Add "film score composer" to the list of amazing things The White Ravens' Will Bennett has done. As part of the 48 Hour Film Project, Bennett wrote and recorded (at Jim Diamond's studio) the score for No Tears for the Tin Man, a five minute android murder mystery shot in black and white by William Cole, director of the White Ravens' latest music video "Sparks". No Tears for the Tin Man can be viewed at http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=W0TEJAZPnZ8.
Will Bennett received a rough cut of the film Sunday morning, which he took to Ghetto Recorders studio, working with Jim Diamond to record a piano track for the score, improvising along with the movie in a fashion similar to that used by silent movie pianists. According to Bennett, "I tried to create dark and minor music to go with the plot of the movie in which androids are being murdered and to create something original in movie music that I hadn't heard before. A human detective is working with an android assistant to solve the mystery and he turns out to be the murderer himself - or is he a murderer because the victim isn't human? The detective's android assistant, Halle, doesn't want to cooperate with the detective but has no choice. The detective and Halle receive an award in front of an applauding crowd with a newspaper headline praising the detective. At this point I added a happy major upbeat march for ironic contrast while the detective was receiving an award for murdering androids." Will Cole, the team's leader/director/producer was most gratified, "I really appreciated him being able to work so promptly and not only to make the music so quickly. Even before we even gave him the footage, he nailed the mood. Once Will made the music, it really breathed life into the film."
Bennett also writes the quirky and fun music to go with his sister, and band mate Amy's clever lyrics. The two of them together make up the heart of The White Ravens, whose infectious keyboard driven pop has been gaining attention lately. They recently won a Toronto Independent Music Award for Best USA Band, and are preparing to start an East Coast tour this September.
The short film, "No Tears for The Tin Man," garnered two awards in the Detroit 48 Hour Film Project for Best Film Noir and Best Costume. The Detroit 48 Hour Film Project, is part of an international film project that is being carried out this year in 76 cities around the world. Teams are assembled under a team leader, each team receiving a movie assignment consisting of a character, prop, line of dialogue and genre on a Friday night and having until Sunday evening to shoot, edit and complete a 3-7 minute film. The Detroit films premiered the week of July 25 at the Main Art Theater in Royal Oak, Michigan.
