[ ] Degrees of Separation

So in light of the recent screening of Taxi Driver, I feel compelled to mention a realization. In addition to the imagery, bang-up acting, and most masterful editing and directing I think is possible in filmmaking, the music in Taxi Driver was written by none other than Bernard Herrmann. Yep, the genius behind many of the scores for Hitchcock's films, including the iconic Psycho themes.

Cue inspiration.

A piece of mine (Self Portait, or The Road to Fairvale) was directly inspired by Marion Crane's ill-conceived journey into the unknown in Psycho. She is apprehensive of what lies ahead, and about what she's leaving behind as she hurtles herself down the highway with a purse full of stolen cash. Unfortunately, she decides to rest her weary bones at a little, out of the way place; the one-and-only Bates Motel.

Well, as she wrestles with her decision, we have Hermmann's music underscoring the tension. Is this right? Should it be this easy? Where is she really headed? All of these were [are] questions that I have asked myself about what I do with pre-existing images. Is it still artwork if you take things which someone else created and re-contextualize them? Is it fair to claim rights to these things? Where does this work actually take me? What is to be gained?

Needless to say, I've thought long and hard about this, and Herrmann's music never stops playing in my head.   I don't know if it's better to feel more akin to Marion Crane than to Travis Bickle (this seems like a very distinct lesser-of-two-evils scenario), but I think it's worth nothing that the genius behind multiple, outstanding films can continue to inspire new, solid work, nearly fifty years later.