june 2019, transfer
Next Projection Room Tour on June 29
What do 16mm, 35mm and 70mm actually mean? What is screen masking and what is it used for? How does a dissolve work? And what is actually happening when the image on the screen stops moving and begins to melt? If you’re interested in finding out how films get on to the screen, Arsenal would like to invite you to take a peek behind the scenes on one of our projection room tours. Our projectionist Bodo Pagels will show you round the projection room, tell you all about film formats, projectors and projection techniques, demonstrate how films are fed into the projector and provide a full introduction to the secrets of film projection. He will also be happy to answer any questions you might have about the cinema set-up and will adapt the tour to your wishes and interests as far as possible. The next scheduled tour will take place on Saturday May 25, at 4pm. Please register in advance.
march 2019, transfer
Big Cinema, Small Cinema #28
Surprise: Another film event for children will take place on March 31, dedicated to the very subject of surprise: We have selected films that are surprising in very different ways. A surprising image appears right in the middle of Renate Sami‘s WENN DU EINE ROSE SIEHST (Germany 1995). In the short, silent movie TULIPAN (Germany 2001) by Bärbel Freund and Ute Aurand, what is invisible becomes visible COOTS (UK 1998) and BLINK (UK 1977) by Guy Sherwin are small black and white puzzles and Maya Deren’s montage is surprising in A STUDY IN CHOREOGRAPHY FOR THE CAMERA (USA 1945). The students the Wilhelm-von-Humboldt-Gemeinschaftsschule surprise us with their imagination and speed and there will be a surprise film at the end. For everyone aged six and above.
march 2019, transfer
Big Cinema, Small Cinema #27
Our next film event for children on March 10 is all about sound and music in film.
What are those ringing, scratching, rustling sounds in film? Since the very first films were shown in 1895, they were accompanied by sound effects and music. Nowadays, music and sound come from a previously recorded soundtrack. Before we carry out our own experiments with sound and develop ideas for our own soundtrack to HOW A MOSQUITO OPERATES together and play it live, we will get to discover what can be seen and heard in six short films: FLUKE by Emily Breer (USA 1985) travels through air and water. In ROSALIE ET LÉONTINE VONT AU THÉÂTRE by Romeo Bosetti, two friends amuse themselves royally (France 1911). Ribbons fly in M.M. Serras PP II (USA 1986) and find new forms in FADENSPIELE II (Germany 2003). In Cathy Joritz’s NEGATIVE MAN (FRG 1985) a speaking man transforms into something else without noticing. HOW A MOSQUITO OPERATES (USA 1912) gets right up close to a mosquito.
february 2019, transfer
Big Cinema, Small Cinema #26: Cinema magic
The next edition of our children's film atelier takes place on February 24, for anyone aged 5 and above. Moving images in the cinema are magical, as the first filmmakers over 100 years ago already knew. They not only wanted to show magical images, but also magic in films. This was made possible by editing. In CUISINE ABRACADABRANTE (Unusual Cooking, France 1908) and LE SORCIER ARABE (The Arab Sorceror, France 1906), Segundo de Chomón conjures magical performances and tricks on his stage. In Émile Cohl’s LE MOBILIER FIDÈLE (The Automatic Moving Company, France 1910) the life of a new tenant is made hell by the furniture. Later filmmakers, such as Kenneth Anger in RABBIT’S MOON (UK 1950/1978) and Anita Thacher in LOOSE CORNER (USA 1986), were inspired by the magic and simple tricks of these early films and cast their own spells. After the screenings, we will step in the footsteps of these pioneers and create our own film magic.
january 2019, transfer
Big Cinema, Small Cinema #25
The next event of our children's film atelier takes place on January 20, for everyone aged 5 and above.
A different take on witching hour.: When in SPOOK SPORT (USA 1939) the witching hour sounds, brightly colored ghosts perform a uplifting ballet. And ghosts don’t only come out at night: There’s a practical joke involving mirrors in AH! LA BARBE (A Funny Shave, F 1905), and in A CHAIRY TALE (Canada 1957) a chair resists a man’s attempts to approach it. Witches also come out in daylight in BEWITCHED MATCHES (Les Allumettes Ensourcelees, F 1903) when some matches are brought to life and made to perform. In the stencil color MME CROQUEMITAINE (The Wicked Witch, F 1909), a witch transforms children into huge vegetables. VORMITTAGSSPUK (Ghosts Before Breakfast, G 1928) manages to go off the rails without the help of ghosts or witches: Hats fly through the air, crockery smashes and repairs itself… At 12 o’clock it’s all over.
