Your new movie The
Pit and the Pendulum - a musicabre - in a few words, what is it
about?
The Pit and the Pendulum - a musicabre
is a musical adaptation of the
classic horror story by Edgar Allan Poe. In
my version, a modern day composer imagines himself both the victim and the
judges of the Inquisition in Poe’s story. Fantasy
and reality converge with frightening consequences.
Why did you pick of all of Edgar Allan Poe's
short story exactly The
Pit and the Pendulum as source material for your movie? My
involvement with Poe goes way back when I started using the opening
paragraphs of Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart as an alternate audition
monolog. Then
the Metropolitan Playhouse, a theater in the Lower East Side of Manhattan,
produced a literary theater festival focused on Poe for which I composed a
one man (with three cellos) show The Tell-Tale Heart – a
musicabre. I performed that theatrically there and at other venues, and always wanted
to create a companion piece for it, a second act, adapting The Pit and
the Pendulum, but never got around to that. Four
years ago I decided to make a short film of The Tell-Tale Heart - a musicabre, which went on to play many festivals and win over 60 awards. While
in post-production for it I finally came up with an idea of how to
musically adapt The Pit and
the Pendulum as a film. When
the pandemic hit, and I found myself housebound with plenty extra time, I
adapted/composed The Pit and the Pendulum - a musicabre. I
see both musicabres, both short films, as companion pieces that have not
only Poe but also certain musical and visual elements in common, as well
as distinct differences. The Pit and the Pendulum - a musicabre
also pushed me toward more sophisticated and complex musical and cinematic language. Other
sources of inspiration when writing The
Pit and the Pendulum - a musicabre? There
were no direct influences I was consciously thinking of at the time; but
upon reflection in the writing of the adaptation, any story that uses a
framing device to illuminate or explain a central fantastical conceit is a
model – the first example that comes to mind might be the movie Jacob’s Ladder; and visually for the mirror masks, which are
arguably the most striking and idiosyncratic visual conceit in the film, I
was inspired by cubism and any film that dealt with funhouse mirror
imagery (perhaps most famously The Lady from Shanghai, like one
audience member enthusiastically brought up in one Q&A) to want to
explore what images one could discover when mirror pieces are contoured to
apply directly perpendicularly to the face; and musically when it comes to
composing for the cellos, most any 20th century
score that features only string instruments, especially for unsettling
effect – which would of course be Bernard Herrmann’s score for Psycho as well as a several scores by Bela Bartok or Arnold
Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night; and when it comes to the copious
use of vocal overlap, I had explored that technique in previous work like The Song of Job 9:11, but the most likely prior inspiration for that
technique might be Arnold Schoenberg’s opera Moses and Aaron,
which impressed me mightily when I saw it performed years ago in New York
City Opera.
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You have
also written the score for The
Pit and the Pendulum - a musicabre - so what can you tell us about
your movie's music, and what actually came first, the script or the score? And do talk about your composition process as such?
As
The Pit and the Pendulum - a musicabre is a companion piece to my
first Poe musicabre
The Tell-Tale Heart - a musicabre, there were
conscious choices about what they would have in common and how the second
film would differ/build upon what was done in the first. So
I knew it would be mostly a “one-man” show vocally, but this time
unlike in its stage-originating forerunner, I could layer vocal lines to
create harmonies and counterpoints with myself. I
would use three cellos again, but I would add a piano and would be able to
“add a third hand” for the piano or “double” the three cellos in
the soundtrack – something you could not do on stage without hiring
extra musicians (or using playback).
Poe’s
story came first, but for the longest time (after staging Tell-Tale and
considering Pit and Pendulum as a likely second act for a full evening of
Poe musicabres) I couldn’t figure out how I wanted to adapt it. Once
I recognized that the set up in Poe’s story could be seen as a metaphor
or allegory for depression and self harm, and I conceived of the modern
day framing device, the adaptation of Poe’s text into a script, the
composing of the score, and the creation of the visual ideas all happened
hand in hand in hand. There
was no one thing, music or script or visual ideas, coming first. They
each influenced the other and the third. It
was a very interconnected creative process.
As
to my composing process, sometimes I have musical ideas that I’ve been
carrying with me for years or even decades that finally find a place and
get developed and fleshed out for a particular project, and that is how
some of the score for The Pit and the Pendulum - a musicabre
evolved. But
there are also musical ideas that were directly inspired by Poe’s text
or the situations described within – most notably the sound the cellos
make describing the swing of the pendulum and marking its step by step (or
pitch by pitch) approach towards the protagonist, as well as the sound the
cellos make when the blade starts cutting into fabric and skin. Those
particular ideas were with me from the moment I first considered adapting
this story, many years ago when I was first performing Tell-Tale on stage,
and long before I thought about making short films.
What
can you tell us about The
Pit and the Pendulum - a musicabre's approach to horror? I
am a big fan of horror, but not of the “torture porn” genre. And
arguably Poe’s The Pit and
the Pendulum is the granddaddy of the
torture porn genre, in that its main focus is putting the protagonist –
and by inference the reader – in several horrific and imaginative death
traps. Where The Tell-Tale Heart
is all about empathizing with the mental state
of a lunatic murderer, The Pit and
the Pendulum invites you to
imagine oneself facing outlandish physical dooms. One
problem for me – and a big reason in why it took me so long before I
finally adapted this story – is that I was more interested in depicting
the political machinations of the Inquisition, or exploring the personal
psychology of the protagonist, but Poe’s story barely focuses on these
things. And
the horrors he does describe – so audacious and original for his time
– have since been picked up in popular culture in numerous iterations
– so why repeat them again? Nonetheless,
I had very faithfully adapted The Tell-Tale Heart
and strived to do
the same with The Pit and
the Pendulum, even though I found myself
initially not as drawn into the narrative. However,
once I took the narrative less literally, but discovered it could be
viewed as a metaphor for depression, psychological torment and self-harm,
the story became creatively exciting for me, and gave me leave to explore
musical and visual dimensions that allowed for a more expressionistic and
playful rather than a mere literal, straight forward interpretation of
Poe’s horrors. Do
talk about your directorial approach to your story at hand! I
knew it would be a complex production, which would require being prepared
with a detailed game plan for every step of the way, for what was needed
to be done during pre-production, for what we would be doing on set, and
for what was required in post-production. I
made sure we did that prep work, and that helped us execute on time and
also be able to change plans successfully when the unexpected intervened:
like when a metal helmet, worn by an actor playing one of the soldiers of
the Inquisition, fell off him and on me in the middle of a take and busted
open my forehead – I had to go to urgent care and left my D.P. to shoot
what scenes with the soldiers he could without me until I returned to set
with bandage strips on my forehead which we had to find ways to conceal
with my hair for most of the rest of the shoot. Or
the moment a prop candle set fire to one of the main mirror mask pieces,
forcing me to improvise new shot set ups with other mask pieces for the
climactic shots of the mirror mask segment.
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You
also play the lead in The
Pit and the Pendulum - a musicabre - so what can you tell us about
your character(s), what did you draw upon to bring him to life, and have you
written him with yourself in mind from the get-go?
The
plan for the musicabres
always was to showcase my work as a composer and
actor in one project, so there would be a role (or roles) written for me
to play. I
did not think of the character in The Pit and the Pendulum - a musicabre
as close
to me, but as written in Poe’s story he is not a well defined character
but more a blank page for the reader to put him/herself into, to imagine
themselves in the horrific circumstances Poe focuses on describing in
grotesque detail. Therefore
my director’s “brief” to myself as writer/adapter of the story and
performer of the role was to lean into drawing parallels to myself,
identifying with the character as closely as possible, in the belief that
it would add extra resonance to the storytelling and performance. So
the protagonist in my version is a composer like me, the modern day
framing device in the film’s framing device was filmed in my own home,
the protagonist’s modern day partner is played by my real life husband,
to give three examples of how I followed that “brief”. However I named
the character “Alan”, not “Danny”, as a nod to Poe. And
the home address given in the modern day framing section is not my own but
of the actual Poe house in the Bronx. The horrific fate of the protagonist
is all fiction, not autobiography.
A few
words about the rest of your cast, and why exactly these people? I
already mentioned one reason why I cast my husband Edward Elder in the
role of the rescuer. I’d
also cast him as the murder victim in The Tell-Tale Heart - a musicabre. So
I kill him in my first film, and he saves me in the second, which is a
nice kind of symmetry. My
plan is to cast him in some role in every film I get to make going
forwards. The
rest of the cast was found through a regular casting process, except for
Mathew Gnagy, who I invited to join The Pit and the Pendulum - a musicabre
after he had also performed in
The Tell-Tale Heart - a musicabre and was a delight to work with
on both films. What
can you tell us about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?
We
shot for 10 days. It
was hard work, and there were difficulties (one of which sent me to urgent
care, as I already described), but we managed to stay on schedule and get
all our shots. It
helped that we had a detailed game plan (storyboards, shot lists,
playback tracks pre-edited for every planned shot etc.) and that we were
able to make adjustments to the plan when called for. Everybody
worked hard and with good humor. My
producer Henry, who has far more on-set experience than I, tells me it was
one of the most harmonious sets he’s ever worked on, which makes me feel
good. Because
it was probably also one of the more demanding shoots – from a technical
difficulty standpoint – that most crewmembers are likely to have been
on as well. The
$64-question of course, where can The
Pit and the Pendulum - a musicabre be seen? For
the time being, at film festivals, some of which have online components. Go
to my website Notes from a Composer (www.dannyashkenasi.com)
for the latest updates. Anything
you can tell us about audience and critical reception of
The Pit and the Pendulum - a musicabre?
It’s
been very positive. You can read Mike Haberfelner’s Search my Trash review here:
https://dannyashkenasi.com/2023/02/21/an-enjoyably-disturbing-piece-of-cinema/
I
like how he calls it “an enjoyably disturbing piece of cinema.”
And
here are just a few of the quotes from audience members who wrote me after
seeing it:
“What
a monumental, multi-dimensional, creative accomplishment!!! As
always, your musical composition is extremely compelling and
evocative...... and this time so exquisitely stressful...... while always
beautifully expressive of the text.”
“Bravo!
What an imaginative, surprising film, visually and musically. I loved the
pendulum-as-bow accompanied by the ominous violin and cello strokes, the
grotesque effect of the mirror masks, and the substitution of musical
score for demonic eyes in the glowing walls. The doubling of protagonist
and antagonists is very Poe. And the music is beautiful.”
“The
music was perfect - very haunting and surprisingly catchy! It felt like a
character in its own right.”
“The
special effect with the mirrors was elegant in its simplicity and its
effect of increasing tension.”
“Your
performances are mesmerizing, the cinematography, art department,
geometry, music, editing and color correction are so rich.”
“Thank
you for making me enjoy a musical, in a special way.”
“You've
undoubtedly create a genre for yourself, a genre that is clearly and
exclusively your own, people won't be able to copy it.”
“P.S.
Did you really need to destroy a cello?”
The
Pit and the Pendulum - a musicabre isn't your first Poe-themed musicabre
- so do talk about
The Tell-Tale Heart - a musicabre
for a bit, and what does Edgar Allan
Poe's body of work mean to you personally?
I
had read one or two of Poe’s short stories when I was in high school,
and seen one or two movie adaptations, but not The Tell-Tale Heart. When
I was just out of college I had a roommate, a classically trained actor
who specialized in portraying literary masters and characters in one-man
shows designed for high school audiences. He was quite a character
himself, and assessed me – type wise – as being half angel, half
demon, urging me to read The Tell-Tale Heartbecause he thought
I’d be perfect for that story’s protagonist. I
did love the story, and would use the first page as an alternate monolog
for acting auditions. Years
later when the Metropolitan Playhouse inaugurated their literary festival
with Poe as its theme, it made sense that I adapt The Tell-Tale Heart
as a musical piece for me to compose and perform. Up
until then I was working on projects either as an actor or as a composer,
and I was eager to combine both pursuits in one project. By
that point I felt so comfortable with the story’s narrative that
composing the music for it felt almost instinctive.
After
that I read most of Poe’s stories, for my own enjoyment, as well as
assessing which might lend itself to be musicalized, or musicabrized. The Pit and
the Pendulum from the start was the main candidate for my next
adaptation, but like I stated before, how to go about it didn’t come as
easily to me as it had for The Tell-Tale Heart. Whereas
The Tell-Tale Heart
in its original form just flowed naturally for me, I needed to
find a creative key to unlock the adaptation process on The Pit and
the Pendulum for it to work for me, and that didn’t happen until many years later:
we’d hit a technical snag in post-production of The Tell-Tale Heart - a musicabre, one that put the completion of the film in limbo for
several months. This
was very frustration and I felt terribly stuck. In
that state of mind I reread The Pit and
the Pendulum, and perhaps
because I was feeling somewhat depressed and stuck at that moment, at this
reread I imagined how the story might be read as an allegory, and that
became the key that unlocked the adaptation process for me creatively.
Will you make
any more musicabres, Poe-themed or
not? And/or any other future projects you'd like to share? There
are several Poe stories I could imagine giving the musicabre
treatment. If
someone stepped up with funding to make some more for a musicabre
anthology series, I’d be so on board! What
got you into the filmworld to begin with, and did you receive any formal
training on the subject?
I’ve
been movie mad from earliest childhood, as well as always wanting to
perform and engage with music in all forms. When
I was deciding what to study in college, a major question was how I would
be able to accommodate all of my artistic interests. I
ended up majoring in Drama –studying at the Playwrights Horizons Theater
School at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. At
Playwrights I could major in acting as well as directing and take other
theater classes like Design, and then also take film and cinema studies
courses in Tisch. I
ended up taking animation courses at the film school and making animated
films while simultaneously acting on stage and directing original music
theater pieces for Playwrights.
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After
school however I did very little work in film – I spent most of my
career up until recently acting and creating musical theater works in New
York and Germany, with only the occasional foray in television or film –
nothing to write home about. When
I decided to make The Tell-Tale Heart - a musicabre in 2019, it
became very much a learning on the job kind of process, starting with
turning a stage libretto into a detailed movie script, drawing storyboards
and creating a video of those storyboards using a live recording of an
earlier performance. Which
meant that by the time we went on set to shoot The Tell-Tale Heart - a musicabre
I had already made a pencil drawing storyboarded version of
the whole film as preparation.
You seem to be as comfortable
in front of the camera as behind it and have worn many hats when it comes
to filmmaking - so what are some of the jobs on film sets you especially
enjoy, which could you do without? I
used to think of myself not as a director first but as a director by
default, because I wanted to see my own work staged and producing and
directing it myself was often just the best way to make that happen. But
I’ve been pleasantly surprised now that I’m making films just how
creatively nurtured and fulfilled I feel by every aspect of the filmmaking
process. Even
the more daunting or tedious aspects – things I may dread ahead of time
– ultimately have made me feel incredibly fulfilled in the doing of
them. I thought going into The Tell-Tale Heart - a musicabre that I was
doing that to showcase my work as an actor and composer first and
foremost. But
instead I have now discovered that I may be a filmmaker first and foremost
who also happens to act and compose. What can you tell us
about your filmwork prior to The
Pit and the Pendulum - a musicabre, in whatever position? I
said there isn’t much to write home about in my adult film life before
the two Poe musicabres. But
when I was 14, I did play a lead role in the German miniseries Rote
Erde, at the time the most expensive German TV production in history. You
can find all episodes on YouTube. Young
Danny is in episodes 6 and 7. How
would you describe yourself as a director, how as an actor, and how as a
composer?
The
first thought I have is not the differences but what I have in common in
all these disciplines, what kind of artist I am generally. And
that is that at my best I start with my instinct, with ideas or choices
that are emerging from my unconscious. And
then I apply examination, understanding, structure and craft to ensure
each idea or choice is supported intellectually and artistically. Sometimes
when inspiration doesn’t spark naturally, I will rely on my extensive
tool kit of craft, and I can’t say that work ends up being any lesser;
but I am happiest and believe I do my most fulfilling work when it is
rooted in instinct. Filmmakers, actors, musicians who inspire you?
So
not simply who I think are great, but also artists with whom I also one
way or another I feel a special, personal connection of inspiration (this
list is not exhaustive):
Bob Fosse, Alfred Hitchcock, Alan Parker, Steven Spielberg.
Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Madeline Khan, Robin Williams.
Ludwig
van Beethoven, Kurt Weill, Bela Bartok, Kate Bush, Billy Joel, Stephen
Sondheim, Franz Schubert. Cyndi Lauper.
Your
favourite movies? My
absolute favorite is Cabaret. The
greatest film musical of all time. Also
love and am heavily influenced by Jesus Christ Superstar, Amadeus,
All That Jazz, Hair, Singin’ in the
Rain, The Boyfriend and Bugsy Malone - more musical films
that grabbed me in my youth and never let go. It’s
not just musical movies that I count among my favorites. There’s also Lord of the Rings-trilogy,
Some Like it Hot, Halloween,
Cloud Atlas, Stage Door, Brokeback Mountain, A.I.
and and and…
... and of course, films you really
deplore?
I’ve
seen films that disappointed me or I thought were bad, but I tend to
avoid films I have a good idea will likely find wholly deplorable, so by
not having seen them, I can’t actually honestly critique them. Trying
to remember the last time I really so loathed something I did watch… and
I’m sure it must have happened, but nothing specific comes to mind; and
for me to deplore a film, I would have to have been offended enough to
still remember it, I think.
Oh, I do remember something – yes, the last time a film offended me, it was
an animated film that so betrayed its classic source material with the
loud obnoxious storytelling style it was applying that I literally willed
myself to fall asleep while I was in the theater, so I could avoid being
assaulted any further by the film. But
that also means I didn’t actually see the whole film, and thus am in no
position to fairly critique it – which is why I am not naming it.
Your/your movie's website, social media,
whatever else?
So, my website is Notes from a Composer:
www.dannyashkenasi.com
The
homepage for The Pit and the Pendulum - a musicabre:
https://dannyashkenasi.com/pit-pendulum/
The
homepage for The Tell-Tale Heart - a musicabre:
https://dannyashkenasi.com/tell-tale-heart/
There you can find links to plenty blog posts about both films – on-set
diaries etc. – and lots more on cinema, musicals, travel photography,
and much more.
Also Twitter: https://twitter.com/DannyAshkenasi
Instagram: https://instagram.com/ashkenasi_danny
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/notesfromacomposer
Anything else you're dying to mention and
I have merely forgotten to ask? Gawd,
have I not gone on and on enough already?! J
Thanks for the
interview!
You’re
welcome!
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