Greetings and Happy New Year! As things start to slow down from the holidays they only seem to be speeding up with Gorilla Theater Productions of Charlottesville with our up coming production of William Shakespeare's Macbeth.
As I've noted before, I'm working on the score for the project. So, here's a little peek at what I've been working on!
I've put together about fifteen tracks for Anna to work with and am still adding a few finishing touches. Several of the tracks, as demonstrated by "Come, Thick Night" are fairly ambient, intended to be played low during scenes. Still others are quite musical. The piece for the closing battle, is going to be particularly insane, but I'm saving that one for the audience. Depending on how everything is integrated, this should easily prove to be largest musical presence I've had in one of her shows.
I've also finished shooting and editing the video for our Kickstarter promo which should be up shortly and the official trailer is on the way! (Hopefully it will be shot today at rehearsal.)
For more info, as always check out GTP's blog.
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Monday, December 3, 2012
Updates: Busy, busy, busy!
I've been pretty busy at my day job since Black Friday (and especially Cyber Monday) and it doesn't look like overtime is going to be slowing down much this holiday season. So it's not very likely that I'll not be posting a lot for a bit, but here are a few updates.
GTP: Macbeth is cast! Rehearsals have started and Anna is excited about the actors from CHS, Albemarle High, PVCC and all around. Many old and many more new. It's looking to be a great show. I'll try to post some score samples once things are more finalized as to what is being used.
Life: I am starting to look into programming to advance my career options. While more web and data systems skills will have to be focused on for likely jobs, it is exciting to play around with gaming design as a means to learn some of the basics. I've always wanted to program a text adventure game, feeling that the medium has so much more potential than has ever been fully embraced, but I also have some less anachronistic ambitions. I'm getting very interested in expanding my commission work beyond GTP. I had a blast recently cranking out a score for a friend's student film, and can't help day dreaming of providing a score to some small (or big... I mean, I'm dreaming here!) company's release. I'm looking at next year pretty openly, hoping to get a few passion projects done but also hoping things will fall into my lap.
Blog: Slowly updating profile stuff to express more current interests. I think the blog is going to expand. As a resume blog, I've already fumbled out of focus with theater updates even when my fingerprints are barely on projects... so it doesn't seem that radical to change things up a little bit.
The big thing I want to start including are pieces called Things That Should Totally Happen. Like most geeks, I daydream about things beyond my means. 'Wouldn't it be cool if there was an Evil Dead 4, or a film adaptation of Doom that drew from the original games, and was good' - that sort of thing. Cool actors working together, books adapted to film, games adapted from films and so on (and not just adaptations, but that's all I can think of at the moment without blowing this up into a full-blown article on one of the real ones). Things I'd love to do, but don't have the budget or connections or rights and will likely never have them. I figure I could hoard them all in my head, or share them, the projects I can't do or facilitate but I wish someone would.
I think here and there I might have other blog entries about theories and critiques, but hopefully few and far between. I want this to still focus on displaying my actual work, not what I think of other people's stuff. Still, it would be nice to be a little more active here.
GTP: Macbeth is cast! Rehearsals have started and Anna is excited about the actors from CHS, Albemarle High, PVCC and all around. Many old and many more new. It's looking to be a great show. I'll try to post some score samples once things are more finalized as to what is being used.
Life: I am starting to look into programming to advance my career options. While more web and data systems skills will have to be focused on for likely jobs, it is exciting to play around with gaming design as a means to learn some of the basics. I've always wanted to program a text adventure game, feeling that the medium has so much more potential than has ever been fully embraced, but I also have some less anachronistic ambitions. I'm getting very interested in expanding my commission work beyond GTP. I had a blast recently cranking out a score for a friend's student film, and can't help day dreaming of providing a score to some small (or big... I mean, I'm dreaming here!) company's release. I'm looking at next year pretty openly, hoping to get a few passion projects done but also hoping things will fall into my lap.
Blog: Slowly updating profile stuff to express more current interests. I think the blog is going to expand. As a resume blog, I've already fumbled out of focus with theater updates even when my fingerprints are barely on projects... so it doesn't seem that radical to change things up a little bit.
The big thing I want to start including are pieces called Things That Should Totally Happen. Like most geeks, I daydream about things beyond my means. 'Wouldn't it be cool if there was an Evil Dead 4, or a film adaptation of Doom that drew from the original games, and was good' - that sort of thing. Cool actors working together, books adapted to film, games adapted from films and so on (and not just adaptations, but that's all I can think of at the moment without blowing this up into a full-blown article on one of the real ones). Things I'd love to do, but don't have the budget or connections or rights and will likely never have them. I figure I could hoard them all in my head, or share them, the projects I can't do or facilitate but I wish someone would.
I think here and there I might have other blog entries about theories and critiques, but hopefully few and far between. I want this to still focus on displaying my actual work, not what I think of other people's stuff. Still, it would be nice to be a little more active here.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
GTP Macbeth Auditions and Concept Trailer!
Pippi was a fun and silly blast, and now that it's wrapped up Anna's hitting the ground running with her next project, the bard's infamous "Scottish Play," Macbeth.
I've been working on music for the show on and off with other projects for almost two months and it is now my main focus. Saturday, before Sunday's last show for Pippi Longstocking, we started going to work on a concept trailer for Anna's primal urban take on the classic. After shooting, recording voice overs, setting a few things on fire, editing, and sound mixing I uploaded this promo a couple nights ago to YouTube.
It was a collaborative effort. She gave me a list of shots she wanted and a basic structure and then we set out to shoot it. We were up until 3:30AM shooting the thing like madmen.
I think what I like most about this video over any other we've done together for GTP or otherwise is how much of a complete merging of our styles it shows. Some shots didn't work, so I added some footage and tweaked the original concept to be a bit more trippy. Some of my images didn't work at first either, then she did voice overs and I mixed them and with each exchange and layer everything started coming together as an effective whole where individual elements hadn't.
Needless to say, if you are interested in auditioning and being a part of this madness, head on over to Gorilla Theater Productions and check it out!
I've been working on music for the show on and off with other projects for almost two months and it is now my main focus. Saturday, before Sunday's last show for Pippi Longstocking, we started going to work on a concept trailer for Anna's primal urban take on the classic. After shooting, recording voice overs, setting a few things on fire, editing, and sound mixing I uploaded this promo a couple nights ago to YouTube.
It was a collaborative effort. She gave me a list of shots she wanted and a basic structure and then we set out to shoot it. We were up until 3:30AM shooting the thing like madmen.
I think what I like most about this video over any other we've done together for GTP or otherwise is how much of a complete merging of our styles it shows. Some shots didn't work, so I added some footage and tweaked the original concept to be a bit more trippy. Some of my images didn't work at first either, then she did voice overs and I mixed them and with each exchange and layer everything started coming together as an effective whole where individual elements hadn't.
Needless to say, if you are interested in auditioning and being a part of this madness, head on over to Gorilla Theater Productions and check it out!
Saturday, October 27, 2012
GTP Pippi Longstocking Trailer and Upcoming Show!
Last weekend I joined Anna and the gang to shoot the trailer for Gorilla Theater Productions' latest children's play, Pippi Longstocking. Of the trailers I've shot for GTP, this was the easiest overall. Learning from past mistakes, I found myself with a shooting script by Anna and a separate room to shoot everything in with just the actors needed, greatly reducing the background noise. Lighting was not ideal, but we made it work, and I'm quite pleased with the old-newspaper like texture I was able to get fiddling with the contrast and saturation during editing.
The music track in the background is called "Piddlyday." I cranked it out over a couple hours while editing the footage. Again, I'm fairly happy with it. It might show up in house music if that doesn't complicate things technically. We'll see.
The kids on this production are a blast, I haven't been too involved until recently, but many of them were off book (memorized their lines) by the second rehearsal. That's unreal. They've put our teen and adult actors to shame through that accomplishment alone, and as the trailer only hints at, they are hilarious. I'm also quite excited by the horse Anna has constructed. I provided some materials but the actual sculpting is all her. It's going to be awesome. I'll try to get her to post some photos when she can.
So... spread the word! Come on out! People should come see this beyond the actors' parents and firends. The kids are doing a great job, with a nice blend of returning vets (several from Secret Garden) and first timers with GTP (including the wonderful Pippi). We're returning to Sojourner's Church, where we staged Secret Garden after having such a positive experience working with them last time. It's lovely safe environment for children's productions like this. It's also got a lot of seating capacity so, again, the more the merrier!
The music track in the background is called "Piddlyday." I cranked it out over a couple hours while editing the footage. Again, I'm fairly happy with it. It might show up in house music if that doesn't complicate things technically. We'll see.
The kids on this production are a blast, I haven't been too involved until recently, but many of them were off book (memorized their lines) by the second rehearsal. That's unreal. They've put our teen and adult actors to shame through that accomplishment alone, and as the trailer only hints at, they are hilarious. I'm also quite excited by the horse Anna has constructed. I provided some materials but the actual sculpting is all her. It's going to be awesome. I'll try to get her to post some photos when she can.
So... spread the word! Come on out! People should come see this beyond the actors' parents and firends. The kids are doing a great job, with a nice blend of returning vets (several from Secret Garden) and first timers with GTP (including the wonderful Pippi). We're returning to Sojourner's Church, where we staged Secret Garden after having such a positive experience working with them last time. It's lovely safe environment for children's productions like this. It's also got a lot of seating capacity so, again, the more the merrier!
Monday, October 8, 2012
Recent Music: "Saucer Sauce" and "Station Sprawl"
Here's a couple songs I've composed recently not attached to any projects.
Saucer Sauce
This one was my first experiment messing around with a 6/8 signature. 6/8 time came to my attention due to it being a frequent signature used by my all-time favorite composer, Charles Mingus. With that in mind, imagine my surprise when my dabbling in jazz produced an almost raver dancer tune. I'm quite pleased with the finished piece which evokes many Cartoon themes with a retro 50s sci-fi twist.
Station Sprawl
This one was a bit more layered and challenging. The base beat was added last and really gave a shape to what was initially a little too repetitive a tune. It's also my first foray into 7/4 time. I don't know, I've just been on a weird time signature kick lately.
Saucer Sauce
This one was my first experiment messing around with a 6/8 signature. 6/8 time came to my attention due to it being a frequent signature used by my all-time favorite composer, Charles Mingus. With that in mind, imagine my surprise when my dabbling in jazz produced an almost raver dancer tune. I'm quite pleased with the finished piece which evokes many Cartoon themes with a retro 50s sci-fi twist.
Station Sprawl
This one was a bit more layered and challenging. The base beat was added last and really gave a shape to what was initially a little too repetitive a tune. It's also my first foray into 7/4 time. I don't know, I've just been on a weird time signature kick lately.
Films, Scoring and GTP Activities
Films and Scoring
For the last couple of weeks, mostly while recovering from a minor back injury, I scored a short film based on the script, for a friend of mine. I'm quite pleased with the outcome, as it was done at rather breakneck speed with a total of 7 tracks in about 12 to 15 hours accumulated. As the film is to be shot next week ideally, the finished product may require tweaks to the music and additional tracks. Admittedly I suspect one track will need slight remixing and another slowing down a couple BPSs. When it's all officially finished, I'll post them.
Incidentally, I'm very interested in doing more of this kind of thing.
The film is written and being directed by the same friend I'd previously mentioned GTP helping make a film last March. The reason for that film's silence is that it fell into a series of shooting cancellations and schedule juggling hell with its fairly large cast. With half the film shot and sitting on my hard drive, we're all hoping that perhaps next year we can pick it back up, get all the actors together and finish what we started.
I am also hoping to start work on a long talked about film project of my own next year, though that is still a very wait-and-see prospect at this point.
Gorilla Theater Productions
GTP is going strong. I haven't been posting much as I'm not too involved these days. In my last post I had mentioned the line up for the rest of the season would include a children's fantasy adventure, a Scandinavian classic, and something from the Bard. Instead of the of the fantasy play, East of the Sun, West of the Moon, Anna opted for Pippy Long Stockings (which has been cast and is currently rehearsing) having fallen for its script. She also decided that it would allow more production energy to be focused on the last play, which will be Macbeth. The fact that we're talking about it and already starting to plan for it when their are two plays to put on before it should give some indication that Macbeth is going to be big. At least, big by Gorilla standards. I'm very excited about it. Expect to see promotions in the near future as we head into November.
I've already started working on the score for Macbeth and have a few tracks finished that will likely make the final cut. I did get a little ways on the fantasy score, with one track finished that I'll share down the road. I'm planning to do trailers for all of these plays as of now, but as the season picks up at work we'll just have to see.
As for the Scandinavian play, it is still in the works but I'll let Anna announce that when she's ready. I will say that it is minimalistic in nature, so their isn't a great deal of advanced preparation necessary like with Mac'ers.
For the last couple of weeks, mostly while recovering from a minor back injury, I scored a short film based on the script, for a friend of mine. I'm quite pleased with the outcome, as it was done at rather breakneck speed with a total of 7 tracks in about 12 to 15 hours accumulated. As the film is to be shot next week ideally, the finished product may require tweaks to the music and additional tracks. Admittedly I suspect one track will need slight remixing and another slowing down a couple BPSs. When it's all officially finished, I'll post them.
Incidentally, I'm very interested in doing more of this kind of thing.
The film is written and being directed by the same friend I'd previously mentioned GTP helping make a film last March. The reason for that film's silence is that it fell into a series of shooting cancellations and schedule juggling hell with its fairly large cast. With half the film shot and sitting on my hard drive, we're all hoping that perhaps next year we can pick it back up, get all the actors together and finish what we started.
I am also hoping to start work on a long talked about film project of my own next year, though that is still a very wait-and-see prospect at this point.
Gorilla Theater Productions
GTP is going strong. I haven't been posting much as I'm not too involved these days. In my last post I had mentioned the line up for the rest of the season would include a children's fantasy adventure, a Scandinavian classic, and something from the Bard. Instead of the of the fantasy play, East of the Sun, West of the Moon, Anna opted for Pippy Long Stockings (which has been cast and is currently rehearsing) having fallen for its script. She also decided that it would allow more production energy to be focused on the last play, which will be Macbeth. The fact that we're talking about it and already starting to plan for it when their are two plays to put on before it should give some indication that Macbeth is going to be big. At least, big by Gorilla standards. I'm very excited about it. Expect to see promotions in the near future as we head into November.
I've already started working on the score for Macbeth and have a few tracks finished that will likely make the final cut. I did get a little ways on the fantasy score, with one track finished that I'll share down the road. I'm planning to do trailers for all of these plays as of now, but as the season picks up at work we'll just have to see.
As for the Scandinavian play, it is still in the works but I'll let Anna announce that when she's ready. I will say that it is minimalistic in nature, so their isn't a great deal of advanced preparation necessary like with Mac'ers.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Current and Upcoming Projects
As I've said before, silence on this blog usually means I'm too busy doing to talk about it, and for the most part that's true.
The blog activity slowed down considerably after Secret Garden due to my leaving the unemployment club. I now work 6am to 3pm at a warehouse, mostly driving forklifts about and loading and unloading product. It's fun, but for anyone that's known me for a while the concept of me waking up at 5am (as opposed to say... going to bed at that hour) is a little insane. And yes, it has been insane going through what can only be called a pretty radical change in lifestyle, leaving me seldom motivated when I have the time, to spend it blogging. Sorry about that. On the bright side, life is a bit more comfortable as a result of said job. So... yay!
She Stoops to Conquer was an overall success. My apologies to the second cast for not getting any of the footage up (yet), which I still intend to do. If there is one thing perhaps more than any that I regret as the summer comes to an end its how little of the ever growing backlog of footage from the last few shows has been edited and uploaded. I have on some projects up to a dozen hours of footage to slog through and in more than one case a great deal of sound recording problems to unravel. Fortunately I have a new shotgun mic. which should allow for a significant improvement in sound quality for future recordings.
I've still been composing a lot of music while not putting it all on youtube. Some shall be posted sooner than later. I've also been doing a lot of writing, working on the collaborative novel with Anna and some things of my own. Anna's been rather busy herself, having finished Stoops, she took a break from directing to act in a production of Collateral Bodies at The Bridge. I hear there will be footage from that show going online in the future, but for those that missed it here are some lovely photos. Anna and Gorilla Theater provided some costuming and set pieces for the show as well.
For those looking for a more lighthearted venture, Anna can be seen next weekend in Live Arts' Summer Shorts performing in a piece by Sean McCord (who played Mr. Hardcastle in Stoops) entitled, Moving.
As for Gorilla Theater Productions, Anna has selected the last three plays that will close out the year and will be announcing them soon enough. While work for me around the holidays will make it difficult to participate beyond scoring, I am already starting work providing scores/house music for all three productions, which will be a fantasy adventure for teens and tweens, a small classic Scandinavian drama with Anna in the lead, and something not very small at all by the Bard. These are all projects Anna is very passionate about and after a summer of acting is posed to be very regenerated for attacking. It's going to be a blast!
The blog activity slowed down considerably after Secret Garden due to my leaving the unemployment club. I now work 6am to 3pm at a warehouse, mostly driving forklifts about and loading and unloading product. It's fun, but for anyone that's known me for a while the concept of me waking up at 5am (as opposed to say... going to bed at that hour) is a little insane. And yes, it has been insane going through what can only be called a pretty radical change in lifestyle, leaving me seldom motivated when I have the time, to spend it blogging. Sorry about that. On the bright side, life is a bit more comfortable as a result of said job. So... yay!
She Stoops to Conquer was an overall success. My apologies to the second cast for not getting any of the footage up (yet), which I still intend to do. If there is one thing perhaps more than any that I regret as the summer comes to an end its how little of the ever growing backlog of footage from the last few shows has been edited and uploaded. I have on some projects up to a dozen hours of footage to slog through and in more than one case a great deal of sound recording problems to unravel. Fortunately I have a new shotgun mic. which should allow for a significant improvement in sound quality for future recordings.
I've still been composing a lot of music while not putting it all on youtube. Some shall be posted sooner than later. I've also been doing a lot of writing, working on the collaborative novel with Anna and some things of my own. Anna's been rather busy herself, having finished Stoops, she took a break from directing to act in a production of Collateral Bodies at The Bridge. I hear there will be footage from that show going online in the future, but for those that missed it here are some lovely photos. Anna and Gorilla Theater provided some costuming and set pieces for the show as well.
For those looking for a more lighthearted venture, Anna can be seen next weekend in Live Arts' Summer Shorts performing in a piece by Sean McCord (who played Mr. Hardcastle in Stoops) entitled, Moving.
As for Gorilla Theater Productions, Anna has selected the last three plays that will close out the year and will be announcing them soon enough. While work for me around the holidays will make it difficult to participate beyond scoring, I am already starting work providing scores/house music for all three productions, which will be a fantasy adventure for teens and tweens, a small classic Scandinavian drama with Anna in the lead, and something not very small at all by the Bard. These are all projects Anna is very passionate about and after a summer of acting is posed to be very regenerated for attacking. It's going to be a blast!
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