Bill Morrison - Every Stop On The F Train - 2008 - 720p

Michael Gordon on creating the music: “What’s more urban than the subway? When Francisco J. Núñez asked me to write a piece for Transient Glory, I immediately thought of all the stops that whiz by us as we sit on the train waiting to arrive at our destination. The A train has the longest route, but I think the F has the best sounding stops. I also like that the F starts in Jamaica, Queens, and ends in Coney Island, Brooklyn. I organized the piece in three sections corresponding to the boroughs the F Train travels through. Every Stop on the F Train starts with a single melody in Queens, splits into a 2-part canon (at the eighth note) when it arrives in Manhattan and then into a 4-part canon (at the quarter note) when it arrives in Brooklyn. New Yorkers will note that some of the stops actually have 2 names (42 Street/Times Square); in those cases, I chose only one.” Bill Morrison on creating the film: “When I was approached about making a film for the piece, I did not hesitate to accept. When I began filming, I realized there were several complications with shooting on the subway. Firstly, it was illegal. Secondly, there were other people on the subway who may or may not like being filmed. Thirdly, the subway did not provide a smooth ride. And fourthly, each and every inch of glass in the entire subway system is covered with scratches and scrawls. I found a tripod that clamped to the poles inside the car provided the stability a conventional tripod could not. I discovered that either New Yorkers didn’t mind being filmed, or they were just too darn polite to say so. And I learned to like all the scratches on the windows. I was not able to resolve the legality issue.