was magic. And the idea of taking great alt rock albums and re purposing them as soundtracks was planted there because I thought- bands don’t have time to play these in every theater but what if we can harness that same energy and excitement around beloved albums that already exist.
After REM with Sherlock Jr. and then TMBG with The Cameraman, we have Maciste in Hell with Amon Tobin…. This lesser-known movie is epic and involves the most honorable man on earth going to Hell to fight Satan.”
Any specific reasons why you chose Radiohead? While critically acclaimed, they seem rather distant from horror culture (perhaps just at first glance…).
It was as simple as it just worked perfectly. The two albums when synced as I have, feel as if this was always supposed to be the case. Also, I knew I wanted a specific vibe for the first series and wanted to focus on my gen x catalog!
Not having seen your score yet, I’d love to hear about certain scenes where Radiohead’s music really resonates with the Murnau. Can you share a few examples now?
Oh yes, well as in the trailer the movie opens with a bell tower and the music on amnesiac starts with a ringing bell! Also all the songs sync up to scenes ending and scenes beginning. Or at least with a new emotional chapter in a scene. My favorite moment is when a lantern is lit when they are searching for “the killer” aka Knock and it floods the street with the same movement and hit of the song. Same type of moment when a drummer is walking down the street warning folks about the plague, right as he hits the drum, one of the songs starts with a drum beat that syncs perfectly to the soldiers first hit.
Are you interested in continuing with other silent German horror films after this one, or do you have other classics in mind?
Next up is REM with Sherlock Jr. and then TMBG with The Cameraman. My next “horror-ish” one is Maciste in Hell, starring Bartolomeo Pagano, with Amon Tobin. I love this one. This lesser-known movie is epic and involves the most honorable man on earth going to Hell to fight Satan!
Anything else you’d like to add?
I’m just so thrilled to finally be launching this after two years of serious sweat equity to make it happen. When I would go to the labels to try to pull this off they couldn’t believe that I didn’t have a whole company behind me, it was just me navigating and orchestrating the whole thing from my home office in Austin, Texas. But my passion stems from a DIY attitude that I’ve always had and I have been obsessed with sharing this new alternative content with my theater owning peers to bring a new tier of entertainment to their venues for their old and hopefully new audiences.
For a trailer and more information, visit Silents Synched.
Josh Frank is an entrepreneur, writer, producer, director, and composer. He authored Fool The World, The Oral History of the Band Called Pixie; In Heaven Everything Is Fine – The Unsolved Life of Peter Ivers; and the novel, The Good Inn, co-written with Black Francis of the Pixies. Frank has also interviewed over 400 of America’s most notable names in entertainment for his books and screenplays. With the rest of his time, he runs his Blue Starlite Mini-Urban Drive-In Movie Theaters in Austin, Texas.