Speaking in Code

Last updated
Speaking In Code
Directed by Amy Grill
Produced by Amy Grill
David Day
Alexandra Lee
Jason Redmond
Starring David Day
Modeselektor
Philip Sherburne
Wighnomy Brothers
Monolake
Ellen Allien
Tobias Thomas
Cinematography Scott Sans
Edited by Jason Blanchard
Amy Grill
Music by Freude-Am-Tanzen
BPitch Control
Kompakt
Imbalance Computer Music
Tod's and Fred's Musikverlag
Random Noize Music
Mo's Ferry Productions
Release date
  • 2009 (2009)
Running time
89 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Speaking in Code is a character-based documentary directed by Amy Grill about people's obsessions with the techno electronic music lifestyle and the effects on their lives. It follows Modeselektor, the Wighnomy Brothers, Philip Sherburne, Monolake and David Day for three years as they attempt to grow in the techno community, as well as Grill's struggles to complete the film. It was shot in 11 cities and 5 countries. [1]

Contents

Plot

Director Amy Grill follows a series of techno community figures (including her husband, David Day). In doing so it forms six intertwined character studies, following their warehouse parties, international travel, risks, inventions, triumphs, and breakdowns.

The cast includes:

Background

Aspiring documentary filmmaker Amy Grill, music journalist Philip Sherburne and promoter/publicist David Day conceived the idea for Speaking in Code on a dancefloor in Miami, during the 2005 Winter Music Conference. They wanted to make a film not about the electronic dance music itself, but about the people and the obsessions behind the music. [4]

In the beginning, the skeleton crew interviewed many potential characters. These DJs, producers, promoters and industry heads didn’t know that they were being camera tested as potential main character for a vérité film. They thought they were being interviewed for another survey documentary about electronic music.

Once the main subjects were established, the crew (usually just Grill, and Director of Photography, Scott Sans—who was still in college for most of the production) traveled on and off for three years following the ups and downs of them all.

In the years making the film, they all went through life changes and as the film's storyline unfolded, even the director became an unwilling part of the film. As they struggled to make the film a reality, the movie itself also took on a starring role.

In the meantime, the profiles of the selected artists grew larger by the month. BPitch Control’s Modeselektor was called on by Radiohead to open a tour of Japan [5] and Björk asked them for a remix. [6] The Wighnomy Brothers legendary DJ sets grew in status and popularity and their producing style were copied by leagues of house and techno producers. The software, Ableton Live, invented in part by Monolake, increased in popularity. [7] Via Kompakt, Tobias Thomas released a series of acclaimed [8] mix CDs, and Philip Sherburne, through his work for the tastemaking website Pitchfork Media, became the leading voice [9] in electronic music journalism.

Throughout this process, a blog [10] was kept by sQuare Productions which documented the making of the film and had thousands of fans visiting the site monthly. As mp3-blogs increased in popularity, so did the interest in the film and the people depicted within it.

By the time the movie was finally complete, the awareness of the project had reached around the entire world, with blogs as far away as Russia [11] and Colombia [12] reporting on the movie.

"I wanted the film to be as accessible as possible, without betraying or boring the true techno fans," Grill told XLR8R magazine. [13] "Not everybody in techno is making $20,000 a gig; they are doing it for the love of music. It is a community that’s only possible because people make sacrifices to follow their dreams, to make incredible music."

Release

Speaking in Code premiered at the Independent Film Festival Boston on April 23, 2009. [14]

The film has been shown at film and music festivals in China, [15] San Francisco, [16] Athens, [17] Seattle, New York City, Kraków, Amsterdam, Dallas, Toronto, Mannheim and elsewhere.

Speaking in Code debuted on DVD on March 29, 2010. The DVD release includes extras such as uncut footage from Modeselektor's at Sonar 2006, a tour of Kompakt with Michael Mayer and extended interviews with Ellen Allien of BPitch Control, Wolfgang Voigt of Kompakt and Wighnomy Brothers' first interview, and two years after Speaking In Code. In the printed insert, journalist Philip Sherburne contributes an essay. [18]

Throughout the month of March, the filmmakers released special deleted scenes not found on the DVD to various websites. These included Monolake Tours Dubplates and Mastering [19] and Bryan Kasenic Promotes Minimalism in New York City. [20]

The film premiered in Germany on July 1, 2010 at the Kino Babylon Theatre. [21] An after-party featured DJ sets from Tobias Thomas, Monkey Maffia and Philip Sherburne, all of whom appear in the film. [22]

Speaking in Code received a wider DVD release by San Francisco's Microcinema International on July 27, 2010, [3] [23] and later digital distribution by EBS World Entertainment, who released the film through iTunes[ citation needed ] and later Amazon's Prime Video. [24]

Reception

Steve Mizek, editor of the electronic music website Little White Earbuds, said the film "successfully personalizes the realities of music obsession, from packed stadium triumphs to tribulations that require self-sacrifice in pursuit of satisfaction." [25] Beatportal, the editorial arm of digital music distributor Beatport, asked the question if Speaking in Code was "Electronic music's most important documentary?" Saying it "comes as close to capturing the feeling of the electronic music lifestyle as anything I’ve ever watched before." [26] Free quarterly European magazine Electronic Beats said Speaking in Code "is one of the first films that ventures to explain why so many people love this genre of music, in an intimate, almost philosophical manner." [27] German radio and website Byte.fm called it "impressive" and "well worth seeing" [28] French blog Chroniques Electroniques said it was "a very strange documentary" and "a surprising way to describe electronic music." [29]

Electronic and hip-hop magazine URB called it "One of the most need-to-watch music docs in recent memory," and said the film is "worth watching more than once." "Speaking In Code is nothing short of an extraordinary documentation of fandom, freedom and everything in between." [4]

Still others said it is "an unbelievable insight into electronic music culture", [30] that "it reveals the human side of the thoroughly modern music" [31] and that "We leave the theater hoping the best for everyone involved in Speaking In Code. It speaks well for its world. [32]

Meanwhile, indie film blog Antagony & Ecstasy called it "magnificently touching" "humanistically resonant" and "terrifically interesting." [33] On June 16, 2010 music website Foxy Digitalis said: "For anyone interested in alternative lifestyles, this is as insightful a journey as Don Letts' Punk Rock Movie, Penelope Spheeris' Decline of Western Civilization films, and Ivan Král's Blank Generation in relating the UK, LA, and NYC punk scenes. All open-minded music lovers and musicologists should add this film to their music library." [34] Elsewhere, in a blog post, Venus Zine said the "compelling" movie was "artfully constructed and skillfully shot." [35]

In 2012, at the DORF Film Festival in Croatia, "Speaking in Code" won "Best Movie in International Selection," beating out other films on Brian Eno and Iggy Pop. The jury stated: "In the code of this story we have depth of human relations, scene contributors, very skillful multilayered overview which avoids genre coordinates and gives to the movie new communicational dimension.” [36]

Music

Much of the music used in the film is from the artists who appear in the film and the labels they represent. Including but not limited to Jonas Bering, Modeselektor, The Rice Twins, Robag Wruhme, Wolfgang Voigt (aka Gas), Gui Boratto, Axel Willner (aka The Field), Aksel Shaufler (aka Superpitcher), Wighnomy Bros., Monolake, Oxia, Ellen Allien, Michael Mayer and others.

Because the film took three years to make, the choice of music drew criticism from some electronic music heads, saying "the sounds and artists they are focusing on are much less fresh than they were a couple of years ago." [37] Though others, like online music magazine Pitchfork Media, called the artists profiled in the film "some of the genre's bleeding-edge names." [38]

On March 1, 2010, electronic music website Beatport released two playlists for the film, acting as a digital soundtrack. The first was called "Anthems", [39] while the second playlist related to the more ambient music used in the movie (called "Ambiance" [40] ).

On March 4, 2010, Pitchfork Media ran a story in their Forkcast section which included a movie-related podcast from Boston DJ Baltimoroder. The Speaking in Code Podcast 01 included music from Philip Sherburne, Tobias Thomas and others. The site called the podcast "pretty amazing." [41]

The second Speaking in Code podcast features a 186-minute DJ set from Tobias Thomas, from the after-party for a screening in partnership with the Together festival. [42]

Speaking in Code Podcast 03 was uploaded to music website SoundCloud on May 20, 2010. [43] It was created and mixed by Douglas Greed of the Freude-Am-Tanzen label in Jena, Germany. Freude-Am-Tanzen is one of the music collectives featured in the film. Greed himself gives a tour of the Muna club in the special features of the DVD.

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References

  1. ↑ "WATCH: Minimal Techno Doc Speaking In Code Trailer... Debuts This Week in Boston..." The Daily Swarm (Press release). Archived from the original on 2009-04-23.
  2. ↑ van Veen, tobias c. (2010-12-30). "Speaking in Code (Dir. Amy Grill)". Dancecult: Journal of Electronic Dance Music Culture. 2 (1): 111–114. Retrieved 2022-08-10.
  3. 1 2 Novara, Vincent J. (2010-09-20). "Speaking in Code: Educational Media Reviews Online (EMRO)". Educational Media Reviews Online. Retrieved 2022-08-10.
  4. 1 2 "Speaking In Code: Interview with Director Amy Grill". urb.com. 2010-04-01. Archived from the original on 2010-04-09.
  5. ↑ Resident Advisor: Modeselektor supports Radiohead in Japan. residentadvisor.net
  6. ↑ Electrorash: Modeselektor Do Bjork Archived 2010-02-27 at the Wayback Machine . electrorash.com
  7. ↑ Newsguide: Music Software Popularity Index Archived 2016-03-06 at the Wayback Machine . newsguide.us
  8. ↑ Resident Advisor: The longtime Kompakt DJ unveils the third and last instalment of his acclaimed mix CD trilogy. residentadvisor.net
  9. ↑ Pitchfork Media: Columns: Techno. pitchfork.com
  10. ↑ sQuare productions: sQuare productions. squar3.com
  11. ↑ 44100: Speaking in Code – документальный фильм о музыке. 44100.com
  12. ↑ Medellin Style: Techno lifestyle. medellinstyle.com
  13. ↑ XLR8R: Q & A: Speaking in Code Archived 2009-06-07 at the Wayback Machine . xlr8r.com
  14. ↑ IFF Boston: Speaking In Code Archived 2009-06-05 at the Wayback Machine . iffboston.bside.com
  15. ↑ CRI English: Story on Intro Beijing Archived 2012-07-12 at archive.today . english1.cri.cn
  16. ↑ BSide: SF DocFest Archived 2010-07-03 at the Wayback Machine . bside.com
  17. ↑ Entechno: Entechno Athens [ permanent dead link ] entechnoathens.gr
  18. ↑ Speaking in Code PDF: Speaking in Code announces DVD release Archived 2012-03-04 at the Wayback Machine . speakingincode.com
  19. ↑ Vimeo: sQuare productions on Vimeo. vimeo.com
  20. ↑ Vimeo: sQuare productions on Vimeo. vimeo.com
  21. ↑ Coop-Berlin.de: COOP PRESENTS: SPEAKING IN CODE, BERLIN FILM PREMIERE…! KINO BABYLON…!. coop-berlin.de
  22. ↑ Coop-Berlin.de: SPEAKING IN CODE – PREMIEREN PARTY…!. coop-berlin.de
  23. ↑ "Amazon.com: Speaking in Code: Modeselektor: Movies & TV". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2022-08-10.
  24. ↑ "Watch Speaking In Code — Prime Video". Amazon Prime Video. Retrieved 2022-08-10.
  25. ↑ Little White Earbuds: LWE Reviews Speaking in Code. littlewhiteearbuds.com
  26. ↑ Beatportal: Electronic music’s most important documentary?. beatportal.com
  27. ↑ Electronic Beats: Speaking in Code Archived 2009-09-23 at the Wayback Machine . electronicbeats.net
  28. ↑ Byte.fm: Speaking in Code. byte.fm
  29. ↑ Chroniques-Electroniques: Speaking in Code. byte.fm
  30. ↑ Nice Produce: Speaking in Code. niceproduce.com
  31. ↑ Weekly Dig: Speaking in Code [ permanent dead link ]. weeklydig.com
  32. ↑ Open Letters Monthly: Microreview: Speaking in Code. openlettersmonthly.com
  33. ↑ Antagony & Ecstasy: THE INDIE CORNER, VOL. 22. antagonie.blogspot.com
  34. ↑ Foxy Digitalis: Various Artists "Speaking In Code " DVD Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine . foxydigitalis.com
  35. ↑ VenusZine: DVD Review: Speaking in Code Archived 2010-05-23 at the Wayback Machine . venuszine.com
  36. ↑ Dorf: Dorf 2012 Winners. dorf-vk.com
  37. ↑ mnmlssgs: thoughts on 'speaking in code'. mnmlssg.blogspot.com
  38. ↑ Breihan, Tom (2010-03-11). "Modeselektor, Ellen Allien in Techno Documentary Speaking in Code". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2022-10-22.
  39. ↑ Beatport: Speaking in Code Part 1: Anthems. beatport.com
  40. ↑ Beatport: Speaking in Code Part 2: Ambiance. beatport.com
  41. ↑ Pitchfork Media: Baltimoroder: Speaking in Code Podcast 01. pitchfork.com
  42. ↑ Speaking In Code: Speaking In Code Podcast 02 - Tobias Thomas. speakingincode.com
  43. ↑ SoundCloud: Speaking in Code Podcast 03 - Douglas Greed . soundcloud.com
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