Silents Synced: Creator Josh Frank Talks ‘Nosferatu’ x Radiohead
by CHAD KENNERK
Images courtesy of Silents Synced
In explaining montage, or ‘assembly’ as he liked to refer to it, Alfred Hitchcock once explained the Kuleshov Effect or, as Hitch called it, ‘pure cinematics’; the juxtaposition of imagery to create different ideas. In the same way, comparison and contrast of music and image have been used practically since the origins of film language to create additional meaning. What would the shower scene in Psycho be without Bernard Herrmann’s strings? Jaws wouldn’t be nearly as ominous sans John Williams’ iconic ‘da-dum…da-dum.’ In the same spirit, Silents Synced reimagines film score by pairing classic silent films with the music of contemporary artists. Specifically designed for independent movie theatres, the new event cinema series kicked off in the US with an appropriately released October pairing of the Radiohead albums Kid A and Amnesiac with F. W. Murnau’s 1922 symphony of horror, Nosferatu.
Silents Synced creator Josh Frank, who directed and remixed the project, is also the founder of the Blue Starlite, an independent boutique drive-in cinema founded in Austin, Texas in 2009. Frank says that the event cinema concept was a direct response to the incredible surge of attendance and interest drive-in theatres experienced during the pandemic. Silents Synced also seeks to address how drive-ins and independent cinemas can continue to expand their audiences through alternative content, especially when faced with a lack of product as seen during this year’s labour strikes and the rise in streaming services. The series is being distributed via a partnership with CineLife Entertainment, a division of Spotlight Cinema Networks, which are now booking exclusively to independent indoor and drive-in cinema networks.
Already set for 2025, Silents Synced second venture is a pairing of R.E.M. to the Buster Keaton comedy classic Sherlock Jr. Additional films are in the works too, with future films slated to follow every four months. Upcoming features include The Cameraman set to They Might Be Giants, Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí works set to Pixies, A Woman of the World set to Pearl Jam and Maciste in Hell set to Amon Tobin. Like a vampiric trance, Silents Synced’s Nosferatu soundtracked to Radiohead casts a hypnotic spell. After experiencing the new content concept, Film Review spoke with Silents Synced creator Josh Frank to learn more about his creative process.
In conversation with Silents Synced creator Josh Frank.
Film Review (FR): In your creative process with the film, was there a particular scene or moment that was the impetus for pairing Nosferatu and Radiohead?
Josh Frank (JF): When I mess around with these and play with different possibilities, I look for moments that just happen naturally without me manipulating anything. When I first put them together, I did it in the order that the [albums] were released. I did Kid A into Amnesiac, and it didn't work at all. I was really bummed because they were both around the same amount of time and the themes seemed like they should work, but it just didn't. Then I flipped them — I did Amnesiac first into Kid A and it worked. The whole beginning with the bell tower, from the start it was like, ‘Oh, wow, okay.’ As I kept watching it, the themes for the songs really played very well with each of the scenes. Kid A is a little bit more driven in tone. When things started going crazy with Nosferatu entering the city from the boat, there’s an emotional build up. That's when I knew it would work.
(FR): Where did the idea to pair silent films with contemporary artists begin? Is it your background in film? In operating a drive-in?
(JF): It's a hybrid of like, all the things that I've learned to do in my life — from going to film school to producing, writing and directing plays. Knowing how to create an experience for people. Then, of course, 15 years of editing pre-shows for my own little movie theatre. All those things together. Sometimes when I do the pre-show for my movie theatre, I'll do a coming soon reel and pick a song I like to play under the edit of scenes from movies that are going to be coming up. I definitely think that sharpened my knives.
(FR): You have several of these in the works. This wasn't necessarily the first one that you had initially planned to start with though.
(JF): Originally I was going to start out with The Smashing Pumpkins. That was really awesome, but I ran into some problems with the labels and getting the deal I needed to make it possible, which was a real bummer and a setback. It all worked out, because I really think starting with Nosferatu just was perfect.
(FR): It’s a time of year where everyone wants to see horror movies. When you have a classic like Nosferatu reinterpreted as a new experience, people are really going to latch on to that.
(JF): I'm hoping that theatres continue playing it throughout the year, because that's part of the idea. I got the rights to do this for a year. It's a great one to just put on repeat monthly for theatres and for people to come back to. That's my next real hope.
(FR): You mentioned music licensing. That whole world seems like a mountain to climb. What was that process like, figuring out how all of that works?
(JF): It was a mountain to climb, because I am not an entertainment lawyer and I can’t afford to hire one. I really had to teach myself the process, the wording and the understanding of how it was all going to work. I had to DIY full on.
(FR): What is that process? Is there a standard way to go about it?
(JF): Well, first you get the band's permission and then the band puts you in touch with the label, and you work out the details with the label. Usually there's more than one label involved, which is the part that's so complicated and confusing. It's not a little thing to pull that part off.
(FR): Is that because the artists themselves have worked with multiple labels or due to record labels being bought out?
(JF): It depends. I honestly don't know why the system is the way it is, that's totally above my pay grade. My theory is that, because I'm dealing with alternative rock and music from the 90s, this was a time when the big labels bought up a lot of the most important alternative rock content of our generation. It was just a specific time. How things are done now, a lot of bands put things out through smaller labels or their own labels, because it's not about discs, it's about streaming. You don't have to have a major label behind you in order to get your music out there like you did in the 90s, which is where a lot of this music comes from. Some of the upcoming music I'm using is from more boutique labels and that can be a little bit easier to navigate.
(FR): With silent films, there are often lots of different versions out there. Sometimes even though a film is in the public domain, there are restored versions that are under their own copyright. How do you navigate finding the right version of the film?
(JF): It seems like it would be easy to work out a deal with the restored versions. I will do that if I can, because that's often the best version you can find. But if I can't, then I take a public domain version and I actually taught myself how to use restoration software. On some of these titles, I’m doing the restoration myself. Obviously it’s nowhere near as good as the top of the line restorations, but to be perfectly honest, when I played some of these syncs with the really great restorations, it actually didn't play as well as those of a lesser quality. There was something about the scratches and some of these very messy elements. That is part of the magic of putting alternative rock up against it, because it's sort of harsher and, in a way, it's a choice to keep some of that in there.
(FR): It does really lend itself to that pairing. As do the elements that you're adding and layering into this – the effects and title cards.
(JF): I did have an effects supervisor that I brought on in order to add additional elements, because I looked at this not as just a movie, but as a rock concert. I wanted my lighting design. That's what the effects additions were meant to be. We added that element and then we redid all the titling so that it played to the music. Whenever there are dialog boxes, it isn’t just static, it’s a part of the rhythm and the musical experience,
(FR): Right, there’s a thumping effect and rhythm to the text that matches the beats of the music. The lighting embellishments and flashes of colour over the film vibrate and come alive in moments where the music and images almost seem to sing in sync with one another.
(JF): I actually brought in a really great guy that was one of the effects artists for Rooster Teeth, which is a really cool production company here in Austin, quite famous actually, for having created Red vs. Blue – the Halo web series. I got one of those guys and he was incredible.
(FR): In creating this new version and putting this together, what in your mind were the most successful moments or shots, that perhaps felt like a revelation or discovery?
(JF): For me, it's when [the music] goes into the national anthem. When the boat is bouncing in the ocean and the horns come in. When that chaos starts to ensue, both with Nosferatu heading into harbour and the protagonist rushing back to his wife before Dracula gets to his town. That whole build up is one of my favourite things and I still get goosebumps each time I see it.
(FR): It does create a whole new momentum. The scores heard in previous iterations of the film didn't necessarily have that. A shot in the film that stands out in a new way is when Ellen is looking out the window and all of the coffins are being carried down the street.
(JF): Oh yeah, there's a whole more powerful layer of dread. It all just comes out in a way that it never did for me before, until this pairing. I really feel like it was successful in elevating the material — not that it needed elevation as a classic — but elevating it to a point where a much broader audience could be affected by it. One of my other favourite moments is when he's signing the contracts and Orlok sees the picture of Hutter's wife and it goes into morning bells. It elevates moments like that into these much more profound experiences.
(FR): How long of a process is it from start to finish?
(JF): The initial start to finish of getting these off the ground, creating them, working the deals out and getting everything to a point where they could be released, was about two years. That was the whole startup process of the project. Now I think I could probably do one start to finish in about six months, now that I know what I'm doing.
(FR): If there are cinemas that want to bring Silents Synced to their location or a venue that wants to create a pop-up movie event, what is the process to book Silents Synced films?
(JF): They just have to get in touch with us through our website (silentsynced.com) and we put them in touch with our booker. We have a number of ways that venues can play it, so we try and make it accessible to any cool venue that's interested.
(FR): Are you just in the US or are you planning to go international as well?
(JF): Right now it's just the US, but I'm working on trying to get UK and Ireland rights for the next couple of these, perhaps even this one as well. That's a separate process. Now that I know it's been successful here in the US, it's worth looking into. We definitely have Buster Keaton’s Sherlock Jr. soundtracked to R.E.M. slated for the UK at some point next year.
(FR): Do you have a dream collaboration between an artist and a film?
(JF): At some point I would love to do something with Nine Inch Nails.
(FR): That was part of what initially started the idea right? You created a pairing just to show family and friends?
(JF): Yeah, I did one with The Fragile and Metropolis many years ago as an experiment and it was really awesome. That one has some serious rights hurdles in order to ever bring it into a marketable version. Anything with Nine Inch Nails would be something I would love to do. DJ Shadow too.
(FR): What are some of your early moviegoing memories?
(JF): Going to all the art house cinemas and seeing these great, subversive independent movies. From Barton Fink to The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover and Last Exit to Brooklyn. Seeing these real worlds that were so not a part of my suburban upbringing and feeling connected to the punk rock ethos of making these weird movies that you could go and see if you knew the cool movie theatres and the little hip art house cinemas. It was that whole scene, and it definitely defined me.
Visit SilentSynced.com to book or request Nosferatu at your cinema
Find a Nosferatu x Radiohead screening near you
JOSH FRANK is an entrepreneur, writer, producer, director, and composer. He has penned numerous plays, including an authorised adaptation of Werner Hergoz’s Stroszek, screenplays, including an adaptation of Mark Vonnegut's The Eden Express,”and musicals, including The Jonathan Richman Musical. He is the author of Fool The World, The Oral History of the Band Called Pixies and In Heaven Everything Is Fine – The Unsolved Life of Peter Ivers. In April 2014, Harper Collins released his novel, The Good Inn, co-written with Black Francis of the Pixies. Last year his 4th book, the Marx Brothers and Salvador Dali lost story Giraffes on Horseback Salad was released and went on to be nominated for an Eisner Award. Over the last decade, Frank has worked with some of the most interesting and innovative musicians, filmmakers, producers and artists in the industry, including Black Francis, David Lynch and Harold Ramis. 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 the Blue Starlite Mini-Urban Drive-In in Austin, Texas.
