Konrad Steiner

5 Movements, 16mm, color, sound, 10 minutes

"5 Movements is the title of the film and the title of the music it was edited to, Anton Webern's Opus 5 (1909).  I admire all Webern's music and had wanted to do something based on his work for a long time.  This piece was written by him at about the same age i was while making the film, and we were, according to notes by Schoenberg introducing the score, both also not so successfully engaged in making a living.

"The material was shot in Europe without this film in mind, and i selected it later because it had an appropriate historical look to it in the architecture and landscape.  I worked from the score to arrange shots within each movement so that in addition to the cuts, little events occur during the shots that match the music just enough for picture and sound to begin to relate on a contrapuntal level.  This is a level deeper than most 'movie music' which is used to color or force an emotion onto a montage or scene.  Webern's music itself is extremely delicate and forceful at the same time, so it is important that this 'matching' has more to do with accommodating Webern's score than illustrating it or amplifying it. And the interesting thing that results from that accommodation, when it is successful, is that the picture and sound are on equal terms, and you feel that each is capable of influencing the other."