THE GERMAN COWBOY
Musikshow
'Bolex' a sixteen millimeter film camera, fully mechanical, made in Switzerland, became my first investment in the movie industry.
I was at college studying film. It was time to expose my first role of black & white film. With this camera you can shoot in single frame mode and expose each frame unlimited.
Through connections from my military service I got access with my camera to an international military music festival.
At a point where I could overlook the whole stadium, I mounted the camera on a tripod and shot the whole festival by exposing every two seconds a frame, with open shutter. Exposure time was nearly
two seconds and each picture got motion blur. Because of the slow movement of the film it also created a time lapse effect. It was an experiment and a test for the camera.
After developing and copying the film I showed it to the film class. Everybody was surprised and amused by this effect. You see little soldiers forming marching bands, racing across the field of the
stadium. It looks like animated toy soldiers. My film professor suggested I should make a short film out of the footage.
It needed something else to it. For the title sequence I listed all the bands which were participating with all their conductors. While you see this long list of names scrolling up the screen you
hear the greeting words of the minister of defense. He explains why we need military music: "It is music in peace and for peace." The whole text is read by me in my south german dialect.
After one minute the actual movie starts. It lasts for another minute and then the credits start. I made up sponsors and supporters, I thanked all of them and also listed all the people I did not
need help from. Finally a list of names, all the saints of the catholic church, I heard every Christmas as an altar boy. Here I thanked them all. The credits run another minute. I called it
'Musikshow'.
At the same time the film festival of film schools in Germany took place at our college. I barely could finish the film to show it. That was the first time for me to see the finished film on a big
screen, and with a big audience. I was nervous.
When the title sequence faded out people started laughing and clapping, it looked like the film was over. Then the real film started and people laughed again watching the little soldiers.
After the credits run out the applause lasted nearly another minute and many people came to me. Some said it was one of the best parodies they ever saw about the military, other people saw it as an
entertaining way to show the human aspect of the military.
One of the most prestigious short film festivals 'Oberhausener Kurzfilmtage' invited the movie. There the short film got picked up by a TV channel, which aired the complete film and interviewed me.
After that a couple other international film festivals selected the movie, so the film travelled around the world.
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