Mossholder says his role in the project was "to create an original soundtrack/sound design for the feature. I created over 90 minutes of original electronic music. I also created 5 short remixes of the tracks on the film for our website . I also created 2 video/trailer remixes of Mark's work which will also be on the website. And I created a new composition for one of Mark's trailer remixes (also on the website)."
The idea behind all these variations was to generate multiple experiences of the work. Mossholder describes those experiences in this way:
1) You can catch it at a full showing and see the film that is one experience.
2) You can explore the website and experience the texts, videos and audio remixes.
3) You can interact with the iPhone Application which should be up on Apple's website this week.
Since I was not able to preview the film, here's the program listing to give you an idea of what the film is like:
The story of Immobilit e is driven primarily by the innovative use of subtitles as an alternative literary track that situates the work in the rich history of experimental art-house cinema. Bringing to mind the deep philosophical cinema of European auteurs Ingmar Bergman and Michelangelo Antonioni, Amerika mashes up the language of "foreign films" with landscape painting and literary metafiction to reveal a future world where the dream of living in utopia can only be sustained by a nomadic tribe of artists and intellectuals. Tapping into the contemporary angst that fills our own contemporary lives, Immobilit e investigates the innate desire of living organisms to release their creative energies as part of a collective strategy of cultural renewal.
Mossholder says, "creating 90 minutes of sound/music is never an easy task and it becomes even more challenging when the work is already abstract in nature. I worked hard to develop the sound so that it would pull the viewer into the images and not distract them. Also, I wanted something that would create a nice counterpoint to the film and strengthen the theme of communication and connecting through modern technology. One thing I did was to employ voices captured from phone scanning in some sections, very subtly under the music. I also used a lot of guitar, a familiar sound to help guide the listener into the more alien and textural landscape of the electronic and manipulated organic sounds. The soundtrack like the video can stand on it's on as a whole work but the best way to view/listen is the two combined."
The choice of using a cell phone to record the entire film is meant to make audiences more aware of the technology that surrounds us and how it is being used and how it could be used in more provocative ways.
"The work was composed using an unscripted, improvisational method of acting," says Mossholder, "and the mobile phone images are intentionally shot in an amateurish or DIY [do-it-yourself] style similar to the evolving forms of video distributed in social media environments such as YouTube. By interfacing this low-tech version of video making with more sophisticated forms of film art, Amerika both asks and answers the question & 'What is the future of cinema?' The work also throws a kink into the conventional museum experience by challenging museum visitors to immerse themselves in this 75-minute work of moving visual art in its entirety."
So if you happen to be in New York this month stop by the Chelsea Art Museum and check out the film. If you are someplace else in the world, get the online experience. The film will also be showcased at The Tate Modern in England. Go challenge yourself. Maybe you'll start looking at your cell phone -- or films -- in a whole new way.
