Liquid Sky: Cult Cinema, Film Scoring, and the Fairlight CMI Courtenay Gallon

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Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School

2007 Liquid Sky: Cult Cinema, Film Scoring, and the Fairlight CMI Courtenay Gallon

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THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF MUSIC

LIQUID SKY: CULT CINEMA, FILM SCORING, AND THE FAIRLIGHT CMI

Courtenay Gallon

A Thesis submitted to the College of Music In partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Master of Music

Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2007

The members of the Committee approve the thesis of Courtenay Gallon defended on July 31, 2007.

______Charles E. Brewer Professor Directing Thesis

______Jeffery T. Kite-Powell Committee Member

______Brian Gaber Outside Committee Member

Approved:

______Jeffery T. Kite-Powell, Chair, Department of Musicology

______Don Gibson, Dean, College of Music

The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members.

To family, friends, peers, and teachers for their interest and support.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to Professors Brewer, Kite-Powell, and Gaber for serving as my committee members and for their time, suggestions, and interest throughout this process. Special thanks to Professor Brewer for his guidance and encouragement, as my major professor. Special thanks also goes to Brenda Hutchinson and Clive Smith for their insights on creating the music for Liquid Sky, and their enthusiasm and support during this project.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT vii INTRODUCTION 1

1. FILM OVERVIEW 1 Crew 1 Plot and Characters 3 Analysis 12 2. LIQUID SKY & CULT CINEMA 15 Defining a cult film 15 Applying the cult label to Liquid Sky 19 3. MUSIC IN LIQUID SKY 21 Adapted Music 21 Marin Marais 23 Carl Orff 23 Anthony Philip Heinrich 24 Original Music 25 “Me and My Rhythm Box” 25 Other 25 Borrowed Music 26 4. CREATING THE MUSIC FOR LIQUID SKY 27 Fairlight CMI 27 Creating the music for Liquid Sky 33

CONCLUSION 41

APPENDIX A. Human Subjects Research Approval Letter 44

v APPENDIX B. Informed Consent Forms 45

APPENDIX C. CD Tracklisting 46

APPENDIX D. “Me and My Rhythm Box” Lyrics 48

APPENDIX E. List of Music Cues in the Film 49

APPENDIX F. Copyright Approval Letter from Fairlight 50

APPENDIX G. Fairlight Computer Musical Instrument 51

APPENDIX H. CMI IIx Page R Manual 52

APPENDIX I. CMI IIx Service Manual 53

BIBLIOGRAPHY 54

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 57

vi ABSTRACT

This thesis is based upon information from a variety of sources dealing with the soundtrack for the film Liquid Sky. One of these sources is the movie itself, which can be aurally and visually confusing without peripheral sources of reference. Because comprehending the film Liquid Sky is intrinsically linked to understanding the soundtrack, character and plot analysis is relevant to this study. This thesis acknowledges Liquid Sky as a cult film, but it also provides a context for defining cult films, as well as the characteristics that set them apart from films in other genres. Subsequently, these are used to show how Liquid Sky fits into the genre of cult film. As the main focus of this thesis, the music in Liquid Sky is identified, and its origin and context within the film are explained. The music is organized categorically: adapted, original, and borrowed. Additionally, the possible reasons for the use of these various kinds of music in the film are proposed. The music in Liquid Sky sounds unusual, however the process of creating the music for the film was truly unique for the time period. The main catalyst for the music in Liquid Sky was a synthesizer known as the Fairlight CMI. Although several synthesizers had preceded it, the Fairlight was the first digital model. The machine was specifically chosen by the film’s director because of its ability to manipulate real world sounds. He eventually recruited Brenda Hutchinson and Clive Smith to compose the soundtrack on the Fairlight. A series of correspondences with Hutchinson and Smith provide insight on their own personal experiences while creating the film’s soundtrack, but also the aesthetic wishes of the director for the music. It is my ultimate hope that, taken together, the information provided in the following pages supports the fundamental goal of this thesis, which is to show that Liquid Sky was a ground-breaking, if not overlooked, milestone in cult cinema, and film scoring. Most people did not know what the Fairlight was in 1982, much less how to operate it, and it is effectively used in Liquid Sky to create a sound palette to complement a film that can be most aptly described as alien.

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INTRODUCTION

To say that Liquid Sky is an unusual film is an understatement, in many regards. It stands out, even in the genre of cult film, which by its very nature often defies convention, and it is this idea around which this thesis is constructed. The film has already been labeled as a cult film by multiple, credible sources, including some that will be cited in subsequent sections. However, this thesis provides a basic analysis of the music featured in Liquid Sky, and a justification for the “cult” label. It is the music, particularly the way in which it was composed that is one of the most distinctive features of the film.

1. FILM OVERVIEW

Regardless of how one chooses to categorize Liquid Sky, the plot is vital to understanding the film. Because the personalities of the characters are primarily revealed through what they do within the plot, character analysis will be discussed as well. The plot is effective in the sense that it takes several storylines and characters, and continually intersects and intertwines them, without making the film too confusing. The events of the film and its characters are connected through the use of heroin, and either direct or indirect contact with the alien. The following plot description is a detailed account of the events in the film. It is purposely more detailed than a synopsis would be. Because of Liquid Sky’s obscurity, this plot description is written with the reader, who has had little exposure to the film or perhaps has never seen the film, in mind. This plot description is preceded by a list of people who worked on Liquid Sky and followed by an analysis of the plot and the characters.

Crew

While the actors and sets are the most visible aspects of Liquid Sky, there were also many people behind the scenes who played a part in completing the film. Taking into consideration the scope of my research and its focus on the music of Liquid Sky, I have compiled information

1 concerning the individuals that I feel were most important in composing the music for the film. They will be referred to and sometimes quoted in the following chapters, and the information below serves to delineate their roles and accomplishments. Admittedly, there is a certain emphasis on Brenda Hutchinson, Clive Smith, and Slava Tsukerman. It was Tsukerman’s ideas that ultimately shaped Liquid Sky. Brenda Hutchinson and Clive Smith, who were co-composers for the music for the film, were specifically consulted for their insights on creating music for Liquid Sky; their thoughts on the film overall appear throughout the following chapters. In a couple of cases there is an obvious lack of biographical information for some crewmembers; this is due to the lack of basic resources. After each person’s name is their role in Liquid Sky in parentheses followed by their biographical information, when available.

Anatoli Gerasimov (composed the music for the song “Me and My Rhythm Box”) (b 1945?) Russian jazz musician and composer.

Brenda Hutchinson (co-composer of original music, arranger of adapted music) (b Trenton, New Jersey, 1954) American composer and sound artist.1 She attended Carnegie Mellon University and Goldsmith College where she studied composition and percussion.2 Her compositions and performances cover several mediums including “dance, opera, film, video, radio, and multi-media interactive installations with extensive use of language, stories, and ambient and sampled sounds.”3 She was a member of the new wave band Klang, while doing graduate work at the University of California San Diego. Her master’s thesis was performance based and focused on recordings of her grandmother telling her life stories.4 Clive Smith (co-composer of original music, arranger of adapted music) (b London, raised in New York City) Composer, singer, songwriter, arranger, producer, programmer, sound designer, synthesist, and performer. Received the MA in composition from

1 Hutchinson, Brenda. “Brenda Hutchinson-Home Page.” Brenda Hutchinson. http://www.sonicportraits.org/ (accessed April 18, 2007). 2 Brenda Hutchinson, e-mail message, May 7, 2007. 3 Hutchinson, Brenda. “Brenda Hutchinson-Home Page.” Brenda Hutchinson. http://www.sonicportraits.org/ (accessed April 18, 2007). 4 Brenda Hutchinson, e-mail message, May 7, 2007.

2 New York University in 1977.5 Clive Smith worked on Liquid Sky during his tenure at PASS (Public Access Synthesizer Studio). He served as Associate Director and later Director during his six years at PASS from 1977 to 1983. He has used the Fairlight in popular music and his collaborations include Herbie Hancock, Yoko Ono, Kid Creole, David Garland, Sly Stone, and Geroge Clinton. Aside from Liquid Sky, he has used the Fairlight for the films The Boy Who Cried Bitch, Native Son, as well as a staging of King Lear by the National Shakespeare Company.6 Slava Tsukerman (director, writer, producer, and lyricist for “Me and My Rhythm Box”) (b Soviet Union, 1940?) Although he is probably best known for Liquid Sky, his filmography includes Great Bells, The Heat in Cold Numbers, Professor Alexandrov’s Discovery, and Vaudeville on Vaudeville, as well as a documentary entitled Once Upon a Time There Were Russians in Jerusalem. His debut film, I Believe in Spring, was the first independently made fiction short in Soviet Union history.7 His latest film, Perestroika, is currently in post- production.8 He lives in New York with Nina Kerova, his wife and producing partner.9 Helena Zvereva (composed the music for the song “Me and My Rhythm Box”)

Plot & Characters

Liquid Sky opens with a close up shot of a face. As the scene pans out, it becomes clear that the face is actually a mask, surrounded by neon lighting, hanging in an apartment. The next visual image is a skyline view of New York City at dusk, with the World Trade Center prominently featured. The setting quickly cuts to a club in which people are dancing to music and then back to the apartment and the skyline. The first of the main characters introduced is not human. A glowing disc descends from the sky, marking the arrival of the alien that will eventually affect every character in the movie,

5 Smith, Clive. “Clive Smith Homepage.” Clive Smith. http://www.clivesmith.com/ (accessed April 18, 2007). 6 Ibid. 7 Slava (Vladislav) Tsukerman. “Stalin’s Wife - - The New Documentary Film by Slava Tsukerman.” http://www.stalinswife.com/director.htm (Accessed May 23, 2007). 8 Slava Tsukerman, e-mail message, May 2, 2007. 9 Slava (Vladislav) Tsukerman. “Stalin’s Wife - - The New Documentary Film by Slava Tsukerman.” http://www.stalinswife.com/director.htm (Accessed May 23, 2007).

3 in one way or another. The alien in Liquid Sky is only seen inside its ship in an environment that could be described as psychedelic. The alien saucer is roughly the size of two large dinner plates, one upside down and on top of the other. As a result the ship is relatively small, which accounts for why its presence goes largely unnoticed throughout the duration of the film. The ship eventually lands on the roof of the aforementioned apartment, where it will remain until the conclusion of the film. As most foreign entities would, the alien begins to survey the surroundings. It is during the next scene at a dance club that three of the main human characters are introduced. In order, they are Jimmy, Adrian, and Margaret. Jimmy’s introduction portrays him as a habitual drug user, but it is later established that he is also a male model and homosexual. In his opening scene, Jimmy is trying to procure drugs from a woman in the club named Adrian. Adrian’s introduction establishes her as a performer. She will later sing the song “Me and My Rhythm Box” at the club. She is also a drug user and possibly bi-sexual. After Adrian refuses to sell Jimmy any drugs because he does not have any money, he turns to another woman named Margaret to ask her if they can go to her place. Margaret is Adrian’s friend and roommate. They live together in the apartment that is shown in the opening of the movie and Margaret is a fashion model. It should also be noted that the same actress, Anne Carlisle, is playing both Jimmy and Margaret. The effect of seeing both of these characters on screen simultaneously creates an uncomfortable, sometimes disturbing effect. Anne Carlisle not only plays a dual role, but also portrays two characters that are in conflict with each other. Although Margaret willingly allows Jimmy to accompany her back to her apartment, these two characters ultimately despise each other. Margaret and Jimmy each arrive at the apartment with separate ideas of what will happen. Margaret is relaxed, listens to music, dances, and entertains the idea of a sexual encounter. It is in this scene that Jimmy’s homosexuality is revealed when he says: “I don’t usually fuck women.” Jimmy’s sole purpose for being there is to obtain drugs. He has hopes that Margaret will know where Adrian keeps her drugs, so that he can take an unnoticeable amount. Unfortunately for Jimmy, Margaret claims she does not know where Adrian keeps her drugs. Subsequently, while Margaret lounges around the apartment, Jimmy proceeds to rummage throughout the apartment in search of the drugs. Margaret eventually wants to go back to the club and a begrudging Jimmy eventually agrees to go with her. Back at the club, Adrian is

4 starting her performance of “Me and My Rhythm Box.” As Adrian begins her performance, the club is silent and all the patrons stop dancing in order to watch her. She stands in an elevated position and sings using a microphone and boom box. Adrian puts the microphone to her chest so that the audience can hear her heartbeat. Backstage, a man approaches Margaret as she is getting her makeup done. He reminds her of a photo shoot at her apartment the following evening. The pictures have a chance of being published in Midnite Magazine. Jimmy is also backstage and the man tells him that he is looking forward to seeing Jimmy there as well. Jimmy is apprehensive about coming to the photo shoot until the man informs him that there will be drugs at the photo shoot. Meanwhile, at the club, Margaret, Jimmy, and other models are putting on a fashion show. The camera cuts to a shot of each model wearing colorful clothing, face paint, and striking statuesque poses. The scene changes to a man and a woman in a kitchen. The man is putting heroin onto a spoon, preparing to freebase. This scene is significant because it is the only time in the film that the title of the film is mentioned in the course of dialogue: “Liquid sky, key to heaven, milk of paradise...that’s what they use to call it.” (DVD - 00:11:16) The woman is noticeably bothered and tells him that she does not want him to use the drug anymore because it is dangerous. The man goes on to explain that opiates have been used for centuries. He adds that the drug not only helps him relax, but also think clearly. The woman responds by stating that she will not have heroin in her house and that heroin does not actually help him. The man becomes agitated and annoyed in response; he believes she is putting him down and gloating on the fact that she is more successful than he is. Meanwhile, back at the club, the show has concluded and Jimmy is still pestering Adrian for drugs. She rejects him again. As Margaret watches patrons of the club dance, a man approaches, telling her she is cute. Next, he asks her if she would like to “snort some blow.” She replies that she would. When he tells her that he does not want to do the drugs there at the club, Margaret tells him that they can go back to her place and that she does not live far. Once they arrive at Margaret’s apartment, Margaret wants to do cocaine, but the man offers her another drug that he says is better. He then tells her that he acts in soap operas and that his dad works at MGM Studios. He may be able to help her get a job as an actress. After Margaret refuses his advances, he forcibly puts two tablets in her mouth and tells her to swallow them. They begin to wrestle and hit each other while the alien watches. Whenever something is

5 being viewed from the alien’s point of view the picture, turns infrared. It is an effect that is used multiple times throughout the film and often signals the demise of a character. He forces Margaret to swallow two more pills in order to subdue her. Once the two of them seem to settle down, Margaret asks him to get her flask. When he hands her the flask, she takes a drink and splashes some in his eyes. Next, she rushes out of her apartment and down the stairs. The man rushes after her, pins her down on the stairs and forcibly has sex with her. The next scene depicts a man at an airport getting into a cab. He arrives at a hotel with his luggage. Back at Margaret’s apartment, the man finishes and leaves her on the staircase. As the scene shifts, the New York skyline is shown at dusk, which quickly turns to daylight for the first time. Margaret stands in her bathroom, looking in the mirror and as the view moves outside, the alien ship is also seen in the daylight. The man from the cab is atop the Empire State Building with scientific equipment, scanning the buildings through a telescope. In Margaret’s apartment, Adrian has a client there to buy drugs. The client turns out to be the same man who was arguing with his wife about his drug habit, earlier in the film. While waiting for Adrian, he notices Margaret and begins asking her questions, particularly about her sexuality. Adrian picks up the mask on the wall and gets a bag of cocaine from behind it. The mask appears to be a mold of Margaret’s face. After Adrian gives him the drugs, he asks Adrian if he can use her bathroom, so that he can use the drugs; Margaret objects, but Adrian permits him to do so. It is during this scene that Adrian reveals to the man where Margaret is from: “Margaret is an uptight, wasp cunt from Connecticut!” (DVD – 00:25:56) This is one of the few directly stated pieces of information about Margaret during the film. Despite Margaret’s objections, Adrian allows him to use their bathroom with the understanding that he does not hang around after he is done. Margaret is still bothered, but Adrian tells her to relax and that they can go to lunch, since the man, (Adrian calls him Paul) gave her some money. As Paul prepares to inject himself, the man from the cab continues to scan the rooftops searching for something. The alien watches Paul inject himself. As the man from the cab continues to scan the rooftops, he hones in on the roof of the apartment that belongs to Adrian and Margaret. It soon becomes clear that he is looking at the alien ship on the roof, as he has a slight smile on his face. The next shot shows the hustle and bustle of New York City. Meanwhile, in other parts of the city, Adrian and Margaret are eating in a restaurant, while Jimmy is having lunch with his mother in another eatery. Next, the man from the cab is seen speaking to another man inside of

6 an office. He explains that aliens have been found in areas that have large amounts of heroin, and the results are unexplained deaths in those areas populated by punk groups. The other man in the room suggests that the punk sect is killing itself off with drugs and violence. At lunch, Margaret and Adrian talk; Margaret reveals more background information about herself. As they eat apple pie in the restaurant, she remembers that her mother used to bake multiple apple pies at once, and that there was an apple tree in their backyard. Adrian also talks about her mother and a bizarre episode at a restaurant in the past. She then suggests that they go to Berlin where she can be star and she can buy Margaret cocaine. It is at this point that Margaret realizes that she was supposed to meet someone named Owen, whom Adrian says she does not like. At another restaurant, Jimmy’s mother would like to know what her son has been up to and invites Jimmy to her place for dinner. Jimmy’s mother is middle-aged and has a well to do, well-kept appearance. She has an obvious, genuine concern and love for her son. Jimmy tells her that he has an appointment with a fashion photographer that he cannot get out of. Jimmy then asks his mother if he can have some money and she says she will send him a check. The man from the cab continues to explain the strange deaths in areas of high heroin use. He states that in each case these deaths occurred during sexual intercourse. He goes on to say that he has located the alien craft, tried to identify the alien’s emotional states and taken a picture of the inside of the ship, which he shows the man on a projector slide as he is talking. The alien is initially attracted to the effect that the human characters obtain from using heroin, but they soon learn that they can get the same effect from human orgasms. He then says that he needs help because the alien will recognize him; he is a stranger in the United States, and it is difficult to study the alien because the Empire State Building is closed at night. The man in the office tells him that there is not much he can do and that he is “just a college acting teacher!” The man from the cab says that the creature is killing people, but the man in the office has an appointment and says to call him the next day. A busy New York City is shown once again. The alien ship is still on the rooftop of Margaret’s apartment. Margaret is out on her deck with Owen, who turns out to be the man from the office who had an appointment. As he rolls a joint, Owen tells Margaret that she is ruining her career by hanging around Adrian; Margaret disagrees and says she cares about her career. Owen tells her she is dressed like a hooker and Margaret responds that while this may be true, she is independent and not conforming to what

7 someone else expects her to be. Owen describes Margaret as his best student, however Margaret says they spent most of their time in bed. As they go inside the apartment, Owen begins to make advances on Margaret, which she seems indifferent to after his comments; the alien has been watching them the entire time. She tells him that he should leave, but he continues his advances. They end up on the bed having sex and the point of view changes to the infrared perspective of the alien and then fades to black. Owen appears to have fallen asleep on top of Margaret when she tells him to get up. Then she notices a glass arrow protruding from the back of Owen’s head. As she looks closely, she pulls it out of his head, and it literally disappears. As Margaret stands back and looks at Owen’s naked, dead body, Adrian walks in and wants to know what is going on. Next, Owen is seen wrapped in foil with neon lighting around his head. Adrian pounds her fist on her thigh and recites a monologue that condemns Owen’s ignorance and his actions. The man from the cab is seen going into an apartment building. Not long after this, a woman walks into the building and asks if she can help him. The woman is, in fact, Jimmy’s mother. The man from the cab is finally revealed as an astrophysicist from West Berlin, and he asks Jimmy’s mother which side her windows face. He tells her he is conducting research, and she suggests that they go upstairs and discuss it over dinner. Once upstairs, the scientist realizes the apartment is ideal for watching the alien; Jimmy’s mother orders Chinese food. The scientist sees a picture of a UFO on the wall; Jimmy’s mother is a television producer, and that is what she is working on. She then asks the scientist about the connections between UFOs and heroin. The scientist tells Jimmy’s mother that she can see the alien as well and proceeds to set up his telescope. Adrian jokes that she has always wanted to have sex with a dead body. Margaret calls Adrian crazy, adding that her mother was also crazy and her father was a bum. Adrian pulls a knife on Margaret and threatens to cut her. After a back and forth struggle, Margaret ends up with the knife. Meanwhile, Jimmy’s mother has been watching through the telescope, and then the scientist takes a look and repositions it so that she can see the ship. She is surprised that it is so small. During the entire time in the apartment, Jimmy’s mother has also been flirting with the scientist. Back at Margaret’s apartment, Adrian tells her to forget about their fight because they are going to Berlin where Adrian will sing in the nightclubs. They then take Owen’s body, still wrapped in foil, and place him in a long cardboard box, which they place out on their outside

8 patio. The scientist and Jimmy’s mother have been watching the entire time. He explains that the two women do not call the police because they have heroin. The action shifts to a new setting, a different apartment. In one of the bedrooms, Paul’s wife is trying to wake him up and get him to take a shower. He says he feels sick. They are having a party and guests are already at their apartment; Paul has no interest in the party or the guests. They begin to argue again. She tells him to leave, if he won’t come out and participate. The scientist says he saw Adrian go out and that he is going to leave to try to warn her. He confronts Adrian, as she is making a purchase at a liquor store. He tells her that she is in danger, but Adrian ignores him and actually thinks he is a police officer, trying to catch her selling drugs. The New York skyline is seen at sunset, and back at the apartment, Paul has come to see Margaret, and he makes it clear that he is there for sex, but Margaret is disgusted by him. Paul becomes rough with Margaret and grabs her out of the chair she is sitting in as they continue to argue. He rips open her dress partially and she rips open her dress the rest of the way and seems to submit to him. Meanwhile, Jimmy’s mother is watching from her apartment. When Margaret is seen next, Paul is on top of her and they are having sex, but she is still indifferent towards him. The perspective once again changes to the alien’s infrared view, as Paul becomes the second victim. Similar to Owen, Paul dies on top of Margaret and has a glass arrow sticking out of his head. The scientist returns to the apartment where Jimmy’s mother is still waiting, and they prepare to eat. Margaret has stepped outside and is shouting “hey you” towards the Empire State Building outside her window, and trying to make sense of what is happening. Just as she wishes aloud for “no more bodies,” Paul’s corpse disappears. At dinner, the scientist explains why the alien is interested in heroin. He tells Jimmy’s mother of special receptors in the brain that receive “opiate molecules” and heroin is one of these opiates. He goes on to explain that it is possible that during orgasm a molecule is released that is similar to opiates. If this is true, the scientist believes it is possible that another life form depends on this molecule as a means to survive, which would explain why the alien is attracted to heroin. Adrian has returned and Margaret begins preparing the chicken she brought, when Jimmy knocks on their door. It turns out that Jimmy has come along with the people of Midnite Magazine. Margaret has lost track of time, and subsequently forgotten about the photo shoot. In a flurry of activity, people begin to flood into the apartment to set up for the photo shoot. As expected, Jimmy is asking where the drugs are. Stylists at the photo shoot are attending to both

9 Margaret and Jimmy; one remarks that they look alike. As setup continues for the photo shoot, Adrian talks to the editor of Midnite Magazine about Margaret’s childhood: she grew up in Connecticut and went to church every Sunday. A series of photos of Margaret when she was younger are shown. The scene is a frenzy of things all happening at once: some of the crew is doing drugs, others help Margaret and Jimmy, and some are just sitting around waiting for the photo shoot to begin. During the photo shoot, Margaret and Jimmy pose together in a series of colorful outfits; Margaret also poses in several outfits by herself. Margaret gets into a conversation with the editor about her appearance and unusual style of dressing. The crew is discussing who is the “New Ms. America” between Margaret and Jimmy, and they then suggest that they should get photos of the two of them having sex. Jimmy says that he would have sex with a woman, but not Margaret. Margaret responds by telling him he is scared. Jimmy begins to insult Margaret in front of everyone, calling her “chicken woman” and making “cluck, cluck” noises to her face. Suddenly, to Jimmy’s surprise, Margaret’s tone changes and she begins to complement Jimmy on his looks. Margaret tells Jimmy that he should hit her, which he does; she then offers to give him oral sex. Everyone in the apartment gathers around to watch and soon they begin to chant “do it” as Jimmy stands with his back to the wall and Margaret is on her knees in front of him. Jimmy is clearly uncomfortable, but with everyone continuing to shout “do it,” Margaret gives Jimmy oral sex. After several minutes, the scene changes to the alien’s perspective and Jimmy disappears in front of everyone in the apartment. Everyone goes silent and the editor leaves. Everyone who is left is confused, and Margaret says she killed Jimmy, yet she cannot explain how. Margaret then explains that anyone who has sex with her will die; Adrian does not believe her and says she will have sex with Margaret and not die. Ignoring Margaret’s pleading, Adrian has two people hold Margaret down while she gyrates on top of her. After several moments, Adrian disappears in front of everyone as well. This time the alien’s perspective is not shown. Once again, everyone is confused. Margaret begins to put on fluorescent make-up and goes into a lengthy monologue about where she is from and what others have expected of her during her lifetime. Margaret then says they should all go to the club and dance, because there is nothing else to do. As she leaves in a cab, everyone stares in bewilderment and disbelief. At the club, Margaret walks the dance floor and eventually spots a young man upstairs, looking at her. She goes upstairs to find him, begins acting very seductively towards him, and finally says that they should go to her place.

10 Jimmy’s mother and the scientist have finished dinner, she is clearly drunk and wants him to get comfortable. As she goes back to look through the telescope, she sees Margaret and the young man about to have sex. Now with Jimmy’s mother in his lap, the scientist looks through the telescope. Margaret is now having sex with the young man, and he becomes another victim and vanishes after another infrared flash. The scientist has been watching the whole time and decides to go over to Margaret’s apartment to warn her of the danger that she is in. The action briefly cuts back to the club where people are dancing and a woman in a red dress asks a man leaning against a wall if she knows anyone named Adrian; the man replies “sure.” Back at her apartment, Margaret has taken off her makeup, changed clothes and goes to her window and says “come out Indian,” and that there is no one left to kill. The scientist makes his way to Margaret’s apartment and finds her still talking out the window. He tries to explain to her that she is in danger and that an alien creature is living on her roof. During their conversation, Margaret has grabbed a knife without the scientist knowing. He goes on to tell Margaret his theory. Margaret wants to know why the creature did not kill her. The scientist asks her if she has had an orgasm, and Margaret tells him that she has not. They both go out on the rooftop, and the scientist points out the alien ship to Margaret. They both stare at the ship perched on the roof for a moment and then Margaret stabs the scientist in the back. Jimmy’s mother who has been watching through the telescope in her apartment, rushes downstairs and over to Margaret’s apartment. Margaret begins to speak to the alien ship calling it “Indian” and says that they can be together now. Then, the ship rises off the roof and emits blue light. Fearing that the ship will leave without her, Margaret goes back inside, reaches behind the mask on the wall, and gets a bag of heroin to inject herself with a dose. Downstairs, Jimmy’s mother runs up to the apartment just as the woman in the red dress from the club pulls up in a cab; they enter the building together. Upstairs, Margaret stands outside as the heroin takes affect. Jimmy’s mother and the woman in the red dress are both going to the top floor and ride in the elevator together. The woman in the red dress is now recognizable as Paul’s wife, who lives in the same building. She looks at Jimmy’s mother and makes the comment that Adrian must be having a party; Jimmy’s mother does not know Adrian. Margaret has now climbed on the roof where the alien ship once rested; the ship is floating above her. Margaret can be seen walking towards the ship from the alien’s infrared perspective. The blue light from the ship becomes brighter, and as Paul’s wife and Jimmy’s mother reach the rooftop, they turn to see the alien ship take Margaret in a brilliant

11 flash of light. The ship then ascends to the sky. The film closes with a shot of the Empire State Building at night as the credits roll.

Analysis

Even from the opening shots of Liquid Sky, the visual imagery would seem to be ambiguous. However, one of the most distinguishing aspects of the plot and characters is that something seemingly random at its introduction is eventually revealed to have a distinct purpose or symbolic meaning as the film progresses. The mask, shown in the opening scenes is a prime example. It occupies a central position in the apartment much like heroin in the film. In addition to the likeness it shares with Margaret, who has not been introduced yet, it serves the practical purpose of being Adrian’s hiding place for her drugs. Later in the film, Margaret destroys the mask, thus destroying herself, which could be viewed as foreshadowing, since it is the heroin behind the mask that ultimately causes Margaret to submit to the alien. All the other victims succumb to the alien as a result of sex. The aforementioned intersections in the film not only cross events, but also characters. Several characters in the film are involved in more than one storyline simultaneously. For example, Jimmy’s mother is trying to reconnect with her son, but is also interested in the German scientist. There really is not anything to suggest that the plot would have been incomprehensible, if the German scientist had met some other random woman instead of Jimmy’s mother. In this regard, the characters in Liquid Sky are used efficiently, often serving more than one purpose in the plot. It is evident that these intersections are deliberate and enhance the dramatic effect of the action. Paul is married, and he is ultimately a victim of the alien. Owen is a friend of the scientist and is also killed by the alien. The intersections are more dramatic, because the characters are never aware of them. The German scientist has no way of knowing that when he meets Margaret towards the end of the film, that she knew Owen. Jimmy’s mother does not know Adrian or Margaret, or that they know her son. The fact that characters are not aware of these congruences, speaks to their level of awareness in the film as a whole. From the beginning to the end of Liquid Sky, the viewer is usually in the position of knowing more about what is going on than the characters themselves. The one notable exception is the scientist, who is essentially a teacher for the viewer. He also tries, unsuccessfully, to

12 educate the characters in the film about what is going on. In the cases of Margaret, Adrian, and Owen the result of ignoring the German scientist was death. Although he is not aware of the character relationships, he has the clearest sense of what is going on: what the alien wants, where it lives, and how it can be stopped. In Liquid Sky, the characters are flat overall. There are not many details revealed about their lives. Background information is learned about Margaret and Adrian, but the characters mainly serve to advance the plot. The alien is a rather ironic character, because it goes largely unnoticed throughout the film, and yet it determines much of what happens in the film. It would not be a stretch to say that the film is plot driven as opposed to character driven. The plot in the film primarily determines the actions of the characters. Subsequently, more is learned about them through what they do instead of what is said about them. Additionally, the characters do not change throughout the course of the film, with the exception of Margaret who realizes that she has lead her life based on what others told her it should be and finds, if only temporarily, a new inner strength that gives her power over people. Taking this into consideration, Margaret is the closest thing to a protagonist in the film, but probably not the strongest example of a lead character in a movie. There is a voyeuristic quality to the film; it feels like watching something from the outside as opposed to being actively part of it. Clive Smith: I don’t think it hurts the movie, but it does probably make for a less broad audience appeal. I think the voyeuristic quality that you mentioned is an apt description. When I think of other films I consider to be artistically successful that have no single or central protagonist, such as Kubrick’s 2001 or the Godfrey Reggio ‘Qatsi’ trilogy of films, I think these films would have failed to achieve their powerful impact had they chosen to use a single or central protagonist. I believe that Liquid Sky might have suffered had it adopted this more traditional route to viewer identification, although I’m not suggesting that Liquid Sky has the same transcendental quality as the other films I mentioned.10

Except for the alien, whose emotional state is ambiguous, nothing is ever seen from a character’s point of view. The camera shots feel rather neutral. Clive Smith describes the overall effect as being “similar to the fascination one might derive from observing a world of insanely colored insects -- weirdly beautiful, but ultimately too alien to generate empathy.”11

10 Clive Smith, e-mail message, January 24, 2007. 11 Clive Smith, e-mail message, December 5, 2006.

13 Therein lies one of the most unique attributes of the Liquid Sky storyline: keeping the viewer engaged in what is happening, despite not having the most engaging characters.

14 2. LIQUID SKY & CULT CINEMA

The medium of film has been in existence for over one hundred years. During that time, motion pictures have evolved to include innovations such as sound, color, and special effects. However, films have also remained fundamentally the same. More precisely, they convey experiences and events. Whether or not the story is fiction or non-fiction, known or unknown, adored or loathed, movies have become firmly rooted in modern culture as a form of entertainment, expression, and education. Liquid Sky is one such example. It is most commonly referred to as a cult movie. This chapter will explore what a cult film is and subsequently determine the validity of the assertion that Liquid Sky is a cult film.

Defining a Cult Film

As film has become ever more relevant in society, it has spawned numerous sub-divisions or genres to describe the many forms it assumes. The genre of silent film, for example, is one of the earliest; the music played at their showings was often popular music of the period that fit with the action in the film, instead of music that was composed specifically for the film. The genre of cult film (one of the focuses of this thesis) is relatively new by comparison and has been in use for only about twenty years according to at least one source.12 Because understanding cult film is key to understanding this thesis, it is necessary to set forth clear definitions of what a cult film is. Both film critics and enthusiasts have identified numerous films, Liquid Sky among them, as cult films. Subsequently, this thesis will not question Liquid Sky’s status as cult film, but rather define how it fits into the genre. The Rocky Horror Picture Show is arguably the most well-known and widely acknowledged cult film, but several texts have identified Casablanca as a cult film as well. The former is in vibrant color and is often acted out by devoted fans. The latter is in black and white, depicts the past, and is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest films ever made. And yet they are both considered cult films. So, what defines a cult film? If

12 French, Karl and Philip French. Cult Movies (New York: Billboard Books, 2000), 6.

15 one was to use these two films as examples of the prototypical cult film, the genre is not defined by time or plot. “The point is that an aesthetic of the cult film, as well as models for thinking about it, is still evolving.”13 Nevertheless, the word “cult” is applied to any film in which there are certain common characteristics, even if the films are as distant as The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Casablanca. In fact, many of the elements that link such disparate films as Casablanca (1942), Rebel Without A Cause (1955), The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), and Liquid Sky (1983) fall outside genre study’s normal focus on plot setting, character type, and theme. Instead, we find ourselves examining such often overlooked concerns as strategies of presentation and audience response.14

In the case of Liquid Sky, one of those overlooked concerns is the music.

The first key to understanding a cult film lies in the definition of the word cult. The word is often used in a religious context and refers to a devoted sect of worshippers or followers. In the case of cult movies, the exact size of the following is not specific.15 To be more precise, the words “cult” and “culture” share the same Latin root cultus, which means “worship” as well as “cultivation.” The implication is an attachment by the cultists to the film. For example, Star Wars may be universally enjoyed and recognized, but the most devout followers of the film can quote dialogue from the film, collect memorabilia associated with the film, and even dress up as characters from the films. One of the ways a film can achieve cult status is as a direct result of actions by its followers or cultists, who do more than simply watch the movie. Subsequently, the themes and ideas surrounding cult films are not orthodox, conventional, or universal.16 In addition to having an unspecific, ambiguous number of followers, cult films are sometimes only known or even seen by a relatively limited number of people. If a film is not made available to a large audience of people, it can end up obtaining cult status as a result. A low budget or small-scale film likely will not make it to nearly as many theaters as a film with a larger budget, well-known actors, or an extensive marketing campaign, so it may have to rely on word of mouth. This may seem to exclude a film like Star Wars from cult status, but one must

13 Ibid. 14 J.P. Telotte, “Beyond All Reason: The Nature of Cult,” in The Cult Film Experience, ed. J.P. Telotte (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1991), 6. 15 French, Karl and Philip French. Cult Movies (New York: Billboard Books, 2000), 6. 16 Ibid.

16 keep in mind that however revered the film is, it is not appreciated equally by everyone. On the other hand, a film can also achieve cult status if it is widely publicized and shown as the result of its controversial or unusual subject matter—or, moreover, the inability or unwillingness of a majority of audiences to understand or accept the movie in a positive light. “With cult movies, as opposed to most other films, audiences seek out not only the unfamiliar in character and story, but the unfamiliar style, frame, and imagistic texture.”17 A movie can attain cult status as a result of the small population of the people who do see the movie and identify with it on some level. In fact, a motion picture’s status as a cult film is largely determined by its audience or lack there of. In the same sense that a cult film is not a prototypical, conventional Hollywood movie, the people who enjoy them are not prototypical, conventional moviegoers. These people experience film on a more intense level than most audience members. Their connection to the film can be borderline obsessive or excessive. This is certainly true today in a society that finds people camping out at movie sets for even the briefest glimpse of filming, in order to reveal information about films months before they are released in media outlets, such as the internet or magazines. In the movement beyond reason, beyond the usual ways of seeing, caring about, and identifying with a film or its characters, the cultist embraces a comfortable difference: from those who find film a brief diversion or pleasure, but of little lasting interest; from those who give scant attention to film, seeing little of themselves in its admittedly alluring imagery; even from those who take film quite seriously, but bridle at the excessive attachment or identification that marks some moviegoers. Cultists might well be said to love such differences, for to them they suggest something unusual, noteworthy, and valuable not just about the movies, but about their own character, too.18

One begins to understand that for a movie to be acknowledged as a cult movie is not a science or any kind of precise process. It is the combination of several factors and circumstances that vary from film to film. Subsequently, defining or identifying a cult film is also a matter of perspective, which is linked to the audience. When asked if he agreed with the common assertion that Liquid Sky is a cult film, Clive Smith replied: “I don’t have a good enough

17 Timothy Corrigan, “Film and the Culture of Cult,” in The Cult Film Experience, ed. J.P. Telotte (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1991), 26. 18 J.P. Telotte, “Beyond All Reason: The Nature of Cult,” in The Cult Film Experience, ed. J.P. Telotte (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1991), 5.

17 knowledge of what the cult film criteria are.”19 Similarly, Brenda Hutchinson felt that the question was better left for someone more knowledgeable in the field of film. At first these may seem to be strange, if not, ambiguous answers from two people who worked on the music for the film and have also seen it. In retrospect, they are also people who have a more intimate knowledge of the film than the average person, and they are perhaps too close to it to make such a definitive assertion. However, further questioning reveals that Clive Smith is aware of at least one of the characteristics of the film, which significantly contributes to its cult status. When asked about the intention of the filmmakers involved in making Liquid Sky, Smith replied: “They wanted to present a singular vision – one that was not limited by Hollywood conventions and one that was not diluted by a huge number of contributors.”20 Mr. Smith’s answer points to one of the most commonly held beliefs about cult movies, which is that they are, in some way, unconventional; in this case, against “Hollywood conventions.” Although cult films can often be identified by conventions they go against, this should be differentiated from deliberately attempting to make a cult film. “Arranged marriages seldom work, and trying to dictate desire seems almost inimical to the cult spirit, as the failure of Rocky Horror’s sequel, Shock Treatment, attests.”21 Despite common features, all cult films cannot just be lumped into a singular group. There are different categories to consider. One common type is the historical cult film, which would include Casablanca, and can be identified for somehow manifesting history within the movie itself through the use of black and white or depicting a culture from the past.22 Another category, known as midnight movies, tends to encompass more unusual films such as Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Liquid Sky. These two categories could be considered the two extremes of the cult genre. Even if a film does fit into one of these broad categories, cult status is still not always clear. For example, according to Bruce Kawin, the problem with Casablanca is that it is basically mainstream and has been elevated to cult

19 Clive Smith, e-mail message, December 13, 2006. 20 Clive Smith, e-mail message, December 13, 2006. 21 J.P. Telotte, “Beyond All Reason: The Nature of Cult,” in The Cult Film Experience, ed. J.P. Telotte (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1991), 15. 22 Timothy Corrigan, “Film and the Culture of Cult,” in The Cult Film Experience, ed. J.P. Telotte (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1991), 29.

18 status over time as opposed to a film like Evil Dead II, which was made to appeal to a certain group.23 The prevailing thought is that most cult films are made with a certain fan base in mind. So, how does all of this relate to Liquid Sky? In order to discuss the film in the context of the cult genre, a suitable working definition is necessary. While it is basically impossible to create a definition that encompasses all cult movies, it is possible to create one that takes into account the characteristics of Liquid Sky. I propose the following definition: A cult film is a movie that appeals to a specific group of unspecified number and composition and has characteristics that set it apart from most or all other movies, thus making it contradictory to mainstream thoughts and practices.

Applying the cult label to Liquid Sky

With that definition in mind, how does Liquid Sky fit into the genre of cult cinema? First of all, the film is certainly not accessible to a large portion of society. In an ironic twist, the film does not even appear in books that deal with cult movies that have been published since its release. An initial search of the literature yielded few results with regard to the film’s music or other aspects. However, the film is available to an unspecified group. This is evidenced by the fact that Slava Tsukerman gives presentations on the film, as he did at the Museum of the Moving Image’s “Fashion in Film Festival” on March 17th of this year, and others he has done in the past. This indicates there is an audience, however small, that has an interest in Liquid Sky, or at least in films like it. So the film is squarely in the gray area of visibility; it is neither highly visible, nor has it been completely obscured over time. Second, Liquid Sky certainly has characteristics that set it apart from other films. Without revealing too much about the music in the film, which will be discussed in subsequent sections, the soundtrack for Liquid Sky was different from what most people were accustomed to hearing in 1982. It uses pre-existing high art pieces that were and are not in the listening vernacular of most people and a synthesizer that was new and not widely used the in film and music industries. Combined with the fact that the film depicts the punk and new wave subcultures of 1980s New York City, it is difficult to mistake Liquid Sky for a typical Hollywood, money-making, popcorn

23 Bruce Kawin, “After Midnight,” in The Cult Experience, ed. J.P. Telotte (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1991), 18.

19 affair, much less a film that could be considered mainstream. Liquid Sky may not have been made to appease these sects of society, but it certainly acknowledged their existence. All of these factors contribute to Liquid Sky’s legitimate status as a cult film; the effects they have on the perception of the film, however, is an entirely different question with its own set of considerations.

3. MUSIC IN LIQUID SKY

The music featured in Liquid Sky stands out because of the various pieces that were chosen for the film and because of the methods that were used to perform the music for the film. Liquid Sky features three different kinds of music: adapted, original, and borrowed. Each kind of music has a specific function in the context of the film, which includes but is not limited to enhancing physical surroundings, conveying the time of day, and character association. A majority of the film features music, and the ability to identify and understand it in the film increases the overall effect of the film as a coherent work. A chart that lists all occurrences of adapted, original, and borrowed music can be found in Appendix E.

Adapted Music

The use of pre-existing music in film is not a new concept. In keeping with the cult genre and science fiction films, a famous example is 2001: A Space Odyssey, which includes Richard Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra, Gyorgy Ligeti’s Atmospheres, and Lux aeterna. In 2001: A Space Odyssey, most of the pre-existing music heard during the film is in its original form and orchestration. By the time 2001: A Space Odyssey premiered in theaters it was over-budget and past its deadline. Even more damning was its poor reception, which undoubtedly contributed to its cult status. However, more relevant to this discussion, the music to be used in the film had gone through several changes. In February of 1966, a rough cut of the film was shown to Metro Goldwyn Mayer using Mendelssohn’s overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Vaughn Williams’s Antarctica Symphony for the soundtrack.24 This score was temporary and Stanley Kubrick had hired noted film composer, Alex North, to compose an original soundtrack for the film. The following year, Kubrick decided to go in the opposite direction and use pre-existing music instead of the original music that had been composed. Alex North had been recording in

24 Carolyn Geduld, Filmguide to 2001: A Space Odyssey, 24.

21 London between January and February of 1967 when Kubrick decided not to use the new score.25 In an interview Kubrick’s justification made his reasoning clear: However good our best film composers may be, they are not a Beethoven, a Mozart or a Brahms. Why use music, which is less good when there is such a multitude of great orchestral music available from the past and from our own time? When you are editing a film, it's very helpful to be able to try out different pieces of music to see how they work with the scene. . . .Well, with a little more care and thought, these temporary tracks can become the final score.26

In Liquid Sky the idea of using pre-existing music is taken a step further by adapting it. More specifically, the music was filtered through the Fairlight CMI. While to the mass audience, these pieces are relatively obscure, their inclusion in Liquid Sky would appear to have been deliberate. To take a piece of music and make it relevant in a context other than what was intended is certainly not new, but in a movie that few people saw in 1982 and has remained largely unseen today, the effect was a deliberate rather than a random attempt to find music appropriate to the film, much like Kubrick’s decision. In fact, statements by co-composers Brenda Hutchinson and Clive Smith support the notion that director Slava Tsukerman knew what music he wanted very early on. According to Brenda Hutchinson: “They were far more interested in the Fairlight than in my music because Slava was enamored of Carl Orff and wanted to use the Fairlight primarily to orchestrate that music with all the amazing possibilities of real world sounds that the Fairlight could offer.”27 Clive Smith: “I don’t recall Slava ever telling me why he chose the particular non-original pieces.”28 Liquid Sky has three instances of adapted music. In the order they occur in the movie, they are: an excerpt from Trionfo di Afrodite by Carl Orff (Alien’s Theme I and Alien’s Theme II), the Laurel Waltz by Anthony Philip Heinrich (Margaret’s Childhood Theme) and La Sonnerie de Genevieve du Mont de Paris by Marin Marais (Noon and Afternoon). Although these pieces appear in the same movie and they are adapted electronically, it is difficult to pinpoint any similarities among the three. One exception is that all of the adapted music is heard within the film as non-diegetic. The term non-diegetic sound refers to any sound that is not

25 Ibid, 25. 26 The Kubrick Site: Kubrick Speaks with regard to ‘Barry Lyndon.’ “Kubrick on Barry Lyndon: An Interview with Michel Ciment.” http://www.visual- memory.co.uk/amk/doc/interview.bl.html (accessed May 29, 2007) 27 Brenda Hutchinson, e-mail message from author, February 21, 2007. 28 Clive Smith, e-mail message from author, December, 13, 2006.

22 implied by the action of the film. Examples include narration and sound effects, or music added to enhance the drama. The composers are of different nationalities, lived during different periods, and composed in distinctly different styles. Furthermore these pieces are used in a movie that takes place in the twentieth-century, yet none of these pieces has any broad modern- day implications. Despite these apparent oddities, the adapted music is used in Liquid Sky in a conventional way: it can be associated with a theme or character in the context of the film. Marin Marais The oldest example of adapted music in Liquid Sky is La Sonnerie de Genevieve du Mont de Paris (The Bells of St. Genevieve) by Marin Marais. Liquid Sky is not the only instance of this piece being used in a film. Although it would be several years later, in 1991, it was used in the film Tous les matins du monde (All the Mornings of the World). The choice to include La Sonnerie de Genevieve du Mont de Paris in the film Tous les matins du monde is relatively clear, considering the film is a semi-autobiographical account of Marias’s life and La Sonnerie de Genevieve du Mont de Paris is one of his most well-known pieces. However, “well known” is quite relative. The awareness of the piece is not comparable with Vivald’s The Four Seaons, for example. The inclusion of the piece in Liquid Sky is less evident. One possible rationale for its use in the film could lie in the title of the piece, which refers to bells. Historically, bells are often used to signify the passage of time. The liner notes of the soundtrack show that La Sonnerie de Genevieve du Mont de Paris is used in two main instances during Liquid Sky; the two tracks are entitled “Noon” and “Afternoon” respectively. While the film does not have any apparent ties to Marin Marais, it is plausible that Slava Tsukerman decided to use the piece to mark the passage of time in the movie, since the piece has a repeating bass line that could be likened to the ticking of a clock. Furthermore, both appearances of the piece in the movie are accompanied by visuals of New York City traffic in motion. This reinforces the idea of the passage of time or at the very least the absence of stillness. The images that accompany each occurrence of the piece come to be associated with the piece itself.

Carl Orff Historically, using a composition by Carl Orff in a film is not really that unusual. O Fortuna from Carmina Burana has been used numerous times in film for both dramatic and

23 comedic effect. Carmina Burana is actually the first part of a triptych entitled Trionfo (“Triumphs”) whose other two parts are Catulli Carmina and Trionfo di Afrodite. However, Liquid Sky does not feature O Fortuna or any music from Carmina Burana, arguably the most well-known portion of the triptych. Instead an excerpt from a movement from Trionfo di Afrodite is used entitled Ludi e canti nuziali davanti al talamo (Wedding games and songs outside the bridal chamber). Unlike Carmina Burana, which was derived from a thirteenth-century text from Bavaria, Trionfo di Afrodite uses poems by Catullus, Sappho, and Euripides. Ludi e canti nuziali davanti al talamo uses a text by Catullus. As it originally appears in Trionfo di Afrodite, the excerpt is part of a chorus. However, in Liquid Sky the music is not performed by a chorus. Brenda Hutchinson reinforces the fact that adapted music took on Tsukerman’s aesthetic meaning within the film instead of some hidden meaning: The choral sounds were sampled voices. The samples were of the chorus singing vowel sounds. There was no reason to use text. If Slava wanted the Orff piece as sung by a real chorus, he could have done that—but I can’t imagine being so specifically referential for one thing. The wordless chorus was weird and entirely free from associations with any particular piece so it was ideal for our purposes. Plus it would not have made much sense and also it would have been prohibitively expensive and time consuming to sample each word of the chorus. And for what reason? The music itself was evocative and if you cared to know or were familiar with the piece, you would know what the piece was about. I honestly wasn’t too interested in knowing about the text, I am ashamed to say. I liked the music and worked from there.29

As opposed to the Marais composition, the title to the Orff piece does not offer a possible clue regarding its purpose in the film. One of the goals of my research has been to ask Slava Tsukerman why he used the pieces he did. Although this information has yet to materialize, I realize the answer seems to be simpler than I want it to be. In the case of Ludi e canti nuziali davanti al talamo, it would appear that he simply liked the piece and felt that it would fit in the context of the film. Considering that the piece serves at the alien’s theme, it needed to be something that sounded foreign, and in that regard, the music is effective in the movie.

Anthony Philip Heinrich If the inclusion of a little known piece by Carl Orff and a Baroque chaconne by Marin Marais are not eccentric enough, then the inclusion of a nineteenth-century piano waltz is

29 Brenda Hutchinson, e-mail message, May 7, 2007.

24 certainly the most unusual piece of the adapted music in the film. The piece is entitled Laurel Waltz and it was composed by Anthony Philip Heinrich. Despite being born in Europe, he is considered an American composer. One of the primary justifications for this designation is that he composed several pieces that were inspired by American events, albeit within European genres. In the film, the Laurel Waltz has an innocent, if not light-hearted sound. It comes to be associated with nostalgic memories of Margaret’s past, which is a stark contrast to the life she currently leads. For better or for worse, Margaret is clearly not the same person that she was when she was younger as the pictures and her own comments reveal (DVD – 01:10:30 and 01:28:40). She comes to the realization that she has lead her life based on the ideals of others, rather than her own ideals. This epiphany is a turning point for the character of Margaret. Much like the Orff piece, the waltz seems free of any association with its original context.

Original Music

The remaining music in Liquid Sky is original to the film. Like the adapted music it was performed on a synthesizer, which gives all the music in the movie a uniform timbre and sound. “Me and My Rhythm Box”

The most notable example of original music in the film is the original song “Me and My Rhythm Box,” which is performed by Adrian (Paula E. Sheppard) in the club. The complete lyrics for the song can be found in Appendix D. Unlike the adapted music, the song and its words suggest a metaphorical meaning, with the “rhythm box” being the heart. Not unlike La Sonnerie de Genevieve du Mont de Paris, there is a recurring concept of the passage of time, inevitability, and perpetual motion. The song has the distinction of being the only portion of original music that is diegetic in the film. The performance of the song is accompanied by a regular beat in the background, however Adrian’s voice is often jaunty, and even rough sounding. She is both singing and speaking the lyrics to the song. Her stage presence and demeanor towards the audience makes the song proclamatory in character.

Other

25 The rest of the original music in the film contains no words. It has no extra-musical associations and was completely improvised. Brenda Hutchinson states: “Other than the pieces composed by Carl Orff and others, the music was improvised. On the spot, each day, totally improvised. The choice of sounds was decided the same day as the music was performed.”30 The resulting sound can be described as dissonant and even mechanical at times; it adds an element of sound to the film that matches the unusual visual aspects.

Borrowed Music The borrowed music in Liquid Sky is heard in the club scenes and is listed in the credits as “Music in Disco, Excerpts from “Beautiful Bend” by Boris Midney. Like Tsukerman, Midney emigrated from Russia to America. Once here he worked as a performer, arranger, and producer in the genres of disco, rock, and jazz and became enamored with the music scene in New York; Beautiful Bend was released in 1978. Because Midney was a prolific composer who was active in New York, this piece makes the most sense within Liquid Sky. Because of disco’s popularity, it is entirely plausible that a club might have played his music. Like “Me and My Rhythm Box,” the excerpts from Beautiful Bend are diegetic in the film. Unlike the rest of the music in the film, the borrowed music was not performed on the Fairlight CMI. However, it does not seem out of place because it gives viewer a context for the time period in which the film takes place. Unlike the examples of adapted music, the borrowed music has relevance to the time period of the film. The adapted, original, and borrowed music effectively contribute to the overall sound of sound of Liquid Sky despite their various origins. Whether the music was composed specifically for the film or put into a new context, it ultimately had to serve the film. The music heard in Liquid Sky was a risky endeavor not only because the music sounded unusual, but also because it employed a new technology that was unfamiliar to most people who saw the film. As a result, there wasn’t much for the audience to compare the film to. In retrospect, Liquid Sky is one the best modern examples of how electronic music can effectively be used in conjunction with film.

30 Brenda Hutchinson, e-mail response from author, May 7, 2007.

26 4. CREATING THE MUSIC FOR LIQUID SKY

Creating the music for Liquid Sky was largely the work of Brenda Hutchinson and Clive Smith. Although the artistic vision was Slava Tsukerman’s, it was their job to take these abstract ideas and convert them into music. The machine they used, the Fairlight CMI, was so new that few people in the United States had access to one, let alone the ability to operate it. These challenges made for an arduous, yet rewarding task that resulted in music that truly was “alien.” As they were the co-composers for the film, the next two sections draw heavily upon my correspondences with Hutchinson and Smith, not only for their factual information, but for their truly insightful thoughts on what it was like to contribute the music for Liquid Sky.

Fairlight CMI

Aside from the eclectic and arguably obscure choices of music for Liquid Sky, the most distinctive features of the film’s soundtrack are the way it sounds and the means used to achieve that sound. Ultimately, this was made possible by using a computer-based digital sampling instrument known as the Fairlight Computer Musical Instrument (or Fairlight CMI). While modern synthesizers render the Fairlight CMI quaint by comparison, for its time the machine utilized cutting edge technology and components. In short, the Fairlight CMI was “the world’s first digital sampling keyboard.”31 The Fairlight CMI was the brainchild of Kim Ryrie and Peter Vogel. In 1975 they founded Fairlight Instruments in Sydney, Australia.32 The name is derived from a hydrofoil that travels the Sydney Harbor.33 While the Fairlight CMI would become the cornerstone of their

31 Fairlight. “Fairlight.” http://www.fairlightau.com/default_content.html (accessed May 15, 2007). 32 Synthmuseum.com – Fairlight. “Fairlight.” Synthmuseum.com. http://www.synthmuseum.com/fair/index.html (accessed April 26, 2007). 33 Music Thing: Fairlight Week: Pt. 1: Buy Your Own. “Fairlight Week: Pt. 1: Buy Your Own.” http://musicthing.blogspot.com/2004/10/fairlight-week-pt-1-buy-your-own.html (Accessed May 15, 2007).

27 work, early on the company was known for making video special effects boxes.34 Fairlight is still in existence and operating out of Australia. Although they no longer manufacture the Fairlight CMI, they remain active in the manufacture of industry-leading digital audio equipment. Among their more recent achievements are the MFX3 (1993), which allowed the user to record and playback 24 tracks using a single hard drive and recognition by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for their work on Digital audio Dubbers (2000).35 The main goal for the formation of Fairlight Instruments was to produce a digital synthesizer. Both Ryrie and Vogel felt that the analog synthesizers of the time had too many limitations.36 Their early work on digital synthesizers yielded more setbacks than breakthroughs. Ultimately, it was the addition of a third person who had already been working on digital synthesizers that produced progress. Tony Furse, also Australian, was a consultant with Motorola who teamed with Ryrie and Vogel; his contributions were vital in creating the machine that would become the Fairlight CMI. The earliest result of their collaboration was the precursor to the Fairlight CMI, a synthesizer called the Quasar M8 “an eight-voice synth with a keyboard, a QWERTY keyboard, a 2 x 2 x 4-foot processing box with two disk drives and a monitor with a lightpen.”37 The Quasar M8 was ready in 1976 and although it took promising steps towards the ultimate goal of producing a digital synthesizer, it was not without drawbacks. The machine took two hours just to boot.38 Additionally, the size and complexity of the machine made it expensive and subsequently impractical to produce in large quantities.39 Over the next several years, Ryrie and Vogel continued to work, using the technology and lessons learned from the Quasar M8. The first Fairlight CMI was ready in 1979, and it was this version that was used to create the music for Liquid Sky. Clive Smith confirms this: “It was

34 Fairlight CMI. “The Fairlight CMI.” http://www.obsolete.com/120_years/machines/fairlight/ (accessed April 26, 2007). 35 Fairlight. “Fairlight.” http://www.fairlightau.com/default_content.html (accessed May 15, 2007). 36 Leete, Norm. “The Fun of the Fairlight.” Sound on Sound: The World’s Best Music Recording Magazine. http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr99/articles/fairlight.htm (accessed April 26, 2007). 37 Ibid 38 Synthmuseum.com – Fairlight. “Fairlight.” Synthmuseum.com. http://www.synthmuseum.com/fair/index.html (accessed April 26, 2007). 39 Leete, Norm. “The Fun of the Fairlight.” Sound on Sound: The World’s Best Music Recording Magazine. http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr99/articles/fairlight.htm (accessed April 26, 2007).

28 the very first version, now referred to as the Series I, but at the time since there was no Series II, IIx or III, so it was just referred to as the Fairlight CMI.”40 One of the key features was its ability to record and play back real-world sounds. While this technique would eventually become popularized as sampling, this feature went against the original goal of building “a digital synthesizer that allowed complete control over every parameter in real-time. With samples they could only control attack, sustain, vibrato, and decay. The samples gave them complexity, but not control.”41 Although Ryrie and Vogel did not care for sampling, some of the eventual customers and users of the Fairlight CMI had a different view. Brenda Hutchinson: I have always enjoyed working with sounds from the “real world” as opposed to electronically synthesized and generated sounds. So the sampler was a very exciting development. Up until then, I had used tape recorders to capture the sounds from the environment and to record people telling stories, singing, etc. With the Fairlight, I no longer had to work with the recorded sounds exclusively in the magnetic tape medium – editing, mixing, etc. Unlike the next generation of samplers like the AKAI and the EMU, the Fairlight allowed all of its memory to be used in any way. There was no assumption that people would want to recreate the sounds of traditional instruments. The later generation of samplers made that assumption and the result was that particular aesthetic determined the design of how the instruments functioned and what kind of music would be produced. The memory was designed so that as many very small samples could be made as possible so that the greatest number of instruments could be stored at one time. For instance, in order to recreate an orchestra, one would need to have all of the instruments of the orchestra. And in order for that to happen you would need to take as short a sample as possible from each instrument. Then it was necessary to find a way to sustain these very short samples and the loop was introduced into the sampler. The idea was to find a steady state within the very short sample that didn’t change much and then loop that portion. Then when this sample was played, as long as the performer held down a key, the sample would stay in the loop as if the “flute’ or “violin” or “sax” was continuing to play.42

Clive Smith: It was very exciting, because there was nothing else like it at the time, and no particular “right way” of using it had been established. I was constantly

40 Clive Smith, e-mail message, January 24, 2007. 41 GH Services. “The Holmes Page: The Fairlight CMI.” GH Services. http://ghservices.com/gregh/fairligh/ (accessed April 18, 2007). 42 Brenda Hutchinson, e-mail message, April 29, 2007.

29 discovering new things that it could do, and by sampling and manipulating my own sounds, I felt that I could really personalize the instrument.43

The sampling function was possible because of the voice cards used by the machine that each had its own waveform RAM. Each voice card had a total of 16K of waveform RAM in comparison to the 4K of waveform RAM utilized by the Quasar M8.44 Reportedly, one of the first sounds to be sampled was an employee’s dog bark. Ironically, it was the sampling feature that was one of the key contributors to the success of the Fairlight CMI and the owners added their own samples to the library of samples that the synthesizer shipped with; some of them eventually were added to the official Fairlight sound library.45 The Fairlight CMI also had a sequencing function, making it a complete workstation.46 Perhaps one of the most innovative features of the Fairlight CMI was a lightpen, which was connected to the monitor by a cable; when touched to the monitor screen, the lightpen could be used to input information into the synthesizer.47 This was essentially the electronic equivalent of a tablet or chalkboard. While the Fairlight CMI was revolutionary in the field of digital recording technology, and was an obvious improvement over the Quasar M8, it was not without drawbacks of its own. Although, not as large as the Quasar M8, the Fairlight CMI could hardly be considered small. It consisted of “several large (cream-coloured) parts plus loads of cables.”48 The Fairlight CMI had specifications of 8 bit (10 khz) resolution at 20 kb per sample, which broke down to 16 kbs for sound and 4 kbs for parameter information.49 In combination with low quality voice cards, the

43 Clive Smith, e-mail response from author, January 24, 2007. 44 Leete, Norm. “The Fun of the Fairlight.” Sound on Sound: The World’s Best Music Recording Magazine. http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr99/articles/fairlight.htm (accessed April 26, 2007). 45 GH Services. “The Holmes Page: The Fairlight CMI.” GH Services. http://ghservices.com/gregh/fairligh/ (accessed April 18, 2007). 46 Leete, Norm. “The Fun of the Fairlight.” Sound on Sound: The World’s Best Music Recording Magazine. http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr99/articles/fairlight.htm (accessed April 26, 2007). 47 GH Services. “The Holmes Page: The Fairlight CMI.” GH Services. http://ghservices.com/gregh/fairligh/ (accessed April 18, 2007). 48 Leete, Norm. “The Fun of the Fairlight.” Sound on Sound: The World’s Best Music Recording Magazine. http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr99/articles/fairlight.htm (accessed April 26, 2007). 49 Synthmuseum.com – Fairlight. “Fairlight.” Synthmuseum.com. http://www.synthmuseum.com/fair/index.html (accessed April 26, 2007).

30 resulting sound was not of a high standard.50 Another improvement over the Quasar M8 was the price. In the time that passed between the release of the Quasar M8 and the Fairlight CMI, the price of some of the hardware and parts dropped, which made the Fairlight CMI more feasible for mass market production.51 However, even with these improvements, the Fairlight CMI was very expensive for the time: initial versions started at around $25,000 in 1979.52 The final version of the Fairlight CMI, Series III, could cost over $100, 000.53 Subsequent versions of the Fairlight CMI would boast further improvements over the Series I release. The Fairlight Series II was released in 1982 and included better sound quality and updated software, most notably a program called Page R; it also retained the lightpen as a feature.54 Page R, also known as, THE REAL TIME COMPOSER, was “the first integrated graphical pattern-based sequencer.”55 Each note in the sequence has the time value displayed in a horizontal strip. The note value can be edited in the other half of the display. In a similar way to programming a drum machine, Page R allows the user to build up a series of up to 255 patterns with up to eight monographic parts each. These patterns could be combined into up to 26 phrases (A-Z) allowing complex pieces to be constructed. Page R also introduced the idea of quantization and, as the whole system could read the disk drives as a background task, the sequence could be larger than the available memory, as sections would be read in just before they were required.56

Series IIx followed in 1984 and added MIDI capability as well as 6809 type processors as opposed to the 6800 type processors that shipped with the initial version of the Fairlight.57

50 GH Services. “The Holmes Page: The Fairlight CMI.” GH Services. http://ghservices.com/gregh/fairligh/ (accessed April 18, 2007). 51 Leete, Norm. “The Fun of the Fairlight.” Sound on Sound: The World’s Best Music Recording Magazine. http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr99/articles/fairlight.htm (accessed April 26, 2007). 52 Synthmuseum.com – Fairlight. “Fairlight.” Synthmuseum.com. http://www.synthmuseum.com/fair/index.html (accessed April 26, 2007). 53 GH Services. “The Holmes Page: The Fairlight CMI.” GH Services. http://ghservices.com/gregh/fairligh/ (accessed April 18, 2007). 54 Ibid. 55 Leete, Norm. “The Fun of the Fairlight.” Sound on Sound: The World’s Best Music Recording Magazine. http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr99/articles/fairlight.htm (accessed April 26, 2007). 56 Ibid. 57 Synthmuseum.com – Fairlight. “Fairlight.” Synthmuseum.com. http://www.synthmuseum.com/fair/index.html (accessed April 26, 2007).

31 Approximately one year after the Fairlight IIx was released, the Fairlight Series III was introduced and like the IIx it featured updated processors.58 The Fairlight Series III also replaced the lightpen with a graphics tablet.59 The user had a stylus and tablet instead of touching a lightpen to the monitor, which could become tiring.60 After the last Series III was made in 1991, digital recorders, such as the aforementioned MFX3, replaced the Fairlight series.61 The Fairlight CMI played a crucial role in creating the music in Liquid Sky, but it has been historically recognized for the impact it had on popular music, as opposed to film music. Taking this into consideration along with the high price of the Fairlight CMI, it not surprising that some of the earliest purchasers of the machine were prominent, well- known musicians. The first such person to buy the Fairlight CMI was Peter Gabriel; a close relative would become the distributor in the United Kingdom.62 In addition to Peter Gabriel, Stevie Wonder bought one of the first Fairlights in 1979.63 Gabriel’s use of the Fairlight CMI on Shock the Monkey is arguably the single most well-known instance of using the machine. The list of musicians that would use the Fairlight CMI goes on to include John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, Kate Bush, Thomas Dolby, Geoff Downes, Queen, Keith Emerson, Alan Parsons, Stuart Copeland, JJ of Art of Noise, Trevor Horn and Frankie Goes to Hollywood.64 Despite being replaced by more sophisticated and efficient digital recording equipment, the Fairlight CMI is hardly forgotten. In retrospect, it was still a

58 Ibid. 59 GH Services. “The Holmes Page: The Fairlight CMI.” GH Services. http://ghservices.com/gregh/fairligh/ (accessed April 18, 2007). 60 GH Services. “The Holmes Page: The Fairlight CMI.” GH Services. http://ghservices.com/gregh/fairligh/images.htm#fairlight_cmi_iii_stylus (accessed April 18, 2007). 61 GH Services. “The Holmes Page: The Fairlight CMI.” GH Services. http://ghservices.com/gregh/fairligh/ (accessed April 18, 2007). 62 Music Thing: Fairlight Week: Pt. 1: Buy Your Own. “Fairlight Week: Pt. 1: Buy Your Own.” http://musicthing.blogspot.com/2004/10/fairlight-week-pt-1-buy-your-own.html (Accessed May 15, 2007). 63GH Services. “The Holmes Page: The Fairlight CMI.” GH Services. http://ghservices.com/gregh/fairligh/ (accessed April 18, 2007). 64Leete, Norm. “The Fun of the Fairlight.” Sound on Sound: The World’s Best Music Recording Magazine. http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/apr99/articles/fairlight.htm (accessed April 26, 2007).

32 breakthrough for its time despite its cost and software limitations. While some might dismiss it as an oddity from the past, for others the Fairlight CMI is still very current. My research has revealed Fairlights for sale on Ebay, as well as websites created by people wanting to share their experiences restoring the instruments, hoping to recreate its unique sound. In the case of Liquid Sky, the Fairlight CMI was the catalyst for creating the music for, arguably, one of the most overlooked cult films of the past 25 years.

Creating the Music for Liquid Sky

The challenge in creating music for Liquid Sky was to have music that was as unusual as the film’s plot and characters. Unlike the plot of the film, the process of creating the soundtrack does not begin in New York City, but in California. The unique sound of the music in the film is a direct result of the Fairlight CMI, and it was at Village Recording Studios in Los Angeles that the Fairlight CMI used to perform the music in Liquid Sky was procured. The Village was founded by Geordie Hormel, of the Hormel Foods Corporation, in 1968, and he had purchased several of Fairlight CMI machines for his studio at a time when they were relatively new.65 One of those Fairlight CMI synthesizers eventually ended up at a studio in New York City on 16 West 22nd Street called PASS (Public Access Synthesizer Studio); the studio is now called Harvestworks and is located at 596 Broadway #602. In an e-mail message on February 21, 2007, Brenda Hutchinson recalls: Gerry Lindahl had somehow managed to get a Fairlight for Studio PASS for a really good deal. Our part of the bargain was that we had to show everyone how to use it so that I could teach people in New York. So I went, along with Greg Kramer who was one of the founders of Studio PASS (along with Gerry Lindahl) and we took a four-day intensive workshop and learned how to use the Fairlight.

Because the Fairlight CMI was so relatively new to the music industry, there were very few people who knew how to operate it at the time. Brenda Hutchinson’s training in Los Angeles would play an important role in introducing the machine to others, most notably Slava Tsukerman. Brenda Hutchinson:

65 Brenda Hutchinson, e-mail message, February 21, 2007.

33 After returning to New York, I gave regular weeklong intensive workshops to small groups of people. Included in the cost of the workshop was 20 hours of studio time for each of the participants. It worked out really well since I was living in the studio—people could come at anytime of the day or night to use their time and I would help them out if they needed help.66

It was in this capacity of teaching people to use the Fairlight CMI that she first met Slava Tsukerman, the director of Liquid Sky. In addition to the workshops, I also gave private demonstrations of the Fairlight CMI—any time day or night. So, one winter evening at 11 PM, after a day of cancellations because of a blizzard, in walk two people from Russia. They were bundled up and said a little snow couldn’t stop them and they were there for their Fairlight demo. It was Slava Tsukerman and Nina Kerova. So I showed them the Fairlight and they told me about the movie and that they were looking for a composer. I said I could play them some personal work if they came back in a few days. So they did and they hired me to work on the film.67

When Slava and Nina first asked me to compose the music for the film, I was very excited, and after seeing the film in progress, I composed a few pieces for certain scenes that Slava had selected. He didn’t really like what I came up with but he really liked the Fairlight and the sounds it made. Since I was the only operator of the Fairlight at the time, I’m sure that’s why he decided to go with me. We worked together for months and it was fun. I enjoyed coming up with the sound palette and then either improvising music for a scene or orchestrating the Carl Orff pieces.68

Initially, Brenda Hutchinson had the advantage of see a rough version of the film she was being asked to contribute to: I went to a film studio where Slava was working and he showed me rough cuts of Liquid Sky, at that time the film was on 11 small reels and ran about three and a half hours. It was brutal. There were two scenes that decided it for me. The first was the rape scene in the stairway. I had never seen anything like it – it was unglamorous – more like a documentary than anything else and it haunted me. The other scene that I will always remember is the scene with the fluorescent makeup and her (Margaret’s) monologue. I was in my mid 20’s at the time and I identified with the young, awakening feminist in that scene.69

As Brenda Hutchinson began work on the soundtrack, she found herself relying on Tsukerman’s vision and direction as well as the rough cut of the film. Hutchinson recalls:

66 Brenda Hutchinson, e-mail message, February 21, 2007. 67 Ibid. 68 Ibid. 69 Ibid.

34 None of the “special effects” were completed at that time. Slava would say, “This is where the spaceship is going to be” or “This is where the alien FX in the brain will appear.” There were just black screens for those parts. I only got to see the movie this one time and didn’t see it again until the screening.70

Although Tsukerman was very specific on what pieces would be used for the adapted music, when it came to how the music sounded there was a certain amount of freedom. Brenda Hutchinson: The only thing he was specific about was the music he had chosen – and he was only particular about the notated music – all timbral choices were up to me. I orchestrated Epitilamo. I composed or improvised everything that wasn’t notated. This was a lot of music. (I would say the same for Clive).71

For Hutchinson, making the timbral choices for the music meant literally using what was around her. Keeping this in mind, whatever sounds she chose to use also had to make sense in the context of the film score on the whole. I wanted to use sounds from the voices and environment of the movie itself. (Check out “Wordplay” from the fashion shoot scene). I also really liked what happened to any sound once it was easy to rapidly change the pitch as when you assigned a sound to the keyboard. It was an incredible way to generate complex timbres where the original sound source could possibly retain its identity as a car, or scream, or laugh. Yet it also functioned in a musical context as a series of pitches within a harmonic structure or contrapuntal texture. The potential for this particular type of complexity is what inspired my choices for the instrumental palette. I wanted to infuse the music with sounds that had associations and meanings already attached to them. So my palette of sounds ranged from the identifiable sounds from our ordinary experience to the more abstract instrumental sounds of traditional instruments. Identifiable sounds have the potential for emotional and intellectual connections and relationships to the listener that purely abstract sounds do not. I wanted to work with this potential as part of the fabric of the score.

In order to have a wide range and variety of instruments to work with, I sampled objects from my house or recorded in the streets to create a sound library of sonically fresh and interesting instruments (many were percussive). I also took advantage of the flexible sample allocations to create long samples to make textures that felt mysterious or unfamiliar. I added my sound library to the already large sound library that came with the Fairlight. Many of the sounds I chose to use from the Fairlight library were the large ensemble samples like the orchestra, string sections, and choruses. I liked many of the stock instrumental samples not

70 Ibid. 71 Brenda Hutchinson, e-mail message, April 29, 2007.

35 so much for their veracity in reproducing the instruments they were samples from as much as for what happened to them in the process. Many times I would be unable to identify a sample unless I looked at the name. Some of these were my favorite samples—the sax was a particularly weird one that I liked to use.72

Each meeting with Tsukerman was rather impromptu. Instead of talking in a musical language their collaboration relied on descriptors and remembering what little of the film that Brenda Hutchinson had seen: Each session at the studio, Slava would show up with his Nagra reel to reel recorder and he would ask me if I remembered this scene or that scene, and I would say “Yes” and then I would create a palette of sounds that I had recorded – animals, voices, some of the stock Fairlight library sounds, etc. and then I would improvise the music for that scene. I performed on the Fairlight keyboard. The keyboard was velocity sensitive, so in addition to recording the notes and sounds, it also recorded dynamics. I could parlay back any track and add to it–extending the performance or multi-tracking it. It was incredible–very exciting and fun.73

Brenda Hutchinson elaborates on the velocity sensitive keyboard, which in some regards, made working with the Fairlight CMI similar to a conventional piano: Velocity sensitive refers to “Key Velocity”; a pretty standard and common term that is used in digital keyboard interfaces to refer to how hard the performer hits a key. So the harder you hit a key, the faster you hit it. The “softer” you play; the slower you depress a key. “Key velocity” is used to measure and translate that action of hitting a key into MIDI and is most often applied to dynamics–so like on real piano–the softer (and slower) you approach a key, the quieter the sound and vice versa.74

While working on Liquid Sky, Brenda Hutchinson had to strike a balance between improvising the original music and orchestrating adapted music. Combined with the task of operating the Fairlight CMI, creating the film score was no simple process. Because the adapted pieces were based on pre-existing music, the process for entering them into the Fairlight was more exact in comparison to the improvised music. Slava had chosen a few pieces by Carl Orff that he wanted to use and so I used the Fairlight to orchestrate those selections. That choral, breathy sound was exciting and new at the time so we used that a lot. In order to enter the score into the

72 Brenda Hutchinson, e-mail message, February 21, 2007. 73 Ibid. 74 Brenda Hutchinson, e-mail message, April 29, 2007.

36 Fairlight, each note had to defined by pitch, octave amplitude, and duration. Every single note. It was very time consuming.75

However, the overwhelming advantage of the Fairlight CMI was the relative ease in manipulating different aspects of the music, such as tempo, once it was entered into the machine. When we programmed the music into the Fairlight, we either performed the music into what was called “page nine” or typed it in from the alphanumeric computer keyboard. We had to enter note name, octave, duration, and dynamics. We also had to specify all timing information in terms of simultaneity (chords) or melody (single pitches). The overall tempo for music that was input in this way was independent of the specific notes and their duration. You could easily change tempi—like you do with a metronome. In fact, I believe there was something like a metronome where we could just change the quarter note = value. So if you wanted it to go faster you’d just choose a faster tempo.76

As complex as the Fairlight CMI was for its time, it did not assist in the editing process. This process was left to Tuskerman himself rather than Brenda Hutchinson or Clive Smith, since he knew how he wanted the music to fit together with the imagery. The rudimentary editing process was also due to budget constraints: I would lay down some basic rhythmic track, then proceed to overdub as many tracks as necessary until I felt it was finished. It was easy to record and erase tracks. We did not do any sound synchronized to the film—it was all done on the fly. At the end of the session, Slava would take the music he had recorded on the Nagra and go back to the studio and cut it into the film. I never knew exactly how it was going to fit until I saw it at the initial screening. There was so much music to make and it was a low budget film. Slava couldn’t afford the kind of precision to make rhythmic hits or specific synchronized gestures so we went for mood and emotional impact. And the novelty of the soundtrack (for the time).77

Brenda Hutchinson genuinely enjoyed working on the film score, and her love of real world sounds and possibilities offered by the Fairlight made Liquid Sky an ideal project for her.

Unfortunately, she was not able to complete her work on the film due to illness:

We were pretty far into the film when I got the chicken pox. It was bad for me because I was an adult, and I was out of commission for a few weeks. During that time, Clive Smith, who also worked at Studio PASS, took over scoring the film. He used the palette of sounds that I had established for the music and orchestrated

75 Brenda Hutchinson, e-mail message, February, 21, 2007. 76 Brenda Hutchinson, e-mail message, April 29, 2007. 77 Ibid.

37 several of the composed pieces. He orchestrated the piece for the scene where Margaret puts on the fluorescent makeup, which was one of my favorite scenes in the movie; it was one of the two scenes that made me want to work on the film. Anyway, Clive liked working on the film so much that even after I had recuperated, he continued to work on the film until it was finished.78

Although composers changed part way through the work on the film, the style of music that Tsukerman wanted was already in place. Brenda Hutchinson: Clive and I both worked at what was at that time known as the Public Access Synthesizer Studio. It was a non-profit place started by Gerry Lindahl and Greg Kramer in the late 70s and early 80s and was intended as a place for artists to be able to work in electronic music and recording at affordable rates. There was a collection of a few Buchla synthesizers, a Moog, a few Revox tape recorders and maybe a drum machine or two. People would come into the studio and rent a piece of equipment by the hour, and we would help them out if they needed help. It was cheap—you could rent a Buchla synthesizer for $3/hr and a reel-to-reel tape recorder for $5/hr. Then we got the Fairlight. So Clive was around the whole time I was working on the film. Since I had gone to LA to learn how to use the Fairlight, I taught everyone at PASS how to use it and gave classes to anyone in the city who wanted to learn. So anyway, Clive was very familiar with the project and the music that I had made up to the point where he began to work on the film. The studio was just one large room so when if there were no other clients around, we just worked in the air without headphones. Slava came in all the time and was our main client at the time. By the time Clive took over, I had established the style and aesthetic for the music and I think the transition was musically pretty seamless.79

Once he was part of the project, Clive Smith worked exclusively with Tsukerman: I collaborated only with Slava, never with Brenda or Helene, although Brenda and I did have discussions about the work. Originally, I was not even involved in the project. Slava visited PASS in New York City and approached Brenda about programming and/or playing and recording the Fairlight for him. PASS was one of the only places in the US at that time that had a Fairlight CMI. It was on loan to PASS from Fairlight Pty. Ltd. in Sydney, Australia. I was the involved with PASS myself at the time, either as associate director, or possibly I had already become director by then. In any case, Brenda asked me to take over, and I worked on the remaining two thirds of the music.80

Clive Smith’s overall experience in working with Tsukerman on Liquid Sky was similar to that of Ms. Hutchinson’s.

78 Brenda Hutchinson, e-mail message, February 21, 2007. 79 Brenda Hutchinson, e-mail message, May 22, 2007. 80 Clive Smith, e-mail message, January 24, 2007.

38 Since Brenda and I never saw any footage from the film while we were working on it (at least, I think Brenda never did; I know I didn’t), and since Slava’s English was okay but not all that good, we relied on Slava’s very animated gesturing for creating the original music cues. We got a very good sense of the type of impact and the tempo that he wanted for a particular scene, but he never sang or hummed specific melodic ideas.81

It also seems clear from Clive Smith and Brenda Hutchinson that the adapted music was the most labor-intensive part of the composition process. Much of these challenges were dictated by the complexity of the input process for the Fairlight CMI. Smith recalls: By far, the bulk of the time was spent on the adapted music, because it was very time consuming to enter it using MCL (Music Composition Language). It was almost like working with computer code rather than music, and all of that programming was in between the sessions that Slava attended. Once the programming was completed, we could always assign different sounds to play any of the lines in case Slava has something else in mind other than what we’d come up with. Most of the time, I don’t recall that he did have us change the sounds.82

Despite the labor intensive input method for the Fairlight CMI, the machine provided several advantages. Clive Smith: “Also, even though MCL was time-consuming to use, I could program it to precisely play very complex rhythms that I had written for musicians to play but had never heard performed very well.”83 He goes on to describe a piece originally intended for musicians: One example is a piece for four marimbas where the second marimba part plays quarter-note triplets against the first part, the third part treats the second part’s quarter-note triplets as quarter notes and plays quarter-note triplets against it, and finally the fourth part treats the third part’s quarter-note triplets as quarter notes and plays quarter-note triplets against it. The result is 27 against 18 against 12 against 8.84

Although the tone for the music in Liquid Sky, had been established with Brenda Hutchinson’s collaborations with Tsukerman, Clive Smith still had flexibility in the way he approached the original music: I can’t speak for Brenda on this, but for me, I gravitated towards improvising very simple, non-sophisticated, usually fairly dissonant types of lines, which I played for him as an almost immediate reaction to what I thought he was expressing. (I

81 Ibid. 82 Ibid. 83 Ibid. 84 Clive Smith, e-mail message, May 27, 2007.

39 also tended to use my own samples more often than the Fairlight library sounds, and I believe I played him these sounds so that there would be an approved sound palette to work with.) He usually made up his mind quickly and generally liked a large percentage of my initial ideas. If an idea was approved, I would immediately record it with Slava present into the Fairlight’s rudimentary real-time sequencer that had no quantization. Often the performance would be sloppy, but Slava would insist on keeping it rather than having me perform it again. He felt this was more in keeping with a ‘punk’ aesthetic. This was curious to me in a way, because on the non-original music Brenda and I would take what we felt were the important lines from the scores and program them into the Fairlight using MCL (Music Composition Language), which yielded a very rhythmically precise and usually quite mechanical sound.85

Despite a sometimes rudimentary approach, the time with Tsukerman was efficiently spent. Slava had already settled on all the ideas and concepts, at least as far as music and sound were concerned, by the time I started working with him. As I mentioned before, he made the musical approval or rejection decisions right on the spot while I was working with him. I think that everything we recorded with him was used in the film.86

Although he does not have the exact numbers, he can estimate how long the project took: “I don’t really recall exactly, and Slava would not book time to work with us every day once we started on the film’s score, but I think it took us less than 120 hours.”87 While working on the music for Liquid Sky, Hutchinson and Smith both found themselves conforming to the director’s ideas of what the music for the film should sound like. In the process, they got to work with the Fairlight CMI, which was truly at the forefront of digital recording technology at the time.

85 Clive Smith, e-mail message from author, January 24, 2007. 86 Ibid. 87 Ibid.

40 CONCLUSION

In conclusion, what is the legacy of Liquid Sky? Is it progressive, modernistic, or merely a psychotropic farce? One of the goals of this thesis has been to provide a multitude of relevant information in order to aid the reader in understanding Liquid Sky, its music, and the process of bringing it to screen. It has also drawn upon the insights and views of people who had direct roles in bringing the film to fruition. However, these facts alone do not prove or disprove the thesis statement set forth at the beginning of this project. In what ways was Liquid Sky a milestone in cult cinema and film scoring? In retrospect, it would be easy to dismiss or overlook Liquid Sky and argue that it was relatively insignificant. It has not garnered a multitude of prestigious awards, it did not break any box office records, and it did not feature anyone who could now be considered mainstream or famous in the film industry. The film is not even accessible to a majority of filmgoers, let alone society at large. Even when compared to other films in the cult genre such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show, it has not necessarily shared the same kind of success. For example, it would probably be difficult to consistently find people dressed up as Margaret, Jimmy, or Adrian at a local movie theater waiting for a midnight showing of Liquid Sky. However, monetary success or widespread cultural recognition do not adequately explain the importance of Liquid Sky. In fact, a counter argument can be made that, in some regards, Liquid Sky is one of the most precluded (cult) films of the past twenty-five years. Musically, Liquid Sky is a film that uses pre-existing music, real world sounds, and a synthesizer, but these characteristics alone do not make the film innovative either. Perhaps the best way to justify Liquid Sky as a groundbreaking achievement in cult film and film scoring is to compare it with films that came before it. There is a lineage of cult films, several of them also science fiction films, that utilized unconventional techniques for their music. One of the earliest is the film The Day the Earth Stood Still, released in 1951. It was Bernard Herrmann’s first film score, and although he used an orchestra, he also used an instrument called the theremin. Even though the instrument had been in existence since 1919, its ability to produce strange sounds made it the perfect choice to create alien music, not unlike the use of the Fairlight CMI in Liquid Sky. In 1956, another science fiction film called Forbidden

41 Planet revolutionized film scoring by becoming the first film to use an entirely electronic film score. Incidentally, it was made using a ring modulator, which was essentially the precursor to the full-blown synthesizer. It was a major step forward in the use of electronic music in films. In 1963, Bernard Herrmann would take part in yet another innovative film score while working on Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds. While Herrmann would go on to many successful film scores, many of them for Hitchcock films, The Birds has the distinction of having no music for the soundtrack. Instead, to maintain a high level of suspense, only bird noises are heard throughout the film. The credits reveal that Herrmann still gets credit for the film’s “music” because he painstakingly scored these sounds to fit the film. This is an example of the use and manipulation of real-world sounds, which would later be a key advantage of synthesizers, notably, the Fairlight CMI. 2001: A Space Odyssey has already been acknowledged for Kubrick’s decision to use pre-existing music in its original form for the film score. He took this idea one step further in his 1971 film, A Clockwork Orange. The film’s soundtrack features classical music as well as compositions that were created using a Moog synthesizer; the main theme of the movie is an electronic adaptation of Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary by Henry Purcell. While it is not a science fiction film, A Clockwork Orange is a cult film. However, unlike the Fairlight, the Moog synthesizer was analog and not digital. Had it been available when Kubrick was making A Clockwork Orange, it is certainly possible that he might have used the Fairlight CMI instead. However, yet another film released in the same year as Liquid Sky, makes the opposite case. Walt Disney Pictures’ Tron also used the Moog, and the score was composed by Wendy Carlos, who also worked on A Clockwork Orange. The irony is that while Tron and Liquid Sky were released in the same year, Liquid Sky, which was not a major studio release, utilized a newer, more advanced technology. Besides the fact that it is a cult film, Liquid Sky’s music shares common elements with all of the aforementioned films. Moreover, characteristics that make the music in those films unique essentially come together in Liquid Sky. The Day the Earth Stood Still does not feature a synthesizer, but the need for unusual music necessitated the use of innovative technology. Like Forbidden Planet, Liquid Sky uses an electronic film score. The Birds uses real-world sounds, which were organized into the movie, which is the case with many of the sounds in Liquid Sky, which started out as everyday common sounds before they were filtered through the Fairlight CMI. A Clockwork Orange probably draws the strongest comparison as it featured adapted

42 music that was rearranged on an electronic synthesizer. As with in Tron, Liquid Sky used a synthesizer for its score. While I am certain that these films have other parallels with Liquid Sky, I feel that the ones I have mentioned are the most relevant. Taking these films into account, Liquid Sky was monumental in film scoring and cult cinema, because it took innovations from film and music that had evolved during a time span of roughly thirty years and combined them all in one film. My research and my correspondences with Brenda Hutchinson and Clive Smith do not lead me to believe that Slava Tsukerman was intentionally trying to achieve this, but regardless of whether he did or not, the fact remains that Liquid Sky is, in fact, a synergy of innovations. It uses a digital synthesizer to perform both adapted music and original music based on timbral sounds from the outside world, thus making the music for the film both organic and artificially contrived. What is most surprising on a personal level is that Liquid Sky does not seem to have attained the status or visibility of any of the films I discussed, much less other relevant films in the cult genre. What distinguishes Liquid Sky is that it was made in a time that allowed the filmmakers to use multiple technologies and take the next logical step. Liquid Sky adheres to the ideology of what makes a cult film, because it defies convention as a result of the aesthetic desires of its filmmakers, as opposed to forced innovation.

43 APPENDIX A. Human Subjects Research Approval Letter

Please refer to the supplemental file labeled APPENDIX _A.pdf.

44 APPENDIX B. Informed Consent Forms

Please refer to the supplemental files labeled APPENDIX_B.pdf and APPENDIX_B2.pdf.

45 APPENDIX C. CD Tracklisting

Liquid Sky Soundtrack

The following is a list of track names and times as they appear in the Liquid Sky Original

Motion Picture Soundtrack & N.S.W. Filmbook. This is a special edition that was printed in

Japan in 1997. It comes in tri-fold paper packaging and includes the soundtrack compact disc, eight postcards that each depict a scene from the movie, and a filmbook that includes information on the staff and cast, introduction and story, the age of Liquid Sky, an interview with Slava

Tsukerman, a list of tracks, and the lyrics to “Me and My Rhythm Box.” While much of this information is in Japanese, the list of tracks and the lyrics for “Me and My Rhythm Box” are in

English.

Although the tracks on the compact disc do not represent all the music that appears in the film, they do represent most of the music used in the film. I have used the soundtrack as an aid to identify the themes that the reader can find listed in a subsequent chart entitled “List of Cues.”

With the exception of the following list, all times listed in the entirety of the text refer to the

Liquid Sky DVD and not the soundtrack:

1. Noon [1:51] – Adaptation of La Sonnerie Du Mont De Paris by Marin Marais

2. Alien’s Theme 1 [1:40] – Adaptation of an excerpt from Trionfo Di Afrodite by Carl Orff

3. Night Club 1 [0:38]

4. Jimmy’s Theme [1:18]

5. Margaret’s Childhood Theme [1:41] – Adaptation of Laurel Waltz by Anthony Philip Heinrich

6. The Way the Alien Kills [1:06]

7. Me and My Rhythm Box [2:48] – Music by Anatole Gerasimov and Helena Zvereva/Lyrics by Slava Tsukerman/Song by Paula E. Sheppard

8. Night Club 2 [1:21]

9. Sunset [1:00]

10. Margaret’s Apartment 1 [2:18]

11. Katherine in the Club [1:01]

12. Afternoon [2:40] - Adaptation of La Sonnerie Du Mont De Paris by Marin Marais

13. Wordplay [2:44]

14. Night Club 3 [0:59]

15. Fashion Show [2:25]

16. Seduction of Vincent [0:55]

17. Margaret’s Apartment 2 [2:18]

18. Alien’s Theme 2 [2:21] - Adaptation of an excerpt from Trionfo Di Afrodite by Carl Orff

47 APPENDIX D.

Me and My Rhythm Box Music by Anatole Gerasimov and Helena Zvereva/Lyrics by Slava Tsukerman/Song by Paula E. Sheppard

Me…Me And My Rhythm Box. Me And My Rhythm Box. Me And My Rhythm Box. Me And My Rhythm Box. Are You Jealous Folks? Are You Jealous Folks? Are You Jealous Folks? My Rhythm Box Is Sweet. Never Forgets A Beat. It Never Eats. It Never Shits. It Never Sleeps. It Only Beats. It’s Always Cool. It Is It’s Rule. It’s Always High. So Am I… Do You Want to Know Why? It… It Is… Preprogrammed. So What? So What? So What? So What? So What? Who Of Your Frinds Is Not? Who Of Your Frinds Is Not? Who’s Not? I’ll Tell You…Me And My Rhythm Box Me And My…Me And My Rhythm Box. Me And My Rhythm. Me And My Rhythm. Me And My Rhythm. Me And My Rhythm BooooaaaaahhhhhhXXXX.

48 APPENDIX E. List of Music Cues in the Film

Please refer to the supplemental file labeled APPENDIX_E.pdf.

49 APPENDIX F. Copyright Approval Letter From Fairlight

Please refer to the supplemental file labeled APPENDIX_F.pdf.

APPENDIX G. Fairlight Computer Musical Instrument

Please refer to the supplemental file labeled APPENDIX_G.pdf.

51 APPENDIX H. CMI IIx Page R Manual

Please refer to the supplemental file labeled APPENDIX_H.pdf.

52 APPENDIX I. CMI IIx Service Manual

Please refer to the supplemental file labeled APPENDIX_I.pdf.

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56 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Courtenay Gallon (b Portsmouth, Virginia, 5 January 1982). Attended Governor’s School for the Arts in Norfolk, Virginia from 1998-2000. Received the BA in Music (2004) and the MM in Historical Musicology (2007) from Florida State University.