Film Details
Synopsis
The Sonic Manipulator = Claude Woodward, Urban Spaceman and Planetary Citizen, subject of the documentary 'Ground Control to Major Tron,' and self described as Fred Astaire meets Neil Armstrong. What this translates to on the street (often in Melbourne's CBD ) is a tinfoil covered astronaut making ethereal wailing noises with a wild range of custom-made musical inventions, designed to allow body motion and gestures to control aspects of his songs, eg THE CLAUDE-A-TRON: controls a synthesiser's pitch by a 190mm rod moving in an arc, and the synthesiser's volume by the swivelling of the rod, or THE SHOE: a 7 AXIS continuous controller pedal used for modifying synthesiser timbre in real time, which allows emulation of various trumpet mutes or cross fading between different vocal samples.
This short documentary on Melbourne's very own 'Sonic Manipulator' was filmed and edited in 1 day for the 15/15 International Film Festival challenge, the film went on to win Best Documentary and Best Editing. Director Jim Tracy said "It was such good fun to make and a great way to spend a sunny Saturday in beautiful Melbourne."
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User Review
A weird and wonderful
character, who adds
colour and good cheer to
the streets of
Melbourne
So great to see the
'real man' behind the
funky outfit. We love
stopping by and watching
The Sonic Manipulator
when he is down Chinatown
way, or outside Flinders
Street Station. He puts
the groove back into
Melbourne. Fantastic film
- thanks Jim!