Spark of Being
BILL MORRISON • HYPNOTIC PICTURES Spark of Being
Trailer: "Spark of Being"

Film by Bill Morrison
Original compositions by Dave Douglas
Commissioned by Stanford Lively Arts

(2010, 68 min, DV)

An adaptation of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" using found film footage, with an original soundtrack by Dave Douglas, performed by Keystone.

Performed by Dave Douglas and Keystone
Dave Douglas - trumpet
Marcus Strickland - saxophone
Adam Benjamin - keyboards
Brad Jones - ampeg baby bass
Gene Lake - drums
DJ Olive - turntables
Geoff Countryman - mixing



BILL MORRISON • HYPNOTIC PICTURES Spark of Being Senses of Cinema, 3/17/12
Alice in Wonder-Mall and Wonder-Beach: The AFI/Fest and American Film Market
by Bérénice Reynaud
Senses of Cinema, 3/17/12

"Cinema itself may be the monster, as it begets images are not always in the realm of the visible, but of the imagination...This is an apt metaphor for the revamping of the myth of Frankenstein performed by Morrison and Douglas: it’s not easy to make a man, it’s not easy to make a film. In both cases we have a composite creature “stitched” from disparate parts, some recognisable, some not. Morrison combines barely legible shots (decayed footage) with images partially obscured by various states of decomposition or by an absence of context. The familiar – family pictures, pageantry, educational films – is made uncanny, as in this lovely sequence excerpted from a 1970s soft porn film, in which lovemaking in the wood between two attractive models is artificially degraded, suggesting the innocence of early erotic cinema ... the lost paradise of an unattainable 'normality'." - Bérénice Reynaud
BILL MORRISON • HYPNOTIC PICTURES Spark of Being Variety, 12/11/11
Film Review: "Spark of Being" at AFI Film Festival
by Robert Koehler
Variety, 12/11/11

"An inspired collaboration between one of the most adventurous American filmmakers and one of the most exploratory American jazz musicians, found-footage production "Spark of Being...draws fascinating parallels between the invention of cinema and that of the Creature, and pulls Shelley's 19th-century tale into the modern age."

BILL MORRISON • HYPNOTIC PICTURES Spark of Being The Hollywood Reporter, 11/21/11
Film Review: "Spark of Being" at AFI Film Festival
by Sheri Linden
The Hollywood Reporter, 11/21/11

"Mary Shelley’s "Frankenstein" receives a semi-abstract retelling in this outstanding piece of experimental filmmaking."
BILL MORRISON • HYPNOTIC PICTURES Spark of Being Eyeweekly, 06/30/10
Performance Review: "Spark of Being" at Toronto Jazz Festival
by Dave Morris
Eyeweekly, 06/30/10

"Dave Douglas and experimental filmmaker Bill Morrison’s project, "Spark of Being", is one of those true partnerships that the rest of us regard with envy and awe — where both halves are complete and robust on their own, and function just as well together."

BILL MORRISON • HYPNOTIC PICTURES Spark of Being Walker Performing Arts Blog, 10/8/10
Performance Review: "Spark of Being" at Walker Art Center
by Jerrod Seifert
Walker Performing Arts Blog, 10/8/10

"In the hands of Douglas and Morrison, this story seems amazingly fresh, vital, topical, and necessary. It’s exhilarating, weary, and thought provoking. When was the last time anybody could say that about a Frankenstein retelling?"