Relationship between musical hand movements, sound, and space.

Sign Action Space directed by Mersolis Schöne

The Vienna Improvisers Orchestra is one of the first and continuously working improvisation orchestras in Europe. The ensemble creates unique musical textures through free improvisation, shaped in the moment by its ad hoc conductor and founder Michael Fischer, who communicates with the musicians through a vocabulary of hand signs for dynamics, pitch, tempo, duration, and more. "Sign Action Space" follows the genesis of sound in this context of experimental composition and complex improvised music. 

This short film show relationship:

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘮 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦-𝘶𝘱𝘴, 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘮 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘩𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘥𝘺. 

 

After introducing a selection of hand signs used by the conductor to communicate with the musicians, the film turns to the dynamics of the orchestra in space. The viewer is led into the fascinating world of musical hand movements, where the orchestra's music emerges in the moment. The film deals with the perception of this ephemeral communication and its rhythmic dynamics related to the hands and instruments. 

Using 14 cameras and various layering, animation, and stylization methods, the "Sign Action Space" experimentally processes a sequence of the Vienna Improvisers Orchestra's instant composition praxis in a super wide-screen format.