Seasonal Sounds

I've read a script for a feature that may or may not happen. You know, it's not real until the check clears. So anyway, this story happens in a jungle, with many small primates in the canopy. And there is the assortment of jungle sounds along with hard sound effects of branches snapping and a lot of jungle Foley, a small river sequence, and a chase on a beach that builds up to a fight on a boat. Sounds like a lot of audio possibilities and opportunities.

Principle production is scheduled to happen at the end of summer (if it happens, remember). That would mean that the film would get to me around late Fall for a completion in early Winter. I live and work in Philadelphia, and it gets cold in the late Fall, yet I will need to record Foley and get jungle sounds. I am fairly certain that I can get a lot of what I need for the tropical sounds from a library but the hard fx and foley I will have to do myself.

So the question is, do I gamble and invest the time, now, and record a library of sound that I might need and create a Kontakt (sampler) instrument that I can play over the picture, if I ever get to see one. If I don't do this now, and the film happens, I could have an issue in the Winter. I will most likely go and record in the woods that are near my house and see how they sound. On the other hand, I usually love the way foley sounds in the crispness of the frozen air, and I wouldn't have to deal with the blanket of unending insects in my sounds.

I'm sure that you can hear me arguing in my head about this.

Inspiration

I am starting to score another feature. While I read the script months in advance, watching a cut of the film is really what I need to see to create the right feeling. Timing and pacing, and the intent of the director are all important before I play the first note. Typically I write sketches of music during the filming of the movie that will give me a variety of resources to choose for the edited  piece. In this case, the film is a comedy that has some crooks and a selection of characters involved in a heist. It's a caper movie. The director and I spoke about his vision and he told me that he heard something that sounded like Steely Dan; something that was fun. So, I wrote a few cues a month or so ago and he liked them.

So now that I have a rough cut, none of the sketches seem appropriate. Or, maybe they are not new to me like when I wrote them, and I'm a little stuck on how to proceed. I am reminded about a well-known phrase. "Inspiration is for amateurs". That's exactly it!. I can't wait around for something to just come to me. I gotta move. There's a lot to do to get this done on schedule, and make it a work that I am not embarrassed to show. Just do it, John.

A show every week

I was asked to mix a weekly show for PBS. For the next ten weeks, I would receive the files to mix on Friday, and I would have them delivered by Tuesday morning. Is this something that I would be interested in? Well sure. It's almost like having a real job; something to work on early in the weekend morning over a bowl of coffee. I've never had a project like this and is seems fun, routine, and rewarding at the same time.

But the business-minded person inside me wants to insure that the client is happy and will continue to be happy. That first show that I hand off has to be perfect, if there is such a thing. I want them to be so comfortable with me that they do not feel the need to check every mix under the microphone, and trust me to do my job. But trust must be earned so I must establish myself in the first episodes. The largest part of my job is to make certain that the mix is compliant with the specs for a national broadcast. This means that the mix is compliant with the A85 loudness standard set by Congress in 2012 . Since I teach such things at a University, I learned as much as I could about being compliant and I never really considered that investigating and understanding the loudness levels would be a pivoting factor in getting work.

So here I am. setting up the mix for the first of many shows. I want it to be an efficient, almost an assembly line kind of process so that every week I can plug the new show into a template which would insure that each episode has a consistent sound. I guess I'm creating a style-guide. Each week the narrator should sound exactly the same, and I create a plug-in chain that I will use every week for his voice. I'm sure it would be better to make these decision after I have a number of shows completed, but I have to start somewhere and then modify the template.

Let's see how this goes....

Waiting for the next film to arrive

Having a history of working on many projects has taught me to be proactive; never wait for someone to ask me for the work. Always be ready before the deadline. You don't have to tell they that you are ready for delivery before the deadline. Working in such a manner makes me jump onto projects as soon as possible. Sure, I have three months to complete, but I'll get as much as I can completed now, the first week. Who knows what I be doing two months from now? Better get as much done now. 

So, another feature is coming my way. I've read the script months before the shoot and even written a suite of score music, based on the director vision, that I can present to see if I am in the right direction. Why am I doing all of this work even before I get paid? Can't I relax a little? 

Well I am relaxed. As a self-employed person, having work months in front of me is relaxing. And since I am the last one in the post-production chain, the sooner that I can get started, the more relaxed the process will be. Nobody works at their best in a crisis situation.

So now the film is wrapped and the picture editor is putting together an assembly cut. When can I get it? Huh? Huh?