An Awful Symphony
About An Awful Symphony
Shadows on a street wall stretch into eight musicians, each with a different instrument. They play, then fold themselves into a drum, beach umbrellas, and other objects, and vanish. The French title is Symphonie bizarre. Segundo de Chomón shot much of it in a real street, with passers-by behind the stop-motion.
More about An Awful Symphony
Chomón directed the split-reel short in 1909, during his Pathé years. The English title is An Awful Symphony. The listed running time is 5 minutes.
Themes
Making
Chomón was at Pathé from about 1907 to 1912. This short puts substitution and stop-motion on a street set rather than inside a glass studio.
Look
Chomón combined street views with staged shots. The musicians are built by stop-motion from shadows on the wall.
Music
Silent. The 'symphony' is the sight of the instruments, not a recorded score.
Notes
- Eight players come out of the wall: one in a top hat, one described by viewers as a viking-clown, others in odd clothes.
- Stop-motion grows a shadow on the pavement into a person before the band appears.
- Unlike Méliès's studio féeries, several shots are taken outdoors.
Scenes
- A shadow on the street grows into a person and then into the band.
- The players disappear into a drum and into umbrellas.
