seven-minute cinemas

The Story
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The Music
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The ShootThe Players

Instrumental Treason
A Mutiny in Four Movements
A Film by Jake Elsas

The Music
Instrumental Treason contains NO DIALOGUE. The goal of the film — the very thing that makes it unique — is that all of the musicians' feelings and attitudes towards each other are expressed either filmically, through juxtaposed images, or through the music itself — especially the mutiny, which is expressed in jazz.

All the music is original. The symphonic portion — which consists of three movements (each approximately five minutes in length) — was written by German composer Niels Fölster. The jazz portion (the "mutiny") — which creates, essentially, a fourth movement — was written by jazz bassist and composer Ben Wolfe.

When the mutiny occurs, both musical forms — classical and jazz — are played simultaneously, resulting in a cacophony that is resolved only after the winning musicians finally emerge victorious.

Music Samples
Movement I
(QuickTime: 119k | RealMedia | mp3: 795k)
Movement II
(QT: 110k | Real | mp3: 735k)
Jazz Rehearsal
(QT: 158k | Real | mp3: 1MB)

Listen to Samples
Please enjoy some samples from the film's soundtrack. These are clips taken from the actual recording session that took place one day prior to the shoot. Although on a tight schedule (the budget allowed only three hours in which to make the recording), the musicians worked hard to make a truly great soundtrack.

Visitors have three options for listening to these clips:

  • A QuickTime version of each clip (which is a smaller file)
  • A RealMedia version of each clip (which streams in real time)
  • An mp3 version of each clip (which is a larger file that downloads to your hard drive)

The "Jazz Rehearsal" sample — of Ben Wolfe's jazz score — comes from a rudimentary, mono recording made at a February rehearsal. This recording was made without the professional, high-quality sound mix of the final soundtrack, but it's great music nonetheless!

If you experience any difficulties hearing these samples, you may need to download the latest versions of either QuickTime, RealPlayer or any mp3 player (such as iTunes). There are free versions of this software available — just visit the sites, download and install the files, and enjoy the music!

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at 7MC.