In this very special edition of The GSpot, Joseph Matheny talks to Raymond Salvatore Harmon about the special release of his movie, The Philosopher’s Stone on Greylodge as a torrent to be followed by a “Press to Play” version being released on Altertube.tv and Pilotlite.com, and then a podcast edition to be released on Alterati, Greylodge and Pilotlite. Joe and Ray discuss art on the fringe, how Ray came to film making, the Chicago art scene, and why the economy means nothing to artists working on the fringes.
Subliminal Films present:
The Philosopher’s StoneDirected and produced by Raymond Salvatore Harmon
featuring the music of Bogstarring Jacob Andrew Myers
introducing Isobel Julianna Harmon
The Philosopher’s Stone tells the story of Jacob Fausstman, a scientist and early alchemist who searches for the key to curing man of the disease of death. In his frustration Jacob stumbles onto another path to achieve his goals. Turning to the dark arts Jacob conjures the demon Mephistopheles and is given the key to eternal life. But his perceptions of ‘life eternal’ and the nature of his existence comes into question once he has obtained his desire for true knowledge.
Base in equal parts on the Faustian archetype and the biographical story of Dr. Albert Hoffmann’s accidental discovery of LSD, The Philosopher’s Stone is an homage to early German Expressionist cinema and the psychedelic visualizations of drug culture.
Courtesy of Greylodge.org
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What critics have said about Harmon’s work:
‘For Harmon, the visual density of the abstract imagery used will enable the viewer to enter an almost hypnagogic, liminal state, and become perceptually distant from the sense of the real. Once the enveloping visual content has become the landscape of the mind to the viewer, the subliminal content will have access to the subconscious mind.” – Jack Sargeant
“Accentuating the trio’s vibrant performances with colorization, layered collages, dense textures and split-screen effects, Harmon becomes a virtual fourth member of the ensemble.” – All About Jazz, on Chronicle
‘The subdued flame-like flashes and sounds reinforce the feeling of quietly smoldering passion. Together, these elements come together to create a delicate composition which is abstract, yet full of feeling.’ – FilmThreat.com on Tiny Inconsistencies
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The Philosopher’s Stone will be available (via bit torrent) for full download FREE Oct 31st 2008 at GREYLODGE.ORG, subliminalfilms.org, and streaming at:
for more information please contact:
stone@subliminalfilms.org
or visit
greylodge.org
subliminalfilms.org
raymondharmon.com
philosophersstone.org
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A letter from the director;
In choosing to distribute this film I have decided to skip the theatrical presentation stage and go directly to sourcing the film via the bit torrent network. By giving the public full access to this film I hope to encourage other filmmakers to realize the potential of their audience by abandoning the outdated model of cinematic distribution in favor of an open relationship with the viewers themselves.
After years of struggle with the format of distribution cinema has found an ever evolving platform of distribution on the internet. Years of so called ‘format wars’, first between film gauges and then between dv formats, have ended in the wake of widening broadband access for the average person.
The ability for anyone to simple download and watch a film already exists, as does the ability for anyone to make a film and allow the world to experience it directly. The filmmaker has a wide range of encoding practices available that allow them to maximize video quality for each project’s distribution on the web. As further technologies and better codecs are develop the filmmaker will be able to expand on the available sources for the cinematic presentation.
As much as the Philosopher’s Stone visually represents a historic period in early 20th century cinema it looks forward to a future unfettered by lack of distribution and a platform for broadcast that gives everyone a chance to experience cinema to its fullest.
This film is meant as a mirror, reflecting what has been onto what will become.
Obviam lux Lucis
Raymond Salvatore Harmon
October 3rd – 2008
Download Torrent of the movie: The Philosopher’s Stone
Download the special GSpot interview with Raymond Salvatore Harmon below:
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I’d like to thank ALTERATI for helping us to get the word out about this movie. I’m still seeding the DVD torrent (and will be for the forseeable future). If you haven’t downloaded it yet, head on over to greylodge (or piratebay) and get it now! And, once you have the movie, please help us to seed it if you’re able to.
Thanks!
J.A.M.
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