Composing for Film with Jozef Van Wissem

About

Nestled in the French Pyrenees at 750m altitude, 10km from the Spanish border and surrounded by snowcapped peaks, waterfalls and forests, is the picturesque thermal town of Aulus-les-bains. In the town, housed in a beautifully renovated 19th century hotel, is CAMP - the first of a new breed of arts residency. In 2018, CAMP will run a series of arts, music, writing and arts-activist sessions. These are no ordinary courses - they are intense, artistic catalysts run by internationally acclaimed practitioners; creative flashpoints designed to change the lives of everyone involved. The courses combine work in our well equipped facilities with projects carried out in the mountains.

CAMP houses advanced facilities available to all residential students - a Pro Tools studio, digital video and photography editing suites, rehearsal and performance spaces, fine art studios, a cinema and an arts library. Accommodation is provided at the centre in peaceful, private rooms, and all catering is included - this is one of the most celebrated regions of France for cheese, wine and other local produce. It's a place where great art is made, new movements are formed, new ideas are explored and groundbreaking people are nurtured. It's about generating revolutions, incubating creative minds and bringing the best emerging practitioners in all artistic fields to their full potential.

Brooklyn-based minimalist composer and lutenist Jozef van Wissem is perhaps best known for his work with Jim Jarmusch, notably his soundtrack to Only Lovers Left Alive, for which he won the soundtrack award at the Cannes Film Festival. His relationship with film, and specifically with Jarmusch, goes deeper still - he has released three Jarmusch/van Wissem collaborations, "Concerning the Entrance into Eternity", "Apokatastasis" and "The Mystery of Heaven", the latter featuring hypnotic vocals by reknowned actress Tilda Swinton. In 2016, Jozef supplied the score for Aaron Brookner's documentary "Uncle Howard", the story of Howard Brookner, who died of AIDS in NYC in 1989 while in post-production on his breakthrough Hollywood movie starring Madonna and Matt Dillon.

Jozef's work outside of the realm of film is also extensive - he has released fifteen solo albums on prestigious labels such as Crammed Discs, Consouling Sounds and Important Records, has produced collaborative works with Maurizio Bianchi, United Bible Studies and Tetuzi Akiyama to name a few. He was commissioned by the National Gallery (London) to compose a sound piece to Hans Holbein's painting The Ambassadors, and wrote the in-game score for The Sims Medieval.

Jozef's course at CAMP will cover all aspects of scoring for film, demonstrated using film projections and live scoring, and including:

> Live scoring to images
> Collaborating with film directors, the relationship between composer and film-maker, and the processes involved
> Demonstration of layered storytelling through music in film
> Demonstration through examples of what works, and what doesn't work, in film scoring
> Extended workshop examining the process and value of scoring for silent film, which has become an industry in and of itself

Evening events will include performances, film screenings, social events and the week's work will culminate in a high-profile live-scored film event in a magical outdoor cinema setting.

More info: http://www.jozefvanwissem.com

Included in the course fee: five days of classes and activities, a comfortable private room at camp, all meals - breakfast and lunch at camp, dinner at an excellent local restaurant, unlimited use of our recording studios, editing suites, rehearsal studios, library and other facilities, post-course benefits & support

Not included in the course fee: travel

Student level: previous knowledge/experience of composition advisable

Equipment required: bring an instrument for live scoring, or use ours - enquire in advance about availability

Post-course support: access to online learning materials, performance opportunities at fuse art space, consideration of work for digital & physical release.