VIRTUOSO VIRTUAL
Table of Content
About the Film
VIRTUOSO VIRTUAL is an experimental music visualisation inspired by the overture to the opera Der Alchymist by Louis Spohr. Flowing ink transforms the music into a poetic visual world that moves between figurative and non-figurative imagery. Co-directed with Maja Oschmann, the film has received 43 international awards.
From flowing ink forms, new images continuously emerge, transform and dissolve again. In harmony with the music, encounters, chases, dance-like moments and confrontations unfold, leaving room for personal interpretation. The film invites viewers to experience a rich world of associations and emotions.
The film’s “main character” is a single black brushstroke. In rhythm with the music, it surges, leaps and winds its way through the flowing ink, playfully engaging with it or being threatened by it. From this interplay, ever-changing imagery emerges, inviting viewers to make their own discoveries.
Film Profile
Themes
Classical Music · Music Visualisation · Imagination · Art
Mood & Impact
poetic · captivating · emotional · evocative
Kind of Film
Experimental music visualisation.
Availability
for screenings.
Recommendations
Certificate: “especially commendable”, German Film Quality Assessment Board (FBW)
Jury statement
The possibilities of combining form and music in moving images were explored early on in film history, particularly in abstract or absolute film during the historical avant-garde period of the 1920s. Animation was also used in this context. It is therefore not particularly original for an experimental film to venture into this area today. Nevertheless, Oscar winner Thomas Stellmach and illustrator Maja Oschmann succeed in fascinating the viewer with VIRTUOS VIRTUELL. Accompanying a composition by Kassel-based composer Louis Spohr, the filmmakers stage an ink animation that is never boring for a second. The drawing emerges with the music, and the music seems to emerge with the drawing. Image and sound form an amalgam that captivates us to such an extent that a story with emotional and exciting moments emerges from the abstraction of the drawing. VIRTUOS VIRTUELL is indeed a virtuoso revival of the absolute film.
Suitable for ages 0+
Voluntary Self-Regulation Organization of the German Film Industry (FSK)
Awards
- Best Experimental/Abstract Film, Ottawa International Animation Festival 2013, Canada
- Award for the Best Art, 10th NAFF International Animation Festival 2015, Neum, Bosnia and Herzegowina
- Best Film, 9th Tehran International Animation Festival, Iran
- Opening Film and Special Mention, 56th International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film 2013, Germany
Jury statement: For its dynamic use of non narrative animation perfectly fused with the music. - Special Mention of the children jury , 24th World Festival of Animated Film – Animafest Zagreb 2014 / Films for Children Competition Program, Croatia
- Best of Fest (amongst 13 other films), 56th Rochester International Film Festival 2014, USA
- Audience Award for Best Short Film in the Category Curiosities, 23rd “Les Nuits Magiques” International Animated Film Festival 2013, Bègles, France
- Category Maxi: Special Mention, VAFI – Children and Youth Animation Film Festival Varaždin 2014, Hungary
- Jury award and audience choice: Best Experimental, 47th Humboldt Film Festival 2014, Arcata,
Get the complete list of 43 awards.
Museums and Educational Programmes
Developed for the Louis Spohr Museum
VIRTUOSO VIRTUAL was initiated and supported by the International Louis Spohr Society, which oversees the Louis Spohr Museum in Kassel. The film was created specifically for the museum’s permanent exhibition and presented on an autostereoscopic 3D display. The aim was to make music not only audible, but also visually tangible.
The film also enables deaf visitors to experience music through its visual interpretation.
https://spohr-museum.de
Exhibitions
During documenta 13 in 2012, the Spohr Museum presented the special exhibition Making of Virtuos Virtuell, featuring the unfinished film. Around 58,000 visitors saw the exhibition during documenta. Some even wrote comments in our guest book, such as:
“This is the best part of documenta.”
Ironically, our exhibition was not part of documenta.
A further exhibition was presented at the German Film Museum in Frankfurt in 2014/2015.
Learn more about our audiovisual exhibition.
Educational Programmes
Today, VIRTUOSO VIRTUAL is included in educational programmes organised by German and international institutions:
- Minifilmclub, German Film Institution / Film Museum (dff), Frankfurt. Get the work sheet.
- Interactive Cinema (original title: Mitmachkino) since 2022, German Film Quality Assessment Board (FBW), now Film- und Kinobüro Hessen e.V. (Hesse Film and Cinema Office)
- Cinemini-Europe in association with European Film Museums:
- The Austrian Film Museum
- German Film Institut & Film Museum
- Eye Filmmuseum, Netherlands
- Kinodvor Cinema Ljubljana, Slovenia
- Taartrovers, Netherlands
- Baltic Film, Media, Arts and Communication School (BFM), Estonia
- European Children’s Film Association, Belgium
- Serralves Foundation, Portugal
Making-of
Once it had been decided that a film about Louis Spohr would be made, I began exploring his music in depth. I listened to around 170 of his compositions and initially created a collage of different works that I wanted to visualise. Only later did I discover the overture to the opera Der Alchymist.
Its remarkable emotional range immediately captivated me. At first, I imagined a single black brushstroke moving in rhythm with the music. Together with Maja Oschmann, this gradually evolved into an abstract visual language in which flowing ink, movement and music merge into a single expressive whole.
With this shared concept in place, we began applying for funding. Over the following three years, the film gradually became a reality with the support of several funding organisations.
Premiere
The premiere of VIRTUOSO VIRTUAL was during the anniversary celebration of ‘1100 Years of Kassel” in the congress palace attended by 2000 guests in February 18th, 2013. The film music was performed live by the State Orchestra of Kassel, conducted by Helmut Imig. Imig also composed a postlude for the performance. The major of our city granted us the first award for the film, named the ‘Fulle Oscar’.
Credits
direction, drawing, storyboard, image choreography, film layout, ink animation
MAJA OSCHMANN
direction, producer, project idea, storyline, compositing, technical direction, stereoscopy, ink animation
THOMAS STELLMACH
original music
Louis Spohr (1784 – 1859)
from the overture of the opera “DER ALCHYMIST”
conductor Christian Fröhlich, Symphony Orchestra Berlin
with kind permission of Cpo – Classic Production Osnabrück
music at the end credits
composer: TILL MERTENS
www.filmklang.de
violinist: SUSANNE HERMANN
Funding and Sponsors
- Hessian Museum Association e.V. / Hessian Ministry for Science and Art
- Kasseler Sparkasse
- The German State Film Funding – FFA
- The Hessian Film Funding
- German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media
- Sparkassen-Kulturstiftung Hessen-Thueringen
- Stadt Kassel, Cultural Office
- Germany’s national film funding institution
- Kasseler Bank
- Landgraf Moritz Stiftung
- Dr. Wolfgang-Zippel-Stiftung
- United Residential Cities eG 1889
- and private sponsorship
Festivals
VIRTUOSO VIRTUAL was shown at 180 international film festivals.
- International Animation Film Festival Stuttgart 2013, Germany
www.itfs.de - Edinburgh international film festival 2013, UK
www.edfilmfest.org.uk - Animateka International Animated Film Festival 2013, Ljubljana, Slovenia
(Elephant international children competition programme) - Anima Mundi 2013, Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Dublin International Short Film And Music Festival 2013, Ireland
www.disfmf.ie - International Animation Film Festival Stuttgart 2014, Germany
(part of special program: ‘Best of 10 Years’ and ‘Abstract Films’)
www.itfs.de - Annecy, International Animation Film Festival 2014, France
www.annecy.org - Hiroshima International Animation Festival 2014, Japan
- International Animated Film Festival ANIMATOR 2014, Poznan, Poland
www.animator-festival.com - Goldener Spatz 2014 – German Media Festival for Children, Gera/Erfurt, Germany
www.goldenerspatz.de - TAAF – Tokyo Anime Award Festival 2015, Japan
www.animefestival.jp
Get the complete list of film festivals.
Contact Form
Please contact me if you would like to request a screener or book the film for cinema, festival or cultural screenings.
Duration
7:22 minutes
Technique
Digital ink strokes recorded using motion capture and combined with footage of flowing ink. Also available in stereoscopic 3D.
Language
No dialogue
Directors
Thomas Stellmach and Maja Oschmann
Producer
Thomas Stellmach
Production
Thomas Stellmach Animation, 2010 - 2013
Music
Overture of the opera DER ALCHYMIST by Louis Spohr (1784-1859). Music of the end credits: Till Mertens
FILM FORMAT
mp4 1080p stereo 24fps, 25fps, 29,97fps, 50fps
DCP 2K 24fps, 48fps, 2D and stereoscopic